Talk about an attitude adjustment

My company headquarters are moving from Emeryville to South San Francisco. Next Monday I will be sitting in a new desk in a different city.

My company is providing shuttle service from our current Emeryville site down to the new office. The shuttle times were not convenient and were going to totally screw with my sleep time, personal life and exercise sked.

But a new shuttle schedule came out today and there are more options, which makes it all so much more manageable.

It's amazing ... after the new schedule came out my attitude about the move changed a lot. Don't get me wrong, I still would love work to be 4 1/2 miles from my house--makes life so convenient. And with my gym almost across the street from work, yea, talk about easy and convenient.

The new building we are going into will be amazing. The amenities are great. We all will be under one roof. (Right now one of our Legal team members is in South City.) I am just not jazzed at where the actual building is located.

With the new shuttle sked, the main things I am excited about are the fact that I no longer have to wake up at the crack of dawn, we don't have to revamp Joey's insulin sked and my workout sked is not going to be be skewed too much. (I mean I still have some adjustments to make. Plus there is a swanky gym at work I can use--though I do so much better with c lasses.)

It's purple shirt day

Today I had an eye appointment. I really like my eye doctor and all the staff who work there. I noticed everyone was wearing purple. I made a comment to one of the staff members that the last time I was in I noticed the staff were all wearing purple. I just thought it was a coincidence. Apparently Mondays are purple day. Tuesdays are black. Apparently every three months they switch up the color days. The office gives employees a clothing allowance. I could tell that everyone is happy at work and really enjoys working there. Everyone is always so nice and kind and helpful.

I had my eyes dilated today. After that happens I am pretty much useless for a few hours. I came home and watched TV in my sunglasses. (I watched the latest episode of Army Wives. Talk about 45 minutes of pure sadness. Major tearjerker.) After that I napped for a bit.

When I was thinking purple shirt day it reminded me of a scene in Stepmom about purple shirt day. I googled it and tried to find the scene. I couldn't. But I found another meaning for purple shirt day, which apparently just happened on March 26 to indicate epilepsy awareness and support.

It's only 9 p.m. and I am still so tired. Will be going to bed soon. Good night.

Oh man! Heart Breaker!

The Wildcats game was exciting and crazy and they should have more 3-pointers. But they played with heart and they fought till the end. I am proud to be a Wildcat. But man, I would have loved for them to have gone to the Final Four.

Saturday night I headed to my friend Miriam's house for a spin party. There was lots of good food, good wine and fun company. It's always funny to see gym friends outside the gym in normal clothes. Two friends brought their son--who is about 11 or 12. He pretty much just sat there and played his video game and listened to his own music. But if you chatted him up he would talk away. His parents kept trying to get him to dance. I told him he needed to show his dad how to dance. Later I asked him if he would play some of his music for us (he likes R&B and Hip Hop). He played 3-4 songs, which the crowd liked. The last song he played I didn't recognize and I asked him: Justin Beiber. We all had a good time dancing and singing to Baby. I almost had the young man up to dance. He actually started to get out of the chair and then Mom or Dad came over and he sat back down. Dang it!

This morning I kinda lounged until my morning yoga class. As I left class, I checked on the score of the Chickenhawk/VCU basketball game. It was at half time and VCU was way ahead. I came home and asked Curt if that score was true. Wow, that put me in a good mood. I watched the second half with Curt and relished in the VCU win! (I have a hatred for Kansas. It's nothing personal. I have a lot of KU friends.)

The rest of the day has been lounging, especially with Joey.

Making a healthy dinner right now. Corn flaked breaded baked chicken and veggies on the side. Should be ready shortly.

Dedicated to my Cats today! Beat UConn!

This song has been played in one of my spin classes a few times. I kinda like it. And I want to dedicate it to my Wildcats today.

Bear Down! If you want to know all the lyrics to Bear Down, Arizona, here you go.

Grrraaarrrwww! Let's go, Wildcats!

I got home just in time with my Corona Light and lime for the start of the Wildcats vs. Duke.

Let's go, Cats.

Bear Down Arizona Bear Down Red and Blue

As I packed last week for our trip to Vegas I pulled out all of my Wildcat gear. I realized most of my shirts are really old and I need some updated stuff.

I even have my Cardiac Cats T-shirt from when the Wildcats won the championship in 1997--my senior year at the UA.

That was an exciting tournament.

The Cats are gonna have to work really hard to beat Duke tomorrow night. And I hope they beat and crush Duke!

Photo above was taken by Jen when we were all at an Irish bar in New York New York watching the Wildcats beat Texas! That was an insane and intense game. But it was so exciting.

Home from Vegas

Saturday night Curt and I met up with Jen and Dave for dinner at Battista's Hole in the Wall. We, of course, received accordion entertainment from Gordy. We had a delicious dinner. I had eggplant parmesan. Man, it was so good. Jen, Dave and I shared the bottomless wine. The end of the meal comes with an amazing cappuccino. After we slurped down our coffees we headed to Treasure Island to see Mystere. Those Cirque du Soliel shows are amazing. Curt and I saw Ka last year, and it was so amazing. Wowza! Mystere was also pretty amazing.

Sunday was Curt's birthday. When I woke up I headed to Starbucks for breakfast and coffee. Curt then opened his birthday cards. After that I met up with Jen for a workout in the hotel gym. Curt and Dave met up to scope out a place to watch the UA basketball game.

Jen and I met up with the guys after our workout and showers. They ended up with a "private room" at an Irish Pub in New York New York. We had this whole little area to ourselves and a TV to ourselves as well. It was pretty cool.

After UA gave us a near panic attack with a squeak of a win we headed back to our hotel. (By the way, I bet on my Wildcats and it paid off.)

Jen and Dave had reservations for a nice dinner at the restaurant they had their wedding reception seven years ago.

Curt and I headed back to our room for a nap. Then we headed to Ellis Island to cash in my Wildcat winnings. Unfortunately the Sports Book was down, as it was the day before. I will have to mail it in. Curt played a little black jack and I played some penny slots. I played the Tabasco slot machine and FINALLY the Shake Your Booty machine opened up. So I played that for about 5-10 minutes when I got a big win (my big wins before were between 350 and 400 pennies) of about 20 bucks! I cashed out and we spent my winnings at the bar.

Curt and I decided to order an appetizer sampler platter, which ended up being dinner, and two beers. (By the way, the draft beers at Ellis Island are $1.75.) We were at the bar not even 30 minutes when we realized we were there for Karaoke. Curt texted Dave and told him they should join us after their dinner.

Eventually Jen and Dave showed up. Dave, of course, did Sweet Caroline, which Curt recorded. Jen and Dave did, I've Got You, Babe. Curt, Guitars and Cadillacs. Jen and Dave did some more. I did none--because no one should hear me sing. By the way, Jen has a pretty amazing voice. I know we did Karaoke after their wedding--but buckets and buckets of beer had been consumed. So I hardly remember specifics.

At the Ellis Island bar we witnessed Security escorting a woman out. She sang a Selena song at one point, well, she danced on stage and swung the mike around and banged it into the wall. She had some sort of encounter with some other patrons and soon after that she was escorted out. But not before she had an outfit change.

After many beers, hours of Karaoke and lots of laughs we walked back to our hotel.

Man, that was a great weekend. We had a really good time and are planning on doing it again next year.

The only bummer of the weekend was that the weather was never nice enough for any pool time. Dang it!

Here are some photos from our weekend. Enjoy!

Good times in Vegas

Curt and I arrived in Las Vegas very late Thursday night. Our flight was two hours delayed, which worked out because Curt was able to watch the whole Mizzou game.

We actually got a free drink on our flight as Southwest celebrates most holidays with a free beverage.

We got to our hotel, MGM Signature, about midnight. We checked in and got a quick bite before bed.

Friday morning we scoped out a bar to watch basketball and especially UA. Jen and Dave arrived right after the UA game started. We hung out, drank and watched UA squeak by with a win. Afterward we had an amazing lunch at the Wolfgang Puck restaurant. Then back to our rooms to relax, nap ...

We met up at 8 and headed to a place Curt had been recommended off the strip: Ellis Island. They have good beer on tap for $1.75. We watched some basketball, drank beer and Dave played Black Jack. Eventually we headed back to our hotel. We were a little hungry. Jen and I hit Nathan's for some dogs and fries. They were pretty good.

This morning Jen and I met up and headed to the gym for a workout. The guys met up and headed to Ellis Island. After our workout Jen and I got cleaned up and met for lunch. We had some yummy sandwiches and then met the guys at Ellis Island. (The guys had $5 steak and egg lunch.)

We did some more game watching, Dave played Black Jack, Jen and I played penny slots: I first started with Sex and the City, which was a penny slot, though the lowest bet you could make was 50 cents. Mr. Big won me 375 pennies. I cashed out and went to look for Shake Your Booty. I came upon Hot Flashes and had to play. Shake Your Booty was out of order and take (2 slots) so I found Snow Globes to play until we headed out.

Curt is already napping. And my eyes are about half crossed at the moment.

Tonight we are having dinner at Battista's and then we are going to see Mystere.

I have to say, I have fun in Vegas, I have fun with Jen & Dave and I have fun with Jen & Dave in Vegas. How much more better can this get? Anyone else want to join us for an adult weekend next year?

Rain, rain go away ...

So we Sprang Forward on Sunday and I have seen absolutely no benefits to this.

What I have seen is that I can hardly get up when my alarm goes off, it is dark in the morning and since we have had tons of rain there is no later and lighter evenings. We got ripped off.

Joey better realize what a great mama he has. I had to stop at Petco tonight to get him a few things. It was pouring rain and I got dumped on. Normally I would have skipped the trip. But we are going out of town Thursday night and I didn't want to leave tomorrow night as my last resort just in case something came up and I couldn't make.

Speaking of Joey ... he updates his blog very regularly. Check it out.

And don't forget to check out Go Fit Girl!, which is also updated regularly these days.

... except for bad guys

I love my family, my friends and everyone in the whole universe -- except for bad guys.

Today I attended a memorial service for a 5-year-old boy (who is quoted above).

It has been a somber past week and day.

It was amazing to see the outpouring of love and kindness today.

The stories I heard about him were heart warming. He was a good and kind boy with a love of life and would have become an amazing person. And I credit the amazing person he would have become to his two parents.

The young boy loved the color red (and soccer and painting and giving big bear hugs and tae kwon do and running and art and so much more) and people were encouraged to wear it. It was neat to see all the people who wore red.

Feeling spicy!

On Saturday Curt and I had lunch with Monica and Malcolm at Homeroom, the mac & cheese place. I had Spicy Mac and it was so good! We shared a pitcher of beer. And for dessert I had a bloat= beer float. It was different and kinda yummy.

After lunch I had a few errands to run. After that I met Curt at McNally's to watch the second half of the UA game. Man, what a game! Bummer that my Cats lost.

We came home and watched The Hangover ... in preparation for our trip to Vegas next weekend!

We sprang forward today. Normally I hate the time change. I usually feel off and so tired the whole day. So far I feel OK today. I think going to yoga helped. It is 930 and I am starting to feel tired, which is good because I need to go to bed soon. Normally I would make it a point to go to spin tomorrow. But I can't tomorrow.

I should announce to my family that Arizona is now in the same time zone as me again. Just in case they weren't sure. (Arizona doesn't spring forward or fall back.)

Don't forget to keep up with Go Fit Girl!

Tsunami hit the Bay

By the time the tsunami hit our area it was pretty minor. But Crescent City, which is north and Santa Cruz, which is south had some damage. I think in Crescent City one person died.

It is amazing that the tsunami could travel roughly 7,000 miles. Isn't that amazing? And scary?

My friend Jen found a video of the tsunami wave coming in near where I took this photo (to the left).

Click here to watch the video.

That video was shot on the opposite side of where I took this photo. It was either taken in the same building I work in our the hotel right next door.

For many people yesterday their day seemed off. I had mentioned that maybe the Earth was off its axis. And I saw a story this morning that stated just that. Man, that is wild.

Thinking of my mom

As I think most people know that when your car is low on gas a little light lights up to let you know you should fill up soon.

Years ago when I was living in Oregon I came back to Tucson for a visit. My mom and I had dinner with my second mom, Francine. We were dropping Francine off at her car when the gas light came on. My mom noticed it and asked me what it was. My response was, You've never seen that before? Answer: No.

We all got out of the car to say goodbye and give Francine hugs and I just left the car running. As we were chatting my mom remembered the light and was ready to go so we could fill up.

After that we hit a gas station and filled up.

My mom probably still does this. But once the tank is at a quarter full she fills up. But then you never run out of gas. I never have (knock on wood) and I usually wait for the light reminder.

Anyway, the point of this story is whenever my gas light comes on I think of my mom. And it came on tonight while driving home from work.

Don't forget to check out Go Fit Girl! It's been recently updated.

I have a big purse

The purse I carry right next is considered big. But it isn't the biggest purse I have carried around. For a while I carried a honker purse called a Big Buddha bag. It was great because it was so huge. It was my purse and my carryon. It always sucked because I could never find anything and I carried way too much, so that thing got heavy. This is the closest I can find to my actual Buddha bag.

My purse is much smaller now. But I definitely still carry too much. And right now there is so much crap in my purse that I pretty much can't find anything in there. I was at Target yesterday and couldn't find a pen to mark up my shopping list.

My friend Alicia sent me an interesting article about big purses and those who carry big purses.

Don't forget to check out Go Fit Girl! for updates.

Visit to Target

A new Target opened close to our house and work (for the time being anyway). It isn't a two-story Target (bummer). But it is new and nice. And I visited it today before I headed to work.

I got all my shopping done and was standing in Lane B when it was announced that Lane B could proceed to Register No. 2. Nice!

Of course some jerk yelled at a manager telling her how horrible the way the lines set up were and how idiotic it was. Dude, you're at Target. Get over yourself.

This kid was ringing me up and we were chatting away. As he rang up my Hello Kitty socks he asked me how many kids I had. I responded: None. Those socks are for me.

He laughed and told me that that was awesome and he thought it was cool that I wore them.

As I was leaving he told me how cool it was again and laughed. I really think I made that kid's day. It was fun and entertaining and hey, I was just being me!

I am making it a goal to keep up on my Go Fit Girl! blog. So read up on what I am eating and when I visit the gym and all that fun stuff.

Do I really have to go back to work tomorrow?

Today after my yoga class, Curt and I headed to Palo Alto. Home of Stanford, Facebook and much more.

Curt had ordered some pants from Patagonia, but they arrived in the wrong size. He exchanged his pants for new ones. I also found some swim shorts--you know, you can wear them over your suit and in the water.

After Patagonia we hit Miyake for lunch. It is a well-known sushi place in Palo Alto. We had a really yummy and inexpensive lunch. But the best part was that I got carded for my beer.

This weekend was rather unproductive--unless you count watching some of Season 2 of Nurse Jackie and viewing of Inception. I am not sure if Inception was brilliant, really just trying to F with our minds or no good at all.

I did get a few things done: paid ONE bill; went through a week's worth pile of mail; Joey got a nail trim; and I took a pair of boots to the shoe repair.

Clive

Richard Austin/Rex

I have seen this little pig on ads on Facebook and I had to find out about him because, c'mon, he is so cute!

If you want to read more about Clive, go here.

Learning lots

My co-worker Melissa and I attended a training in the city. The two of us recently became supervisors at work and we are looking for ways to learn as much as we can. I attended a training in January that was called Making the Transition from Staff Member to Supervisor. It was excellent and I learned a lot.

Today Melissa and I attended Leadership and Management Skills for Women. The trainer was fun and funny and made the day interesting. We learned a lot (personally, I think this training could be two days).

Just learning different ways to approach situations is amazing .... how easy it can be by just changing your approach and the way something is said. I tend to be passive aggressive, which gets me nowhere and pretty much just upsets me even more.

I really appreciate my company for making learning, furthering your education and training an important part of work and improving yourself.

Yesterday my week was already crazy and nuts. And the idea of being gone a whole day for training stressed me out. But knowing that taking care of me--whether that is leaving work at a reasonable hour or making sure I make it to the gym regularly or take a training to better myself at work--needs to be a priority.

And I will try to take on the rest of my week with stride, grace and style.