Strolling down memory lane

On my way in to work this morning one of the radio stations actually played "P.Y.T." by Michael Jackson. That song came out when Michael Jackson was "normal." Well, Michael Jackson normal. Anyway, I just thought it was fun.
Had a good visit with my mom and stepdad. They flew into San Fran the Sunday before Thanks. They drove to Napa and hung out there for a few days. Then Wednesday they came to our place. Wednesday night we had dinner in our wonderful hood. A great Italian place called Filipos.
Thursday Mom and I made Thanksgiving dinner. It actually was pretty easy. Curt and I had ordered a ham--which was excellent. (Burgers Smokehouse) We had turkey breast, stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes (which Fred made) and some other yummy stuff. Later I realized I forgot to bring out the salad or make the fresh green beans. Dang! Mrs. Smith made our pumpkin pie, but I made a Sugar Free chocolate pie for Curt. It was really easy and he said it was good. The boys watched a lot of football. Mom and I saw "Happy Feet" that night. It was funny and cute. We both thought the story was a little complicated for kids.
Friday we went into the city to look at Haight/Ashbury. (I told Fred he would be disappointed--there is a Ben & Jerry's and Gap on that corner.) We walked around. Then went to Chinatown for some shopping, eating and tea tasting. There were people all over the downtown area shopping. It was a mob scene. Crazy people! One clothing store even had a DJ. Friday night we had dinner again in our neighborhood--Seafood. Great restaurant.
Saturday was a lazy morning. Then off to Telegraph in Berkeley for some walking around and shopping. Vendors come out on the weekends and sell their jewelry, T-shirts, bumper stickers, hats, etc. I bought a bracelet and a really cute little shirt for Baby Beckidad. I LOVE it! After that we went to Triple Rock for drinks and lunch. Later that evening Mom made tacos at Curt's request. We have a ton left over. Tacos anyone?
Sunday it was cold and rainy so we just stayed in. Mom and Fred took off that day.
We had a great visit. It was fun and relaxing. A great way to spend a four-day weekend.
I took a few pics. As soon as I figure out how to get them off my new camera I will post them. (Curt got me a new camera for my birthday.)
Now the crazy and greedy shopping season has already begun. I have most of my Christmas shopping done. As most of you know my goal is to get it all done before Thanksgiving. But with the move I just didn't have the time. Plus I am making a few gifts. (Hope I get them all done in time to send off as Christmas gifts.)
Happy Shopping!

How could I forget?

Curt and I now have a regular bar we like to hang out at in Rockridge called McNally's. Anyway, on our walk there we pass by an antique shop. They have this crazy Ken (as in Barbie) display in one of their windows. So we took a few pics with the camera phone. (We also noticed many people stopping and looking at the display. It is pretty wild.)

What have I been up to?

A lot of working and trying to be productive around the new pad. The being productive part hasn't happened as much as I would like.
Yesterday I went Thanksgiving shopping. I have never cooked a Thanksgiving feast before. I would never do it on my own. My mom and stepadad will be here for the big feast. Curt and I ordered a ham and we will have turkey breast, pumpkin pie, rolls, green beans (fresh ones taste so much better than from the can I just recently discovered), chocolate pie for Curt, cornbread stuffing, etc.
Mom and Fred are in Napa right now. They arrived yesterday and will spend a few days there. Then come down to our hood Wednesday evening.
We don't have much planned yet. The big feast is Thursday, along with way too much football. The Chiefs are playing some special game that night--so mom and are heading to the movies. I know Mom wants to hit an area in Berkeley with shopping and vendors and stuff. We will also hang out in our new hood with restaurants, bars and shopping. Maybe we will go into the city. Pretty much whatever they want to do we will do it.
It should be a relaxing, long weekend. Can't wait!
Happy early Turkey day to all of you!

Relaxing weekend and semi-productive

Curt went to Albany over the weekend for the opening of deer season. And he got a good-sized doe on Sunday. More venison jerky coming my way!!!!
I spent the weekend doing some unpacking, watching most of Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy on DVD, doing tons of laundry. Sunday my friend Ronda came over and gave me a massage. She is an amazing massage therapist. And it is so wonderful to have a massage in your own home. While I was getting a massage Joey jumped on the table a couple of times. One time I opened my eyes and his face was right next to mine. Yikes! :)
After my massage Ronda and I walked around the hood and had lunch. Then she was off. We had a nice day together.
And now I am back to work.

9.6

I started Weight Watchers on October 18, and since then I have lost 9.6 pounds. Woo-hoo! I only have to lose 6 more pounds to make it to my goal that WW has set for me. I personally would like to lose 15 more pounds.
And I found out today that if you get to your WW weight goal by the end of your program (ours is 16 weeks) you get free membership for life!
So now the exercising part must really get going. I hadn't gotten into it since we were getting ready to move and then we moved over the weekend. Once our place is more organized I can really get back into my cardio with Maya. The good thing is I have a great neighborhood to walk around in. I plan on doing some exploring this weekend.

I am seeing BLUE!

What an amazing election night!
Curt and I went to our friends' Phil and Lisa's house to watch election results and eat barbecue. We had a lot of fun making fun of people. Ha ha!
It is very exciting that the Dems have taken back the House and could possibly take the Senate. When I left for work this morning CNN was still reporting 49-49 with 2 undecided.
Unfortunately Schwarzenegger won by a landslide.
But I was happy to see that Napolitano won in Arizona. Man, she is a great governor.
And it seems that the initiative in Berkeley won to start a petition to impeach Bush/Cheney. I voted yes on that one. I thought it was hilarious.
Even tho. I am not a Democrat I am happy they are taking back the House and most likely the Senate.
I am no party--but liberal through and through. (Just in case you didn't know that.)

And in other good (???) news ...

Britney finally wised (is that how you spell it???) up and filed to divorce that loser K-Fed. Why she ever married him in the first place is beyond me.

Now we just have to unpack

We are in our new place. The move went super smooth. The movers we hired were awesome. If you live in the Bay Area I recommend Five Star Movers. The guys emptied out our house, loaded the truck and unloaded it in three hours. If we ever move again we will definitely use their services.
So the unpacking is coming along slowly. I am so sick of looking at boxes that I am trying to ignore them.
This morning the cable/phone/Internet guy hooked us up. We also got digital cable and the box is having issues. Peter, the Comcast guy, tried 2 different boxes. He thought the second one was OK. But when I came back from my errands (Target, Petsmart, Home Depot and grocery store) it wasn't working. So I called him. He is gonna try to come back this afternoon. If not, first thing tomorrow morning. (Apparently all the other digital cable boxes he tried to hook up today didn't work either. Cheap pieces of crap!)
And right now I am doing laundry and I didn't have to load everything in my car and head to the ghetto laundromat. It is so wonderful!

Movin' On

So this will be my last post for a few days. Tonight we pack up all electronics. And we don't get hooked up for Internet access, cable, etc. until Monday.
The car is packed up with stuff to take over after work. I am leaving early today--around 3 p.m. Then back to the old place for one more load--all of my clothes. Then back again to do the last minute packing.
The movers arrive tomorrow at 8 a.m.
Sunday we are renting a pickup to get a futon from some friends and make an Ikea trip. We also have to clean the old place and meet with our old landlords for inspection.
I am taking Monday off to get stuff done and meet with the Comcast people to hook us up.
I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow--I hate moving in the rain. Plus at our new place the carpet was just cleaned and it looks so pretty!
I will post pics of our new place soon. And I STILL need to post our Philly trip pics and tell you all the great stories of the kids. Jackson, 4, says, "I'm funny. I'm funny, huh, Aunt Ann? I'm funny." Too cute!

What is up with my blog?

It is all F'd up and I can't figure out what happened. I didn't try to add anything weird or put some funky post of anything. It looked fine yesterday and today it is all wigged out!!!!

OK, now it is fixed. Once I posted a new post it was fine. Too weird.

Anyway, today was the start of rainy season here. Bleh. It is so depressing.