Some bloggers may remember a year and two ago, when i wrote about our living room renovation. We spent months stripping every inch of paint off of every bit of wood trim in the room. Then we spent many more months sanding every inch of that wood. Then, in one day we stained it all a marvelously rich reddish brown.

In a 1917 Craftsman bungalow, there are lots of layers of paint, all in interesting hues. Over the wood was a steel gray, then a teal blue, a faux wood (yes, at one point, homeowners painted fake wood grain OVER the painted wood), and finally a dirty old white.

Well, after a short hiatus, we are at it again: this time, in the dining room. And this room has SO MUCH more wood in it than the living room. Whereas the living room had a huge bank of windows, a fireplace mantel and two built-in benches, the dining room has wood paneled wainscoting, a built-in buffet and a wall of two windows and a huge arch to the sunroom. The dining room also has the same layers of paint colors as the living room.

We are insane.

After two weeks, we have nearly completed the wall opposite the sunroom. Initial stripping goes fast: Goop on the Jasco, wait for the paint to crackle, then scrape it off in long strips that look a little like frosting on a cake. Do that two more times and you are left with faint remnants of the teal paint. But then you have to go back over it one or two more times to get every single morsel of paint, scrape out knicks and nail holes filled with paint, and pick out paint and caulking from corners and crevices.

And all of this while wearing head-to-toe clothing, double rubber gloves, and an organic respirator. This stuff is toxic. Last night I was sweating so badly my eyes were stinging. I had to stop.

It's slow-going, but it's going to be so elegant when we are done. In a year. Or two. I can't wait.

My spoon collection got a blue ribbon at the Kern County Fair. Not bad for my first time entering something! I know, it sounds silly: "spoon collection" (dork), "blue ribbon" (nerd), "Kern County Fair" (carnie wannabe).

But I truly love the fair, and I'm actually quite proud my little collection of spoons wowed the judges in the hobbies tent.

Check out some other cool collections and a video I made by going to this link:

http://www.bakersfield.com/...

And maybe next year you'll have a collection to enter. After all, it only costs $1 to enter!

So that was it?

What I experienced at my house in Oleander around 9:45 last night: One flash of lightening, one clap of thunder and one minute later a loud downpour. Then it slowed to a drizzle and fizzled out.

What's up with that? I wanted a big storm! Lots of flashing and rumbling! Lots of rain! Soak my dead lawn! Wash all the soot off my roof and trees from the Zaca fire! Clean up this town!

This morning on my way in, I saw a lot of muddy puddles and dirty vehicles.

Come on weather, you can do better than that!

I'll never forget the day I covered Latino family day at the Kern County Fair four years ago. As I interviewed a Folklorico dancer, our makeup dripped down both of our faces. Then, suddenly, I was blind. My mascara had run into my eyes and they were on fire. I squeezed my eyes shut. The dancer ran and got me a tissue. I powered through the interview, unable to see my writing on my notepad.

I love the fair, but I don't love the heat. Every year, we can count on the fair to bring the last bastion of summer and remind us that it ain't fall yet. Temperatures usually soar to the upper 90s, and with minimal shade at the fairgrounds, it can feel like triple degree heat.

But this year, something is different. Today, as the fair opens to the masses, the predicted high is 77 degrees! Tomorrow, it's supposed to be 68, and it might even rain on Friday. What is going on?

To try to make some sense of this phenomenon, I reached back into the National Weather Service archives for some context. Since this year's fair is from Sept. 19 to 30, I looked at the high temps for the 19th and the 30th from 1996 to 2006. Then I did some math to find the average high for that time period for each year. I also listed which dates had triple digits.

What I found is that the past couple of years have actually been kind of mild for the fair. But, 2003 was a doozy! And that was the year I suffered from sweat-induced blindness.

Check out these stats:

Sept. 2006 9/19 - 93 9/30 - 81 Ave: 83	Sept. 2005 9/19 - 88 9/30 - 96 Ave: 87	Sept. 2004 9/19 - 74 9/30 - 78 Ave: 85
Sept. 2003 9/19 - 95 9/30 - 89 Ave: 95 (21 - 105; 22 - 105; 23 - 104)!!!	Sept. 2002 9/19 - 99 9/30 - 78 Ave: 92 (23 - 100)	Sept. 2001 9/19 - 94 9/30 - 93 Ave: 90
Sept. 2000 9/19 - 99 9/30 - 89 Ave: 88 (20 - 101)	Sept. 1999 9/19 - 84 9/30 - 96 Ave: 90	Sept. 1998 9/19 - 83 9/30 - 79 Ave: 79
Sept. 1997 9/19 - 84 9/30 - 96 Ave: 92 (29 - 100)	Sept. 1996 9/19 - 87 9/30 - 95 Ave: 91	Average high during 9/19-9/30 for all 11 years: 83 degrees

One of my favorite things about living in Bakersfield is the Kern County Fair. I've gone to a lot of county fairs, and this is by far my favorite. I love the "small town feel." I like to go by myself and just peruse all the barns and tents with entries, everything from art and photography to landscape designs and collections.

This year I finally paid the $1 to enter something myself! I entered my spoon collection. Check it out if you go -- the collections barn is outside the satellite wagering building.

I also spent much of the day Saturday hanging out with the other people setting up their collections. Check Bakersfield.com/yourwords soon to see the articles, photos and videos from the scene. There are some pretty crazy collections out there!

More things I look forward to at this year's fair: Los Lobos, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, corn dogs, deep fried Twinkie.

Oh, I love the fair!

Over the summer, we posed this question to the community — and specifically asked several parents of soldiers serving in Iraq.

We received a ton of responses at the Your Words site: http://people.bakersfield.c...

On Sunday, The Bakersfield Californian will print as many of the responses we can fit in the A section of the newspaper (barring breaking news).

The answers are all different, and as a whole send a very powerful message. Check them out, and respond with your own thoughts.

So I've started writing my first book. I've written the introduction.

Now what?

The book is nonfiction, sort of autobiographical, but it will be a journey over the next few years. Right now I'm calling it "The Road to Motherhood: If and How."

First I need to figure out if I want children. Then I need to figure out how. (stop laughing -- I know how the birds and the bees work, but my birds and bees don't work that way, so I need to figure out how I'm going to navigate the fertility/adoption process)

Anyway, now that I've written the introduction, I'm not sure what to do next. How do I research and write in an organized fashion?

If any of you bloggers know any tips, let me know. Thanks!

In the world of journalism, turnover is HIGH. People come and go all the time. Young journalists cross the river to the big time by hopping across newsrooms like they are stepping stones.

I used to get attached. I used to make really close friends and then cry when they left. But I was young and not attuned to the culture of this field. So co-workers became acquaintances. People I could joke with at work, and have drinks with after work, but not really people I depended on for deep friendships.

Ten years into my career, things are changing. I have some very close friends here at The Californian. I really tried not to get too attached to some of them, but it's hard when there are so many wonderful people around.

Now one of my best friends at the newspaper is leaving and I'm sad. Luckily she isn't moving on to a different newspaper in a different city far, far away. She is going to become a teacher right her in Bakersfield. Go figure -- I'm actually going to have a friends OUTSIDE of work for a change!

But, Colleen Jiron, I will miss you so much. Colleen has worked at The Californian for 11 years, first as a copy editor and then as assistant features editor. If you've ever sent in a photo for Mother's Day, Father's Day, College Bound Seniors, or any of the multitude of community features Eye Street offers, you have "met" Colleen. She has a tremendous amount of compassion and heart. She is a great leader in the newsroom and provides wonderful customer service to readers.

Today is Colleen's last day. It is hard to say goodbye to her, but at least we can still make lunch plans. Good luck, Colleen! You're going to make a great teacher!