More than a year

In February 2008 I had a cold. In February 2009 I had a cold. And I think they were both in the first week of the month. So I was guessing for this February I would get sick. Didn't happen.

My Legal co-workers seem to keep passing around some sort of crap. Somehow I have avoided it.

I do rarely get sick and when I do I get a cold for a good two weeks.

There are different theories on why I don't get sick very often: lots of exercise; fairly healthy eating; and the best one, I drink a lot of wine.

Even as a kid I wasn't sick very often (so that debunks the wine theory). From 1st through 4th grades I had perfect attendance. And I was proud of that. Yes, I was a dork.

Breaking News: Ricky Martin is gay!

peoplestylewatch.com

Well, it is about time that he finally comes out.

I wasn't sure if a straight guy could look that good in leather pants. hee hee

I wonder if people are shocked like they were when George Michael came out?

Hey, if the Justin character on Ugly Betty can finally admit that he is gay ... then so can Enrique Martin.

Anyway, good for him for finally coming out.

Still Team Edward

This weekend was pretty low key. Pretty much had to be after last weekend.

Saturday went to the gym for the normal two hours of torture. Came home and did a little knitting. Then a little before 2 headed to the vet with Joey. See pic to the left.

Joey had his regular senior check-up. It's funny ... because at home Curt and I have to trick Joey to get him into the carrier and shove him in there. Once at the vet he has to be pulled out. (Check out Joey's blog for his version of the story.)

Once we got home from the vet I could tell Joey was mad at me. I got the cold shoulder for a little while. Eventually he got over it and he has unconditional love for me again.

Saturday afternoon/evening I did a little work from home.

After that Curt and I tried a kinda new restaurant in our hood for dinner. We had sardines for appetizers--it was really good. For dinner I had a side of polenta (so yummy) and asparagus and a white bean fennel soup. Curt had pasta. I broke my no drinking vow for the weekend and had a glass of wine. Curt says it doesn't count because it was a glass of wine with dinner--ha!

We watched Men Who Stare at Goats--which had a few funny moments, but, eh.

This morning hit the grocery store--my least favorite chore. But I was excited that between my coupon clipping and Safeway card I saved more than 40 bucks, bill was slightly under $100. Nice!

Then I took a walk in the hood and got a mani/pedi. It had been a long time coming. It had been more than 3 1/2 months. After that home for some more working from home ...

Once I was done with what I needed to work on I rewarded myself with popcorn, Vanilla Coke Zero and New Moon. Yes, I finally watched it today. I was so excited. But, I do have to say, I am still Team Edward.

Now for The Pacific (it's no Band of Brothers). But it is still pretty good.

Allergies, I don't love you ...

and I don't really like you either.

My allergies started acting up on Sunday while we were still in Vegas. I figured it had to do with the dry climate, which I am no longer used to.

But once back in the Bay Area I realized many others were having allergy issues, too.

I have been tired since Sunday, itchy nose, sore throat for two days, dry eyes, etc.

Bleh! I will be happy when I am just having my regular everyday allergy symptoms.

My worst allergy attacks have occurred after I moved to Oregon and came back to Arizona for visits. One week back home I was sick the whole time. I could barely hear; my head felt huge; I was totally out of it; I had a horrible cough; I was drugged up on Benadryl. Man, it sucked.

When I lived in Oregon I went to a pumpkin patch with my friends Dan and Angela and Dan's nephew, Henry. Henry played in an area with loose hay. I am allergic to hay. I stood far enough away that I thought I would be OK but close enough to watch Henry. By that evening I felt awful. I felt like I had a horrible cold for a week. I was exhausted for a week.

Luckily I have only had three major attacks. Let's hope it stays that way. Because I am pretty useless and nothing makes me feel better.

The Baby Whisperer: Part 2

When I wrote about being a baby whisperer last week I forgot to mention this funny story.

When Mark (my cousin) and Suzy were visiting us last month we went into the city. We took BART home. The train was a little packed. So Suzy and I sat together and Mark and Curt sat together. Across from Suzy and me was a grandma and her grandson. He started chatting with us, showing us his dinosaur book, etc. Eventually the train cleared out a bit and the guys moved into a spot where there were four seats. Suzy moved over.

After Suzy moved the little guy (who was probably 6 or 7) looked at me and then the empty seat and said, I could sit by you. I said, you could. So he plopped himself down and just chatted away.

I don't know what it is, but those little people are just drawn to me. As long as they are behaving, not crying and not throwing up I am pretty OK with it. ;)

Drunken dialing

Now is my chance to summarize the rest of our Vegas weekend.

Before I do ... we have already decided that we are going back next year for the opening of the NCAA tourney. We will be arriving that Thursday night (late--hopefully not as late as this past time) and leaving the following Monday. So, if you want to join us, please do.

Saturday morning Curt and I took it easy with some coffee and muffins. About 11 I headed to the pool for sun and lounging. As part of our hotel deal we got a free bottle of booze. I picked sparkling wine. So I filled my water bottle with some adult beverage and headed to the pool. I lounged, read some trashy celebrity news and listened to stupid, young, drunk people acting like idiots. Eventually Curt joined me. We were able to lounge in the sun and watch basketball and enjoy some drinks.

Eventually Curt headed back to the room. I stuck around the pool a little longer ... and at some point drunk dialed my mom. I asked her later if she knew I was drunk. Nope, just thought I was really happy, which I guess I was.

(One of my co-workers had asked me if I was going to be drinking all day over the weekend. I was initially offended by the question and asked, are you? Apparently I shouldn't have been offended.)

Eventually I went back up to the room to check in for our flight. And then to pass out right before Kansas lost! So happy the stupid chickenhawks lost!

Curt and I headed to Battista's Hole in the Wall for dinner. Love that place. And we got to listen to Gordie play his accordian.

After dinner we headed to MGM Grand for the Cirque Du Soleil Ka show. Wow, that was so amazing, awesome, terrifying and exciting. It was worth every penny we spent.

(FYI: Saturday was the first day of spring and Curt's birthday!)

Sunday we packed up and headed to the airport.

Sunday night there was unpacking, laundry, pizza ordering and eating, showering and catching up on some shows.

And today was back to the grind. It was tough going back after a fun weekend. Can't wait to do it again next year.

I <3 Las Vegas

It took us forever to get to Vegas. Our flight out of Oakland was supposed to leave at 8:30. We didn't leave until 10:30. I don't know where our plane was coming from. But it was late.
We got in about 11:30 and there were like 5 planes waiting to get to a gate.
We probably waited in this huge line for a taxi for about 45 minutes. I have to say they were organized at the airport. I figured we weren't the only ones who thought it would be a good weekend to watch some college ball.
What we found out later is that at some point the Las Vegas airport was closed because of high winds.
We got to Planet Hollywood close to 1 a.m. We were tired and ready to relax. Then we got to stand in line for about an hour and a half just to check in.
I met some girls who were wearing I "heart" Las Vegas T-shirts. One of them asked me if it was my first time to Vegas. I said no. Then I asked if it was their first first, already knowing the answer. I was also asked what were the good clubs. Uuuuuh. I told her she was asking the wrong person.
We finally check in and they tell us that we are being put up in the PH towers. We were so tired and irritated. But whatever. Our room came with a fee bottle of booze. I tried to redeem and I couldn't because I wasn't Curt. I was highly irritated. Curt got it for me.
We got to the towers, got a room upgrade and a huge apology. And the towers are much nicer than the other part of PH.
We got into our room about 3 a.m. and asleep about 3:30. I got up the morning before at 6. That's a long day.

This morning Curt headed out to make some bets and go watch some basketball at the sports book. I joined him for the Missouri game. After Missouri won we headed for a late lunch.
After that I had to come back to the hotel room for a nap. Curt did some more basketball watching and then headed back to the room for lounging.
This evening we headed out for a walk, penny slot playing and dinner. I played a penny slot called Kitty Glitter. I played that slot for like an hour on 2 bucks. My biggest win was off 4 Siamese and a wild card for 300. So that's 3 bucks. I got served booze twice. Not too shabby.
We had dinner at Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon.
We are both beat and ready for bed.
This was part of my Facebook status update last night: Looking forward to a weekend of fun, relaxing, penny slot playing, lounging by the pool, NCAA tourney watching ... all with Curt.
Everything has been checked off the list except for the lounging by the pool. I plan on doing that tomorrow.
Good night.

The Baby Whisperer

I have more than 20 pictures in my cube ... mostly of other people's kids (and some dogs I just noticed).
This morning someone said to me, cute pictures. How old are they?
I wonder if he really thought all of those munchkins were mine.

As you all know Curt and I are child free by choice. But I do have a way with children. Not to brag, but they seem to love me. :)
Recently a co-worker had her almost 1-year-old in the office. I was chatting with the baby. She is walking, with help. So I went to grab her little hands to help her walk and she held her hands out to me to be picked up. Mama was totally surprised and said she doesn't do that to people she doesn't know. Other co-workers tried to pick her up and nope, she wasn't having it. Then Mama called me The Baby Whisperer.

And to rub it in a little ... we don't have kids and are going to Vegas this weekend. Woot-woot!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today on the way to work I noticed so many people wearing green. It made me laugh. No other day do we all wear the same color.

I would like to take a moment to reflect on my Great-Grandma Chihak. Her maiden name was Brady. She was 100% Irish and her birthday was March 17. She was a sweet lady!

My St. Patty's Day will consist of working, heading to spin, then maybe a little laundry, checking in on SW and packing for our flight to Vegas, BABY!

We are heading to Vegas tomorrow night to celebrate Curt's birthday and to watch some NCAA tourney action. At least I have a team to root for, since mine for the first time in what 25 years? didn't make the tournament, which is the Mizzou Tigers. Rrrrr!

Be safe everyone!

I have to admit ...

... it is nice to leave work or the gym and it is still light outside. So I guess there is something good about spring forward. I wish we would just spring forward and be done with it.

It's the little things

This morning at work I made my coffee. Then I wandered to the other kitchen to see if there were any cups of Honey Nut Cheerios. (Work provides items to make breakfast or lunch or even a snack.) I opened the cupboard and found many cups of Honey Nut Cheerios. I thought to myself, I am so happy. :)

Booo to spring forward; yea to Arizona!

I have to say there was nothing fancy about this past weekend. But it was a great weekend. (Well, Curt and I did host a pretty awesome party ... but I wouldn't call that fancy.)

Friday night was mostly cleaning, shopping and preparing for the awesome party, which was Saturday night.

Saturday was my normal 2 hours at the gym, followed by more house cleaning and party preparing. I did take a break to join Curt for a drink at McNally's. I hadn't been there in some time and missed seeing our regular bartender, John. We promised him some tamales. So I had to deliver.

After my Bloody Mary back to the house. I did get another little break to do some knitting.

Our friends Rebecca and Cyrus are moving to Germany. I am so excited for them but am sad that they are leaving, too. So what better thing to do then send them off with a great celebration and lots of friends.

Curt and I provided the munchies (which later I realized I forgot to pull out the veggie tray or the fruit tray--dang it!) and asked guests to bring drinks. Lots of people came and I met a lot of new people--made some new friends. And also got to see old friends, too.

I think the last of the guests left about 1 a.m. I remember when 1 a.m. was early. Ha! Those days are long gone.

Here is a link to pics we took while geo-tagging.

Sunday I was awake about 7:30, which was actually 8:30. Curt and I actually did some cleaning up. Then I curled up on the couch. So between 9:30 and noon I did some lounging and napping. Not sure which wonked me out more: the time change or the party or maybe a little of both. I purposely didn't plan anything for Sunday because I normally don't do well with the time change, especially when it is spring forward.

I also caught up on some shows. About 4:30 I decided to be respectable and get out of my jammies and take a shower. About 5:30 Curt and I headed to Sushiya for dinner. We tried a few different things and all was yummy, as always.

Sunday night we lounged, Skyped with the in-laws, I chatted with my mom. And then we watched Precious. It wasn't as hard to watch as I thought. Not that it was wonderful and I enjoyed watching that poor girl be abused in ways that are so unimaginable. But I have to say it was a well-acted movie. I have only seen three of the 10 nominated films of 2009. We have also watched The Hurt Locker and Up in the Air. And Precious has been the most worthy so far. Not that the other two weren't good. I liked Up in the Air--but not sure if it was really worthy of nomination. (The young woman in Up in the Air did an amazing job.) Then again I am not an awards show fan and think most of that is BS anyway. If I want to watch a movie, whether it was nominated or an award winner or not, I am gonna watch the movie.

Hmmmm

I just finished watching the season finale of Big Love. For those of you who haven't watched it or are catching up on DVD I won't give anything away.

But it got me thinking.

I personally don't agree with polygamy. I think when you add unwilling girls to "marry" perverted old men that is disgusting. But if it is all adults, then that is their choice. But the whole idea that only men can have multiple wives is lame. If you are gonna practice polygamy it should be fair for both men and women. Equal opportunity here if you are practicing The Principal.

A character on the show said, polygamy is just an excuse to F*** around. I have to agree with her on that one.

Anyway, so why are we so accepting when a celebrity, politician, athlete, President of the United States cheats on their wife (usually multiple times) but we (and I am using we very general here) aren't OK with polygamy?

Today was a really great day

My day started off with trademark training in the city. It was a really good training which was geared toward biotech/pharmaceutical. Many of the people on the panel live in Tucson. And one works at the UA.

I had a nice and relaxing lunch. I love those lunches where you don't feel rushed and can just enjoy your food and drink. And having lunch by yourself every once in awhile is a nice thing, too.

For Christmas Curt gave me a gift certificate to Tooties--local shoe store. I hadn't spent it yet. And it was a good thing I waited. When I went in today many of the shoes were 50% off. I got an awesome pair of boots and flats. That was what I was thinking I wanted ... and that is what I left with.

Then there was some knitting and Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa sipping with some friends--two who I hadn't seen in some time. That was a good time. And we decided to try to meet about every 6 weeks. We felt every month might be too much and every two months was too long.

Then I left the girls for yoga class. After yoga I gave Curt and ring and asked if he wanted sushi for dinner. So stopped by Sushiya for takeout. As I was walking from the car to the restaurant a guy pumping gas said, hello beautiful. I said hi and kept walking. He said, he is a lucky guy (I made sure to tell Curt this). Then he said something about how if only he had a job. Should I still be flattered?

I had an episode of Law and Order: SVU on the DVR. What I didn't realize was that there were two new episodes back-to-back. Then found the episode of Parenthood online. It was fairly funny--a lot of Berkeley/East Bay references. Even one Emeryville reference.

So that pretty much summarizes my day.

Six degrees ...

Variety

So I have been wanting to write about this for some time. As I am kinda excited about it. :)

I found out recently that I am 4 degrees separated from Kevin Bacon. I have a friend (I won't reveal this friend because some of my readers may try to be as cool as me) whose cousin went to camp with Kyra Sedgewick who is married to Kevin Bacon.

Then yesterday one of my friends on Facebook posted that she was at a bar having a drink and sat next to Kevin Bacon who was having a glass of white wine. So that's 2 degrees.

If you want to know more info about the whole Six Degrees click here.

I love the lazy weekends

This past weekend was a good weekend, lazy and relaxing--just how I like them.

I love ending my workweek with a yoga class. It is a great way to wind down after a hectic week. Curt and I watched The Hangover, which was hilarious ... again.

Saturday the regular two hours at the gym; a hair trim; a yummy hot cocoa at the local chocolate shop; some chores around the house; some knitting; then watching The Hurt Locker--good movie, different, can't quit explain it, definitely intense.

Sunday was another lazy day. Some napping was involved. I was supposed to go to the movies with a friend but she wasn't feeling well so we postponed.

I love the lazy weekends ... especially when the work week is busy and chaotic. My days are long with work and then hitting the gym.