Ann Chihak Poff

Really fun weekend

2011-09-25T20:15:00.001-07:00

We had a really fun weekend. Wow, and now I feel exhausted. I have been tired and lazy all day.

Friday night we had drinks with our friends Eric, Loesje and Esteban at The Trappist. After a few drinks we headed to Tamarindo for dinner. Everything we ate was amazing. And I had a really good white sangria.

Saturday night we hung with the same crowd and headed to Dolores Park in the city for movie night in the park and watched the cheesy Top Gun. Eric brought some awesome sandwiches and we all had a great time eating, drinking and watching that movie. Man, who knew how dumb it was. The lines are so lame. And those guys sure liked to hang around in their towels. Hmm.

Anyway, it was a fun time. And I am definitely not ready for that 5 a.m. alarm clock tomorrow morning. Bleh.

Giving to others

2011-09-20T19:40:00.001-07:00

Curt and I met a guy on BART yesterday who is blind. He ended up sitting next to me and we had a great conversation.

He told me that he was about to get a guide dog. He will be heading to LA soon for a month-long training. I asked if he had been on a waiting list. He said he had been on one for about a year.

He was looking forward to getting the dog so he wouldn't have to rely on others and he could feel "normal," like he was before he was blind. He said he just wants to be able to walk down the street and feel like he did before.

Curt and I have donated to the Guide Dogs for the Blind before. But just once. After meeting that guy on BART I am ready to donate again.

As a human being I feel that it is my duty to donate money to others who are less fortunate than me. Curt and I don't have a house or children so we get hit pretty hard when it comes to taxes. Regardless, we want to help others.

Some of the regular charities we donate to are: Food Bank, Humane Society; women's shelters; Planned Parenthood; alma maters; charity gift cards; Brighter Beginnings; toy drives; Jr. Giants; food drives; KQED; most organizations our friends walk, run, bike or work to raise money for; etc. (If you look closely at the picture on the Jr. Giants linked I posted you can find Curt. He is on the left near a guy with a light green shirt and a dude whose head is turned.)

I also have recently started focusing my knitting on charity. Whether hats for the troops; scarves for college students who grew up in the foster system; tiny hats for preemies in the NICU (pictured above--I gave these to my mom who volunteers in the NICU); I knitted a hat for a high school friend's husband who was in Afghanistan and I am about to make another one for another husband; my friend Monica did the 3-day Susan G. Komen walk a couple of weeks ago, she asked me to knit her a scarf, I had enough time to knit two ...

I also run the food drive and toy drive at work around the holidays. I enjoy doing and encouraging others to donate as well.

I realize not everyone can afford to give monetarily. But there are so many ways to donate: your time, your talents. For me, it is hard right now to donate time. I really wish I could. But my monetary donations and knitting skills will have to do for now.

My mom is retired and probably volunteers close to 20 hours a week. She works in the NICU; food bank; soup kitchen; shelter (I believe for men to eat and shower and get some time off the street). I am probably missing something. I think she also does some sort of meal delivery as well.

It feels good to give to others. I am thankful I was raised by someone who feels that it is an important part of life. (Making sack lunches on Sundays after church for the soup kitchen really stuck.)

Celebrating Grandpa's 90 years

2011-09-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Featured in the collage above are: Grandpa; Ann; John; Alex; Alison; Tim; Emily; Ashley; Dad; Uncle Pat; Aunt Gen; Tony; Curt; and Marshall

This past weekend was truly amazing. The only negative was the heat. I was excited for the temperatures of 90ish. That is until I arrived. I have no idea how I survived 23 years in Tucson. And then later 3 1/2 years in Phoenix. That heat is wretched.

OK, get ready for my quick summary of the weekend ...

Curt and I arrived Friday night.

Saturday we had a late breakfast at The Arizona Inn with my mom and stepdad. Then it was time for errands: BevMo for drinks for my grandpa's 90th birthday party; Michaels for a frame for the collage I made for Grandpa with pics of all the grandkids, shown above; grocery for a few ingredients Dad needed for the meal; eegee's for my strawberry slushie (and one for Alex, too). We got back to Dad's to help with a few things, run another errand to get ice and corn tortillas, then get ready and head out about 2:15 to pick up the guest of honor for his 3 p.m. 90th birthday party.

Party was a success. It was fun. Grandpa was so appreciative. There was no family drama. Delicious food. Grandpa absolutely loved the collage of the grandkids younger and older with and without Grandpa. He got emotional over the collage and the card I created where all six of us grandkids signed. It was a fun party. It was so important that we did it.

After the party some of us headed to The Buffet for a drink. I have a tradition of taking my younger cousins there for a drink after they turn 21. All who joined us was: Of course Curt and myself, Fred (stepdad), cousins: Jackie, Emily and Alex and Emily's boyfriend, Adam. It was a good time. We bought a round of drinks with 2-3 more drinks and only spent 30 bucks. Gotta love The Buffet.

Sunday morning Dad made chorizo and eggs for breakfast. Emily and Adam joined Dad, Hilda, Curt, Alex and myself for breakfast. Then we hung around for a bit and chatted. Eventually Curt and I headed to my Mom's to fulfill family obligations on that side. My grandma came over for a visit along with my Uncle Mike and cousin Daniel. Mom had appetizers and drinks. It was a good visit. After the gang left we hung out for a bit and then the four of us headed to dinner: pizza and beer. After that Curt and I headed back to Dad's to relax for the rest of the evening.

This morning we headed to 4th Ave. for a little breakfast and coffee and then off to the airport to come home.

Here is a link to all the photos I took from the weekend.

What 09/11 means to me

2011-09-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

My brother and me in front of the twin towers circa 1989.

Today many people are reflecting on 09/11 and how they were affected by it. I had no personal ties to any of those who died.

My dealings were different. Curt and I worked second shift at The Arizona Republic. We were asleep when the first tower was hit and asleep when both towers had fallen.

My mom waited until about 8:30 a.m. and then called us. She woke us up. Curt answered the phone and then handed the phone to me and turned on the TV. I was confused and didn't understand what my mom was saying. She was very upset and said something about planes and one crashed in Pennsylvania and she and my stepdad were supposed to fly to Pittsburgh later that week.

For the rest of the morning Curt and I just watched TV.

We eventually got ready and headed to work. Some of my co-workers had been called in to work on an EXTRA. The newsroom was buzzing. Anyone who had the day off was called in. We all worked long hours, worked on our days off and a team that normally put out one daily newspaper was putting out two for a week.

The Republic newsroom has a lot of TVs. They were usually on but without sound. That week was one of the few times we had the volume up.

I experienced 09/11 as an American, a citizen and a journalist. It was hard, sad, tiring, exhausting and tough. But I was proud of the products we produced every day, whether it was the daily paper or the Extra.

I remember a couple of days in someone made a joke--probably inappropriate (but journalists have a different sense of humor) and it all gave us the laugh we so needed. Later that night we went out for drinks. Also needed.

Curt and I flew to Missouri about a month after the 09/11 terrorist attacks. It was an interesting world being at airports with armed men.

I am OK with all the rules that are in place to keep us safe. Some may be a pain: taking your shoes off; going through scanners; long lines; liquid restrictions. But isn't our safety worth it?

****

09/11 has some other meanings/significance to me as well. On the first anniversary of 09/11 Curt proposed. He was working at a different paper at the time and got off work at about 5 a.m. He

came home and woke me as he figured I would want to watch the ceremonies. Curt seemed to be acting a little weird that morning. But I couldn't figure out what was going on. Eventually I told him I had to go back to bed as I knew work would be busy with anniversary coverage. Then he proposed. And I couldn't go back to sleep. I don't know why he picked that day. Maybe he just finally got the guts to do it.

****

In 2004, on 09/11 my nana died. She was briefly ill for a second time. When I was in high school Nana had an aneurysm explode in her brain. She, by some miracle, survived it, but she was never the same Nana.

Nana was at my wedding and looked beautiful and had a great time. I am grateful that she was there.

The following year she died from a heart thing. I saw her weeks before she died. And I talked to her the night before she died.

She is pictured to the right when she was much younger. She was a beauty--inside and out. She was probably one of the most genuine people I ever knew.

Fake shots and long weekend

2011-09-05T21:04:00.001-07:00

For my readers who aren't on Facebook, here is a pic of Joey getting his fake shot. It got a lot of "likes" and comments on Facebook. It still cracks me up when I look at it.

Joey is still getting his fake shot every evening. And Curt is the one who seems to enjoy giving it.

Joey and I will visit Dr. Miller at the end of this month to see how Joey's sugar is doing and his kidney function as well.

********

We had a good weekend. All weekends should be 3-day weekends!

We had a loungy weekend. We had dinner last night with our new upstairs neighbors. They made dinner and invited us up. It was fun and delicious. I think we have made new friends.

Today after my yoga class Curt and I walked to brunch. On the way there I decided to call my mom's house because I knew the family would be over and I could talk to my grandma. (If you call her house she never answers the phone--so why bother calling, right?) I talked to my mom, grandma, one aunt, one uncle and two cousins!

I am excited to go home in a couple of weeks to celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday (my dad's dad) and see lots of family.

OK, it is a little after 9 and time for bed.

One fake shot a day

2011-08-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

Joey, my 17-year-old man furbaby, had an appointment at the vet on Friday. Joey needs a check up every six months because he is an old man. He gets his geriatric profile and diabetic check up.

Joey hates getting into his carrier. And I had to do it by myself Friday morning. It was a struggle getting him into the box. Once in the exam room while we were waiting for Dr. Miller Joey seemed more anxious than normal as he was whining and crying way more than usual. The barking dog outside our room probably contributed to both our angst. Joey wasn’t too excited to be examined by the vet. Once Dr. Miller was listening to Joey with the stethoscope Joey was getting pissy. As Dr. Miller started to feel Joey and check on his newly made bald spots on his body (apparently old man cats pull out their hair) Joey started growling and hissing. I got a little nervous as I did not want to get bit by my super unhappy probably angry cat.

Yesterday Dr. Miller called to give results of the tests and blood work. It is possible that Joey's diabetes is reversing. So we are going to one shot a day and will have Joey's fructosamine checked again in a month. The last time he was at the vet and had tests done they found that he was in very early renal failure. This time around it has advanced. So Joey is now taking potassium to help with his kidney function. The diet he is on right now for his diabetes is low carb, high protein. For kidney issues they usually want them to be on a diet that is low in protein. We will have a better idea of things in a month when we go back for more blood work.

Joey is very used to getting two shots a day. On the weekends he actually wakes me up to tell me it is time for his shot. After a shot he gets treats. So he wants the shot. So yesterday and today we gave him a kitty placebo--we poke him in the back of the neck with a pen. He seems satisfied with that and waits for his treats after his fake shot. We'll see how long the fake shot lasts. Especially if he ends up not needing any insulin shots.

Keep my furbaby in your thoughts. I want him to feel good and not be in any pain ever. I have had my furbaby for almost half my life. I have had him for 17 1/2 years.

Good genes

2011-08-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

After the gym on Thursday night I hit BevMo. I got some Spanish beer and wine for a paella party Curt and I attended last night.

I was carded as I was making my purchase. I have a hard time getting my license out of wallet. The cashier told me it was fine and leaned over to look at the date. I pointed out the '74.

Of course that created a conversation with the cashier, the guy bagging my booze and me. The two guys went on and on at how young I looked and that I have good genes, blah, blah, blah.

My grandpa is about to turn 90. He doesn't look 90. He still lives in his house, drives (really slow) and goes to the veteran's bar every afternoon to have a couple of Miller High Life's with his buddies. My mom's grandma died on her 96th birthday. Granita was healthy until about 92 or so when she fell and broke her shoulder. At the time she was still living alone.

Those who know me know I don't want to get old. I haven't figured out how I am going to prevent that.

****

Last night Curt and I went over to my friend Pam's house for a paella party. Pam's paella is pictured above. It was delicious. This was the third spin party of the year. I have become good friends with a group of women (and a few men) in my Saturday spin class and we have started hanging out. They are a fun group. They all are the main reason I haven't quit the gym yet. Because of my work commute and the fact that I have a gym at work and attend the neighborhood yoga studio and only go to 4-6 classes a month at the gym I have seriously contemplated quitting the gym. But the Saturdays keep me going ...

Anyway, the party was fun. Amazing food, good wine, a little dancing, a lot of eating. Just a good, fun time.

Today I hit the yoga studio. After that I met Curt for brunch. Then home for a nap and have been pretty much lazy since.

My new purse to celebrate 5 years

2011-08-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, three posts in ONE WEEK! Woot-woot!

October of 2010 my 5-year full-time anniversary occurred with my company.

Earlier this year Onyx came up with 5-, 10- and 15-year rewards.

I contemplated over what gift I wanted. I finally decided on a purse. I don't really care about brand-name purses. If I like the purse I like it whether it comes from Target, H&M or somewhere fancy.

There were two purses to pick from in the many gifts I had to choose from. I also contemplated a watch and a couple of other items.

I picked the Dooney & Bourke Medium Priscilla hand bag. I love it!!!

I also received a plague, which you see pictured above. I just got my purse yesterday. I hemmed and hawwed over what to get and I finally decided on my purse. I think it was a good choice.

Shaking hands with one of the greats

2011-08-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Curt and I donate a lot to charity. A charity we have donated to this year and last is called the Jr. Giants Stretch Drive.

If you donate a certain amount you are invited to a little reception before a Giants game. Curt and I went last year and unfortunately Willie was sick so we missed meeting him.

We attended the reception again this year, which was tonight. One of us gets to go out on the field. I think Curt appreciates it more than me. He walked out last year and this year. Though he told me next year I am doing it.

He also got to shake hands with Willie McCovey, which was super cool.

Here is Curt meeting Willie McCovey.

I can't wait to tell my Grandpa.

After the ceremony Curt and I met up for our Crazy Crab sandwiches. We decided to skip the game and eat dinner out by the water. We headed to BART to get on home. BART was (and still is) having delays. We waited more than a half and hour and decided to forget it and cab it home. Good thing we did. We ditched BART a little before 8:30 and the trains are still down and it is 9:20 and they have no idea when the computer will be back up.

OK, 9:20, time for bed.

Girls' weekend

2011-08-07T17:16:00.000-07:00

Curt recently told me that he may remove me from his bookmarks, you know, since I haven't updated in weeks and hardly update.

Sorry 'bout that. I can't imagine that will change anytime soon. My time is limited with my long commute these days. And seriously, there seems to be nothing that exciting going on lately.

And I am about to sign up for a course. So the little bit of time I have will go toward that for the next couple of months.

Curt went up to Tahoe this weekend with some guy friends.

So I had the whole weekend to myself!

Friday I worked from home (as I usually do on Fridays). During the day I took a yoga class. Then for dinner I met my friend Monica at Enoteca Molinari, a new tiny restaurant, which recently opened in the hood. Everything we had was amazing. We both had wine, we shared a Gorgonzola and onion crostini, shared a tomato and mozzarella salad, each had a pasta dish (Monica had pesto pasta and I had carbonara) and, of course, dessert, which was delicious as well. I couldn't believe how good all the food was. The flavors were just popping. Wow.

Saturday morning I went to two yoga classes at the yoga studio. I had a hair appointment in the afternoon for a trim. I ended up getting 5 inches trimmed and I still have a lot of hair. After that I did a little shopping in the hood with some gift certificates I hadn't used yet.

Then I came home for some wine, chick flick watching and take out Pad Thai.

This morning I just lounged around. I tried a different yoga class today. I normally take a 10:45 Vinyasa Flow class. But today I tried an Ashtanga class at 12:30. In a little bit I am heading to the 6 p.m. Restorative class. I am so looking forward to it.

The picture above is the salad Monica and I shared on Friday night. Wow, it was so amazing. The photo to the right is a sampling of my Girl Night In.

OK, it's almost time for me to leave for my Restorative class. Have a good night and week!

Meat Lover's Supreme Grillin'

2011-07-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

Our weekend was pretty low-key. Lately I have been more than happy to keep them that way. I need my vegg time as getting up at 5 a.m. during the week really takes its toll on me.

Curt went with a bunch of buddies to the city on Saturday for a soccer match and some eats and drinks. So I got some alone time to just hang out. I finished watching the rest of the season of Parenthood. Man, that is a good show. I also watched Hereafter, where wasn't as weird and bizarre as I thought it would be.

On Sunday we headed to Monica and Malcolm's for a cookout. I planned to grill a portobello and use a Sandwich Thin as my bread. Curt had defrosted some venison burger. I started thinking that I wanted to try the venison burger. So I had one. And wow, that was good. Better than a beef burger. And I like a good burger.

Pretty much everyone who showed up brought some sort of meat. After the venison I tried some lamb, beef, pork and beef again. I think my father-in-law would be so proud.

I did have a couple of grilled veggies and brie to balance it all out. Oh, and don't forget the wine.

It was a good time and a great way to end the weekend.

I started my Monday (once at work) by dumping most of my coffee into my lap. Luckily I was wearing tan pants, so the coffee pretty much blended in once it dried.

AWWWWW. SO CUTE!

2011-07-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

I know I never really post here these days. But this little guy should make up for it. (Posted on Mlkshk and Cute Overload.)

Oh My Gosh! It that not the cutest thing EVER?

You can find him or her here or here.

Last weekend was fairly relaxing. I feel I need those more and more. Like I don't want to plan anything and I just want to veg.

And who doesn't love a 3-day weekend?

Our friends Monica and Malcolm recently got engaged. So Monica's parents hosted an engagement party on Monday. And they hosted a taco bar. Man, the tacos were so freakin good! I had way too many. But it was so worth it.

Nothing too exciting has happened this week. Get up at 5 a.m., go to work, get some exercise in during the day, come home, have dinner and get ready for the next day.

Barcelona photos and a relaxing weekend

2011-06-26T19:04:00.001-07:00

I finally have my Barcelona pics up, which you can find here.

Curt posted his here.

We had a pretty easy weekend, especially since we didn't have any sort of weekend last week on account of crazy travel and problems with travel. But we eventually got home.

We had dinner tonight with our friend Jason who was in town for work. On the record we had no fun. Off the record it was great to see him and hang out for a bit. Kate, we welcome you next year. We will make it up to you with lots of wine tasting. :)

Long journey home ... but we made it home safely

2011-06-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

As soon as I have a chance I will post links to our photos from our amazing trip to Barcelona.

We had a great time.

Curt posted a photo here and there on his blog, you can check those out here.

Coming home was rough ...

Our flight out of Barcelona left three hours late. So we knew we would miss our flight from Frankfurt to SFO. But we figured when we landed in Frankfurt, United would have us booked on a later flight. (Which they did last year when our flight out of Amsterdam left three hours late and we missed our connecting flight in Chicago when the whole Volcano thing was happening.)

We got to Frankfurt and looked for a monitor for our gate to find out where we should go. All we saw on the board was that our flight was cancelled. Cancelled?

We went through passport and tried to find the United terminal, which was nearly impossible. There was no signage. So we just kept asking and they kept pointing us in the direction of Main Hall B, which we never actually saw a sign for that. We finally came to the United counter where there was no one to help us, just other stranded travelers.

Curt started wandering around and got a little info. There was like a 3-hour wait for our luggage. So we knew we likely wouldn't get it. We were given some toiletry kits and Curt and I headed to the Luthansa ticket help desk. We were given No. 808 and they were on 599. We decided after 30 minutes to just head to the hotel they were going to put us up in.

We got to the hotel and had dinner. And then waited for a shuttle to take us to another hotel, which ended up being super fancy.

Curt was able to get ahold of United via phone. When he checked online there was still no info about what was going on. But I had heard from another passenger that they saw on CNN that United was having computer issues. Then once in the hotel I saw on the CNN crawler that United's computer glitch stranded thousands, but that was it.

We got rebooked for several flights to get us home by midnight Sunday night, 28 hours later than we should have gotten in.

The shuttle picked us up the next morning at 6 a.m. We got to the airport about 6:30 and headed back to the Luthansa counter. We had our bags rerouted and boarding passes for our first two flights. Our ticketing agent found that we could get an earlier flight in LA and not have to have as long as a layover. Great! Especially since our layover in Munich was 5 hours.

Our flight from Frankfurt to Munich was short and no problem. In Munich we found a restaurant called Airbrau to have lunch and beer. It was good and filling. Then we wandered to another bar to have more beer. At some point I hit the wall and was super punchy.

We eventually were on our flight and ready to go. As they were doing final safety checks they realized the air conditioning needed minor maintenance. We were told it would take 10 minutes and then another 10 minutes. And then since we were waiting we better wait for passengers from another flight. I think we took off about an hour late.

We got to LA about an hour late. We had to go through passport, grab our luggage and go through customs. Curt's suitcase didn't arrive. So we rebooked my bag and got our boarding passes. We were in Terminal 3 and were told we had to go to Terminal 7. We booked it. Once we got to United it was mayhem. We were pretty confident we wouldn't be making the 9:20 flight.

When we were waiting for our flight from LA to SFO I am pretty sure I started hallucinating. We got in a little before midnight. Mom and Fred picked us up. (They came out for the week for their own mini-vacation and to take care of the house and furbaby.)

I got to bed about 2 a.m. and was awake about 6:3o or 7.

Curt headed to work. I hung out with Mom and Fred until they had to leave for the airport. I did laundry, went through the mail, paid bills and received Curt's suitcase when it arrived this afternoon.

Curt and I just finished eating tacos my mom made for us over the weekend. Delish! Our goal is to stay up until at least 8. We are both pretty tired. But I think we will make it ... since it is almost 7:15.

Mostly Barcelona food updates with a little beach and Picasso thrown in

2011-06-16T04:34:00.001-07:00

Curt has posted a few pics on his blog, if you want to take a peek before I get home and upload our photos.

Today Curt and I got up "early," around 9 a.m. and got ready to head to the Picasso museum. Curt and I aren't huge museum people. But we know when we visited a city (or country) there are certain things you just have to see. The Picasso museum was easy and we enjoyed it. We were there probably an hour. There isn't a ton of stuff to see. But enough to appreciate the artist.

After the museum we walked around and ended up at the La Boqueria. We walked around a bit. Found a little cafe for lunch and ate delicious food. We haven't had a bad meal at all. After lunch we walked around the market a little more, made a couple of purchases and left.

We are back at the apartment, relaxing and cooling down. It is humid outside. So we are taking a little break.

Tuesday and yesterday were kinda lazy. Tuesday was Mark and Rosie's last day in town. They came to our apartment about noon to drop their luggage off. Then we headed toward the beach. Had a drink or two at the Princesa beach bar and then lunch before they had to head off for their flight.

Curt and I took a long siesta. After that to Las Ramblas for tapas. We ended up at a place where you just pick from the various options in front of you. Essentially they count your toothpicks at the end of the night and you pay up.

Yesterday another lazy morning and then I headed to the beach while Curt went to Barcelona Camp Nou--the Barca football stadium. He made a couple of purchases and then met me at Princesa 21 for lunch. After lunch I headed back to the beach. As the day goes on the bigger the crowd along the Mediterranean.

And pretty much anything you might want to buy or not want to buy is being sold: pieces of coconut, massages, wraps, food, water, cerveza, braids for your hair, homemade mojitos ...

Last night Curt and I had dinner in the Gothic quarter, some place we had seen before and it looked good, called Chardonnay. We weren't really sure what we were ordering. But it all ended up being really good!

Barcelona updates

2011-06-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

I have had a hard time getting on my blog to post. Believe it or not, but having fewer issues with Go Fit Girl!

And I have a limited time tonight before we leave for dinner. So this will be quick.

Today Curt, Mark, Rosie and I headed to Montserrat. It was an amazing and beautiful place. We did a lot of walking and my feet are tired. But it was worth it for the views we took in.

We are meeting Mark and Rosie shortly for dinner at some tapas place Rosie read about. I have to say everywhere we have eaten has been delicious.

Apparently this month in Barceloneta, where we are staying, June is its festival month. So there are parties and bands galore around here. It is mayhem. Huge parties/parades keep going down the street near us. People around here know how to party. And I thought I was wild meeting friends at 9 p.m. for dinner. :)

Yesterday Curt, Mark, Rosie and I walked along Las Ramblas, saw La Sagrida Familia (but we didn't go inside) and headed to Parc Guell and spent part of the day there. When we got back to our hood we stopped for tapas and then home for a rest and to get cleaned up for dinner.

We had a delicious dinner last night, good wine, too. I have green risotto. When we got our check we all got a shot of some sort of liqueur to shoot. Whatever it was it was super yummy. After that we had a nightcap at a local bar. The place was small and cute (they usually are around here).

We have done a lot in the past two days. We have almost everything checked off the list.

Since I am having issues you will have to wait to see pics when we return. I have posted a few on Facebook, as Curt has. But if you aren't on FB, you are out of luck. Sorry, Charlie.

OK, here is a link to a pic if you aren't on the Facebook. And a view out of our apartment down our street.

In Barcelona

2011-06-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

Our wifi Internet service in our apartment is sketchy. Some web sites work just fine. Others not so much.

I seem to be having issues with my e-mail and Facebook. Great!

I tried to blog last night from my phone and no go.

Our travel went well. We got to our apartment in Barceloneta at about 4 or so. The streets are small and the buildings are close. There are bars all over.

When we first got here we walked around a bit, hit three different places for drinks and tapas. Then we came back to the apartment and got ready. Then off to dinner with Mark and Rosie. They are our British friends who live in London and are joining us for a few days.

We didn't go to bed until about 11. And I have to say for the first time on my first night in Europe I slept pretty well. Usually I go to bed just fine about 10 and am wide awake for hours at 2. I only woke up a few times during the night and went to back to bed right away.

I am trying to post pics of the paella we had last night and the delicious sangria I drank. But I am also having issues with that. So frustrating!

Tapas, sangria and the beach!

2011-06-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

Curt and I fly out to Barcelona today. I am so excited and and a little tired right now.

Most of my packing is done and just getting the last minute things done.

My mom and Fred are here to house and Joey sit. It's nice to have someone here full time to take care of the furbaby.

We love Ruff Ruff and they always do an amazing job. But with Joey being diabetic and being an old man I feel more comfortable having someone here all the time.

Photo to the left can be credited to: http://

www8.georgetown.edu/departments/spanport/barcelona/

I plan to be updating this blog regularly as we have wifi in our apartment while in Barcelona. I will also be updating Facebook.

What's with all the wieners?

2011-06-09T07:18:00.001-07:00

OK, here is my rant ... (Which I am retyping on my phone because something screwed up.)
First, hey guys! What's with the wiener texting? I am gonna go put on a limb and say most women DON'T want to receive a text with a picture of your junk.
Second, if you are gonna be a cheater at least wear a BLEEPIN' condom.
How dare you expose your wife/partner to all kinds of nasty diseases. How dare you bring a child into this world when it isn't your wife's and you have a wife.
I am not condoning cheating. But at least show some small amount of "respect" to your partner. You are already humiliating them by cheating on them. Don't bring diseases or a kid into this as well.
OK, I am done ... for now.

Testing out iPhone app

2011-06-04T22:42:00.001-07:00

I am writing this post from a blogging app on my phone.
You can add photos and links and text!

I love Mac & Cheese

2011-06-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

There is a mac & cheese place called Homeroom, which opened a few months ago, near where we live.

My goal is try to every mac & cheese on the menu.

Technically I have tried every one on the menu. But I haven't ordered every single one. Others have ordered the Trailer Mac and the Vermont White Cheddar, which I have tasted.

Today I had the Classic. It was really good. I added some crushed pepper and Tapatio and enjoyed it.

There used to be a mac on the menu called Spicy Mac, which was my favorite. But, for some reason, it is no longer on the menu. I think my favorite now is the Gilroy Mac. So good.

It's hard not to be tempted by all the amazing restaurants we live near. I did only have half my mac for lunch along with a side salad. I will likely have the other half for dinner tonight.

Love my lazy weekends

2011-05-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, well, I haven't blogged here lately. I have been concentrating on Go Fit Girl! these days. So sorry to my three readers of this blog. If you want to know what I am up to in the health/fitness related area visit me here.

This felt like a really long and super lazy weekend. I took Thursday off to go to a Giants game with friends. It was a beautiful day. When you attend a Giants day game you never know, do I bring my fleece or my sunscreen. I took both and only needed the sunscreen. We had fun even if the Giants lost.

Friday I worked from home. So that was Day 2 of sleeping in.

Saturday hit the gym for spin and abs class. I then hurried home to take a quick shower and get ready for our crowd to watch the Champion's League Final. We had about 15 people total in our house. We had goodies, lots of beer and pizza. We had a lot of fun.

Pretty much after that my weekend has been lazy, napping and watching movies. Sunday I did hit yoga and afterward Curt and I had brunch at Barclay's and then a visit to John at McNally's.

Today was all lazy all the time. Just the way I like it.

The picture above is from last weekend. Mini Tucson High Badger reunion in San Francisco. Me, Edwin (who I have known since 5th grade), Emily and Ilysha. Ilysha was in town for work and asked if we were available for dinner. We all were. We had a great time.

A real reunion was discussed. Ilysha brought up what a great job I did for our 10-year. I can't believe our 20-year reunion is next year. Planning the reunion last time was stressful and many were so ungrateful. Though many were very grateful and kind and were so thankful. But I seriously don't want to plan the next one. I don't even live in my homestate. There needs to be a committee for the next one. And I nominate all the jerks who complained last time to head it. :)

GREAT NEWS: Dorothy has been released!

2011-05-18T05:17:00.000-07:00

Read the story here.

Thanks for everyone who sent their prayers and good thoughts. And for those who e-mailed, called, retweeted, Facebooked, etc.

Today is a good day!

Dorothy, we are still waiting for you to come home

2011-05-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked two weeks that my friend Dorothy has been missing.

Syrian officials have said they deported Dorothy to Iran on May 1. But her family still has not heard from her. And there is no confirmation from Iran on this.

You can keep up with any and all updates on Facebook, Twitter or even the Al Jazeera web site, where Dorothy works.

When Dorothy worked at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer she wrote an article titled, The Cloth of Islam.

Dorothy wore an Islamic hijaab--a full-body outer cloak for three days in Seattle and on a train to and in Vancouver, B.C. and on a flight back.

Reading this article by Dorothy and her experiences is a great and amazing representation of the kind of journalist she is and the kind of person she is.

How many of us would have the guts to do something like that? Yea, I know I wouldn't.

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate to be able to talk to my mom, grandma, Curt's mom and grandma (and mybrother, as well) and wish them all a Happy Mother's Day.When I said Happy Mother's Day to my grandma she responded, I can't say the same to you. I think she said that last year, too.

I had a few people wish me a Happy Mother's Day since I am mama to furbaby Joey. I think this is sweet. But I can't compare raising a child to loving and caring for a cat for 17 years.

And I am OK with my decision to not have children. It has been a choice to be child free.

I love being an aunt, and a Savvy Auntie at that. I have a niece and two nephews (Curt's brother and sister-in-law have three) and I am an aunt to so many children ... by choice. There are too many to name. I love being an aunt.

******

We had a pretty lazy weekend. I like that, especially since my evenings are so short during the week these days.

Yesterday we hung out with Phil, Lisa and Baby Bea for Derby. We had fried chicken and Mint Juleps. Oh, and I can't forget about the Derby pie. It was fun. And we hadn't seen Trixie in some time. Man, she is a cutie. So smiley and happy. She has these big blue eyes.

Today I did the norm, went to yoga at Namaste for my Vinyasa Yoga class, which is always an amazing workout and practice. In class today there was a young man (probably college age) there with his mom. I am not sure if his gift to his mom was the actual class or attending class with her. Either way, it was sweet. And he survived a rather aggressive class.

After class and my phones calls to Tucson Curt and I headed to Ben 'n' Nick's for lunch. Right after I got my beer I noticed a drink on the chalkboard called a Bloody Piggy (Bloody Mary with bacon). I had to try it. It was a good Bloody Mary and I mean, who doesn't love bacon?

Then, of course, a nap was in order.

I am asking moms to help me answer some questions to help another mom figure out how moms fit in everything they have to do in their lives plus eat healthy and exercise. Check out Go Fit Girl!

And a Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mother's out there, especially mine.

Free my friend Dorothy

2011-05-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Dorothy Parvaz is still missing. Yesterday Syrian officials did confirm that they are holding her. Which I suppose is better than some other alternatives. But I am still worried for her. And I want her to come home and come home safe.

Dorothy is one of the toughest chicks I know. I have always admired her. She is a great journalist and a good person. She is a straight shooter and you definitely won't get any bullshit from her. She is who she is.

With Dorothy's disappearance I have seen and understood the power of Social Media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter). It is truly amazing.

I am able to keep up on the latest with the Free Dorothy Facebook page.

Please keep Dorothy in your thoughts. Repost, tweet, Facebook, call the Syrian Embassy in D.C. (I have heard they are less than pleased to be getting so many calls on Dorothy's behalf), e-mail the embassy and keep this story alive and going. The more attention it gets the better chance we can get Dorothy home.

Come home safe, Dorothy

2011-05-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

I wanted to mention my friend Dorothy today. Dorothy and I worked at the Wildcat together at the UA. We also were interns at The Republic in the summer of '97. We became pretty good friends that summer. Dorothy now works for Al Jazeera and is missing. Here is a link to a story about her and what happened. Keep Dorothy and her family in your thoughts. And let's keep hoping she comes home safely.

Sorry for the lack of posts. Joey's blog and Go Fit Girl! get updated regularly, especially Go Fit Girl!

There hasn't been much exciting going on. Just working, working out, getting home and going to bed about 9:30. Then at it again at 5 a.m.

Furbaby Joey

2011-04-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

If you want to know how Joey's day was yesterday (and mine and Curt's) click here to read his blog post.

Joey is OK now, but he gave us a little scare. But he is an old man and these things are gonna happen.

I hate that he is getting old and we have to deal with this stuff. But that's life.

Drinking, vegging that cold away

2011-04-21T20:21:00.001-07:00

Work, come home and lounge, work, come home and lounge ...

That has been my week. At some point on Monday I realized I was coming down with a cold. (Though now when I think back at how tired I was on Sunday I think I was already coming down with the cold then.) When I am sick I don't work out. I have been trying to take it easy to conquer this cold.

I have been getting up every day at 5, getting to work about 7:15. Work until 4:15 and jump on the shuttle with a mug of tea and head home. Once home I have been lounging around, watching TV/movies and messing around on the Internet.

I have had so much juice, water and tea (with honey) this week. I am gonna float away.

Yesterday was the day I felt the worse. Yet I was still able to function and go to work. I started feeling a lot better today.

I am going a little stir crazy, especially with just coming home and trying to stay low-key. Of course, our house is a pit! (I think Joey is loving all the lying around an vegging.)

I haven't been blogging as much here. But Go Fit Girl! is really coming along. Curt and I have been doing a lot of work on it. And there are more things coming. Go Fit Girl! is on Twitter and Facebook. Check it out now, so you can say you knew Go Fit Girl! when. ;)

Holy #*%$!!!!

2011-04-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we had a decent sized earthquake hit. I yelled out a profanity or two and took the Lord's name in vain. It is hard describe what an earthquake feels like. They aren't all alike. Once Curt and I experienced a rolling earthquake at home, which was probably the freakiest for me.

Today it felt like someone dropped something really heavy on top of our building and then the building shook. There was a boom and a shake.

It was first reported as a 3.8, but downgraded to a 3.7. The 'quake was pretty close to my new office in South San Francisco, which is also near the San Francisco airport.

ShedRain rocks!

In the Sunday travel section of the Chronicle a gear item is always reviewed. Sometime last year I read about a compact umbrella, which is great for travel. It is made to take the wind pretty well yet will still blow inside out, but pop right back in place and not be damaged.

I bought one last year and it worked really well until a piece of it broke and I couldn't get it to stay open. Of course, I took forever to return it. I finally did about three weeks ago and I received a package back today: a brand new umbrella! If you live somewhere windy and rainy, this is the umbrella for you. And ShedRain is based in Portland. I should have told them I would stop by and pick it up. :)

Naps, wine, good food, beer

2011-04-17T20:28:00.001-07:00

On Friday both Curt and I worked from home. I am going to try to make that a regular occurrence on Fridays. The past Friday worked out pretty well. I got a lot done with few interruptions.

Friday was also Joey's birthday. He turned 17. Joey's gifts were a fake mouse, which claims to make real-life mouse sounds, and Cat Sip, which is milk that cats can actually drink and digest. In Joey's old age (84 in human years) he is starting to go deaf. So the real-life mouse sounds don't mean much to him. (<----There's Joey checking out his new toy.)

Saturday night I had dinner with some girlfriends from the gym to celebrate a couple of birthdays. We had good food and good wine. It was a fun night.

Today was relaxing and lazy. Curt's friend Toni came over to watch soccer this morning. He brought us some Mexican pastries from the Mission. Yum! Eventually Alexa came over to hang out. Unfortunately it was right when I had to leave for my yoga class.

After yoga Curt and I headed to McNally's. I had one beer and then was ready for a nap.

So that's what I did, came home and napped and lounged and watched Lifetime.

I talked to both the moms today. Today was Marilyn's birthday. Sounds like she had a good day and a great birthday weekend.

I was hoping to tackle the pit of the spareroom in our place. But I didn't. Maybe next weekend.

Almost bedtime ...

2011-04-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

8:53 p.m. and I am getting sleepy and it is near my bedtime. When you get up at 5 a.m. bedtime comes way too quickly every night.

Though it seems OK so far.

I worked out in the work gym before taking the 5:30 shuttle home. Once home I chatted with Marilyn for a bit. Then jumped in the shower, made dinner, did the dishes, got my gym bag ready and my clothes ready for work tomorrow.

Now I am watching Army Wives and blogging. And soon I will jump in the sack and hopefully have some sweet dreams.

I posted a wiener dog race video yesterday. This link is so much more clear. Check it out.

Oh, and at work today I got a delivery. I second bouquet of flowers from Marilyn and Ed. There was a mistake in ordering the first bouquet and Marilyn wanted to make sure I got flowers at work. So I got a second beautiful bouquet today that is sitting on my desk. How special does one girl feel when she gets flowers at work and at home?

Gym, dogs, horses, beer, nachos, garden, soccer weekend

2011-04-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after the gym Curt and I headed to Golden Gate fields for the Wiener dog races. (Video above.) Oh man, it was so much fun. In between each dog race was a horse race. I had never been to the race track before. It was a fun and interesting experience.

It was a warm sunny day. We watched funny and beautiful animals run. We had beer. We ate hot dogs and nachos. I also ran into a friend and co-worker there. We watched eight dog races and seven horse races. We didn't stay to see the champion wiener dog.

After the race track we headed to a nursery in Berkeley to get some stuff for our garden.

This morning a friend and co-worker of Curt's game over to watch some soccer. He was nice and super polite and gave me some great ideas for Go Fit Girl!

After yoga today Curt and I put the garden in. We planted tomatoes, broccoli, Brussles sprouts (that's the experiment), Edamame (another experience), lettuce and some herbs. And from this pic you can see our pineapple repotted.

After the garden we had to reward ourselves with a beer at McNally's.

After the beer we headed to Market Hall and got some yummy stuff for dinner tonight and likely some leftovers as well.

Now it is just getting ready for tomorrow, going through some mail, laundry and other exciting and fun stuff.

Have I mentioned that I still can't believe I have been getting up at 5 a.m. for work. It's insane.

Survived my first week as a commuter

2011-04-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

As the shuttle today was pulling in front of the Emeryville building to drop us off someone announced, we survived the first week!

The commutes this week have varied from not so bad to slightly annoying. Nothing major yet.

I love the building, my work area and all the amenities provided. The location just sucks. And commuting, bleh! Most of my adult life I have had very short commutes. When we were in Phoenix for about a year and a half I had a 15-mile commute to work. But it was for second shift--so the traffic wasn't that bad. But I have pretty much lived within 5 miles of work when I lived in Oregon, a good portion of my time in Phoenix and here in the Bay Area for the past six years.

I still can't believe I have been making the 6:45 a.m. shuttles most of this week.

And the other thing, I am finding it difficult to get my work done in just 8 hours. (I am used of working much longer hours when my commute was just 15 minutes and about 4 miles.) But I am working on my time management. (Also, my exercise is totally messed up. Hope to get a routine going next week.)

I got a surprise yesterday/today at work. I got a call from the front desk at the Emeryville building that I had a delivery. They were supposed to redeliver at my new work address. But I got a call later from the florist. They asked if I lived in the East Bay as they would redeliver to my house. So I came home today to some beautiful flowers from Ed and Marilyn sending me good wishes at my new work office. So sweet. I am really touched that they did that. Thanks, guys!

A few photos are here of my new office. I am sure I will take more and post them at some point.

Support Me!

2011-04-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

At work I was guilted into joining the MMRF Race for Research. The walk/run is Sunday.

I signed up as a virtual walker, as I did last year. Though last year I was in London at the time of the race.

For a variety of reasons I don't want to actually run (most definitely not!) or walk on Sunday. Since I won't be running or walking I plan on doing the virtual walk from the couch. If you would like to sponsor me and my couch sitting and TV watching (as I might as well try to raise some money) please check out my page.

If you can support me that would be great. If not, I totally understand. I know times are tough.

What is worse?

2011-04-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

Long commute ...

Waking up way too early (2-3 hours before really necessary) ...

Raging headaches ...

The past three days I have had one or two or three of those.

Commuting in the Bay Area is tricky and can vary. The past three days my evening commutes have gone from 45 minutes to a little more than an hour. Morning commutes are about 30 minutes. I have either taken in the 7:45 or 6:45 a.m. shuttles. Coming home has been either the 4:15 or 5:30 p.m. shuttle.

Monday had the raging headache. Tuesday slight. Today I woke up with one and then took an Advil and it was gone.

Yesterday morning I woke up at 4 a.m. Today at 3 a.m.

(Also, I am used to working at the minimum of 8 hours. It is really difficult to get my work done in 8 hours, I am finding. I eventually hope to get into a different groove.)

Tonight Curt and I had dinner and beers with our friend Jacob (who now lives with his wife, Aileen, in Chicago). I had two beers and I am about ready to pass out. I hope I sleep better tonight. I don't function well with fewer than 7 hours sleep.

If this post doesn't make sense it is because I am so tired I am about to pass out.

Good night.

Raging headache

2011-04-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday most of the day I had a slight headache. It got worse and then better and then worse again. By the time I left work it was starting to get worse. Once on the shuttle bus back to Emeryville it got pretty bad along with waves of nausea. And I normally don't get car sick. I can even read while in a moving vehicle and feel fine. So I think the headache is what contributed to my yuckiness.

The ride took an hour. I am hoping that is not a regular occurrence as I want to make the 6:30 spin class a night or two a week.

Once I got home I just lounged on the couch, had some water and eventually Curt made us some comfort food of penne and Chicken Corn Chowder. After that I felt fine. (I was actually planning to have a beer and watch a NCAA tourney championship game. I didn't feel up to the beer and the basketball was boring!)

Today I noticed a slight headache starting this morning. I took an Advil and I seemed to keep it at bay and just a dull headache the whole day.

I was talking to some co-workers and they were saying they think that the new carpet and furniture could be contributing to it. Apparently I am not the only one having these headaches.

I am sensitive to smells. But I didn't realize this sensitive. And there is some foofy automatic air freshner in the bathroom, which seems to trigger the headache as I enter. (I need to stop drinking so much water!)

Let's see how tomorrow goes.

First Day of School!

2011-04-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

That's kinda what today felt like.

I drove to my old work building and stood outside with some of my co-workers waiting for the shuttle to drive us to our new building in South San Francisco.

The new building is GORGEOUS! I thought Onyx was fancy before. Heck no! This is a whole other dimension.

I never even took the whole tour. I saw most of the fourth floor--which is the floor I sit on. And I saw a good portion of the first--spent some time in our swanky cafeteria where there are THREE kinds of hot sauce provided: Tabasco, Tapatio and Rooster sauce. In the cafeteria, which will also be used for Town Hall meetings, there were projector screens and TVs hanging around with CNN, morning shows and soaps. We just looked at the gym through the window of the door. That looks pretty amazing as well. The Board Room has a 103 inch TV. It's HUGE. I poked my head in there and was so excited to see it.

Tomorrow I plan to do some more walking around and scope out the 2nd and 3rd floors.

Somehow I ended up with a really nice cube--which really isn't a cube, but more like an area. I am near a window. There is so much natural light, it's great. I had many people coming by jealous of my cube. I just lucked out and got a good spot.

I am still not excited about the commute. The ride there only took about 30 minutes. The ride back to Emeryville took about an hour--which is gonna screw with my 6:30 p.m. spin class. It will be trial and error for the next week or two.

10 reasons why I am willing to ...

2011-04-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

at least triple, quadruple or even more my work commute:

(My company headquarters shut down Friday afternoon and moved from Emeryville to South San Francisco over the weekend. Tomorrow we show up at our new office in SSF.)

1. I need a job.

2. I have a really great team who are my co-workers and my friends.

3. My boss is great, so opposite of a micromanager and trusts I can do my work and knows that I know what I am doing.

4. He has a great boss, who is head of our Legal department.

5. I am still learning so much in my current position, from my boss, my co-workers and from the person who reports to me.

6. I recently became a supervisor.

7. My company is striving to do good things for people with cancer.

8. I feel like I am learning and growing every day.

9. This is my second career and Patent Paralegals are in high demand. So the more experience I get the better I can advance in the future.

10. I can't afford the career I truly desire, a lady who lunches.

Because my company moved over the weekend, our Emeryville office closed early on Friday. I decided to treat myself to a mani/pedi and a little shopping. After that I headed home to watch some shows, took a little nap and then headed to a 5 p.m. yoga class, which was a new experience for me (Forrest Yoga) and I loved it. Looking forward to taking that class again. After I left yoga I noticed I had a text from Curt to join him at McNally's. So I did, for one beer.

Saturday was filled with gym, grocery, vet visit for Joey, basketball watching and Lifetime watching.

Sundays are really the only loungy mornings I have. So that is just what I did. Then I headed to

my late morning Vinyasa yoga class. Curt and I have been watching the Decorah eagles and their baby chicks. One more chick to hatch. We noticed one baby yesterday and a second today. The third egg is cracked and getting ready.

Today Curt repotted our Maui Gold pineapple. It has been growing and needed a bigger home. (And we don't want it in our garden plot--when we move we are taking that with us!) We plan to put in the rest of the garden next weekend. After that we headed to McNally's to visit our bartender John and have a beer. Curt grabbed us burgers near by so we had a good beer and a good burger and then came home.

Now I am doing laundry (already cleaned the kitchen and bathroom), went through a pile of mail (found some bills to pay) and will soon start getting ready for my day and week. (For the work move I brought home a lot of personal items--so I need to figure out what I just have to have for tomorrow and pack that up.)

Talk about an attitude adjustment

2011-03-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-03-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-03-26T12:54:00.001-07:00

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!

2011-03-24T18:57:00.001-07:00

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

2011-03-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2011-03-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-03-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-12T07:42:00.000-08:00

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

2011-03-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

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

2011-03-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

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

2011-03-08T20:49:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-03-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

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

2011-03-05T07:56:00.000-08:00

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

2011-03-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

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.

Sneaky little ...

2011-02-28T21:04:00.000-08:00

In Joey's old age he has developed a much more sensitive tummy. The last visit to the vet, where the vet told me Joey was healthy and then charged me 130 bucks, Dr. Miller gave me some Pepcid type pills to give Joey. I cut them up and stuffed them in to Pill Pockets. And Joey ate them all.

Dr. Miller told me once I ran out of those I could just cut up Pepcid and stuff them in the Pill Pockets.

Last night I gave Joey a Pill Pocket. Later I walked into the kitchen and noticed the pink quartered tablet on the kitchen floor.

This morning I gave Joey his morning insulin shot along with treats after the shot (every insulin shot comes with treats) and the a Pill Pocket. I watched him eat it. And he managed to eat the Pill Pocket but not the Pepcid. Dang it!

Tonight Curt gave Joey his shot and then treats. Then I threw down a Pill Pocket and we watched him eat the Pill Pocket and spit out the Pepcid.

I did crush some up and put them in a Pill Pocket--but it isn't that much "medicine." But it is better than nothing. He ate that one.

According to the Greenies Pill Pocket Web site: Cats love the taste so much--they won't even notice there's medicine inside!

You think I should ask for my money back? Pill Pockets aren't cheap. Forty-five of those little things cost 9 bucks!

Warming my heart amidst the "snow"

2011-02-27T20:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we didn't get snow in the Bay Area. I guess that isn't true. The Twin Peaks area got flurries. But nothing around us or even in San Francisco.

But Tucson got snow this morning. Real snow. Snow that stuck.

As all of the you hundreds (ha ha) readers I have ... you know that I knit. And I have tried to take my knitting to more of a charitable level. I have knitted many beanies for troops along with friends and my mother-in-law.

A high school friend of mine who I am friends with on Facebook has a husband who is in Afghanistan. I asked her if he would like a handknit hat from me. I made him one and sent it about a week ago. He got it this past Friday. I received a message from him on Facebook and a note on my Facebook Wall from his wife. I enjoy making hats for the troops, but I never know who actually gets the hat made from me. It made me feel really good to know who got it. And to hear how much it meant to him and that it kept him warm that first night. It warmed my heart.

SNOW in the Bay Area????

2011-02-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

So it could snow in the Bay Area tomorrow night. And on Saturday it could snow in San Francisco, which hasn't happened since 1976--see photo above. NUTS!!!!

You can read about it in the Chronicle.

Relaxation and fun all rolled into one ... 3-day weekend

2011-02-21T22:08:00.000-08:00

My weekend started out with dinner with two good friends, Sue and Alicia. The three of us used to work together and still get together at least three times a year to celebrate our birthdays. We were celebrating Sue's birthday and she picked the Jonga House for dinner. We cooked our own meat and had many sides. The food was amazing and reasonably priced.

Saturday I hit the gym for an hour and a half. I skipped my third class at the gym as I had a lot to do. After the gym I hit the grocery and then home to get ready and make some salsa. Our first appointment was at 2 with our tax person. That took almost two hours. Afterward we headed to Monica and Malcolm's new house for their housewarming. Then came home for about a half an hour and then off to another party (yes, we are so popular). My friend Jennifer was having a "spin social." The food was amazing and the company was a blast. We ended up moving a dining room table for a dance floor.

Sunday I decided to be lazy and skip yoga. Curt and I headed to Phil and Lisa's for some soccer, Chinese food and to hang out with Baby Bea. She is so much fun--she is really getting a personality right now and I really enjoyed hanging out with her and, of course, her parents. The rest of Sunday was lounging and TV watching, napping, movie watching, etc.

Today I spent this morning doing stuff around the house. I attended my regular noon spin class. After class I came home to get cleaned up, some more stuff around the house and some more lounging.

My friend Alex, who I used to work with, has taken some time off to travel. She is home this month taking a break. I was lucky to spend a few hours with her.

This evening has also entailed some lounging.

Trying to mentally prepare myself for work again ... for tomorrow. Bleh. If only I could be a lady who lunches.

Golf, sun, good food ...

2011-02-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

On Thursday Ed and Marilyn came into town. They got in about noon. So they had time to spend some time in our neighborhood. They got raviolis, cheese, bread and sausage from Market Hall for dinner. We had a delicious dinner.

We got up super early on Friday morning and headed down to Monterey to see family friend Tag Ridings play some golf. First day was at Spyglass Hill. We followed him around all day. At some point (I think the 10th hole) we met up with his wife, Brenda. The weather was gorgeous and we felt so lucky to be walking around on that course.

Once Tag was finished for the day the four of us headed back to the car and to the B&B we were staying for the next two nights. We decided to have an early dinner. We just walked to Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf and found a good restaurant to eat dinner. My pasta and wine mixed with getting up early and walking around in the sun for 6 hours had me ready for bed pretty early, which was good since we had to get up early the next day to catch Tag tee off.

We made it on time to see Tag tee off at 8:22 on the 10th tee. Tag was happy to see us there that early. We followed him around all day. We stopped for a quick lunch halfway through and then we caught him at the end of the 1st hole (remember he started on 10 and ended on 9). At some point Brenda caught up with us. And we all finished walking together to see Tag finish at the 9th hole. Unfortunately he didn't make the cut. But we enjoyed our two days following him around and watching him play at two gorgeous golf courses.

Lots of autographs were signed by Tag on tickets, T-shirt, balls, etc. We were lucky and able to tag along in a shuttle with them back to the front of the course. My feet were pretty tired.

Pebble Beach is a pro-am. We sighted a few celebrities. We saw Tony Romo and Matt Cain tee off on one whole. Man, those guys can swing. We ran into Kevin Costner out of the ropes and had to wait until he hit it back to the green. We kinda saw Bill Murray--well, we saw his crazy hat. We weren't super close to him. But today I did see that he won the amateur part of the weekend along with his pro, D.A. Points.

When we got back to our hotel we decided to go have a drink at an English pub Curt found near by. After drinks we went back to the room for a little relaxing, nap and got cleaned up for dinner.

We had an amazing dinner at Domenico's on the wharf. We had good wine and some delicious seafood dishes.

Today we had a leisurely day back home. Once we got home we headed to the hood for lunch. Then a visit to John at McNally's for some awesome Bloody Marys.

Now we are just hanging out at the house and will head to Sushiya shortly.

It's been a good weekend.

Favorite Super Bowl commercial ...

2011-02-06T20:58:00.000-08:00

Was the Darth Vader kid. This is an extended (and even better) version than what was on TV today.

This weekend my friend Nydia and her friend Lori came to town. Nydia is moving out to the Bay Area soon and came to look for a place to live. The two made it into a mini vacation and I think they have had a good time. The weather couldn't have been better for them. I think they toured a lot of places in our hood, too. The four of us had drinks at The Trappist and then dinner at Tamarindo. Then us girls went to McNally's for a drink. I had to turn in after that (had to go to the gym Saturday morning). But Nydia and Lori headed to The Conga Lounge for one more drink.

Today the four of us watched the Super Bowl and just had an easy day.

It was a good weekend.

A cleaning frenzy will begin tomorrow night as Curt's parents come into town on Thursday.

What a crazy freakin day!

2011-01-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

Before I start this story, let me just saw I am OK, Curt is OK, and our neighbors are OK.

So today I went to the gym and then grocery. At the grocery I rented a Rug Doctor to clean our carpet. I thought today would be a good day since Curt had to work. Later in the day my plan was to meet my friend Jenn for dinner. When I was renting the carpet cleaner I had to show ID and credit card. As the guy was taking down my address he noticed the name of my street and asked me what was going on. I told him I hadn't been home since earlier in the morning. He told me he saw a bunch of cop cars.

So I get to my street and sure enough it is closed off on both sides. I ask if I can get to my house. The cops tell me they can't let me in because of the crime scene. I have no idea what has happened.

I pulled over to the next street and parked and tried to figure out what I was gonna do. I saw my upstairs neighbor and his daughter. They told me that next door neighbor's ex-boyfriend came over with what appeared to be a gun. The cops showed up and the guy was shot dead. (That was a very brief description.) Details here and here. Those two had a history of some nasty fights, too. (It's quiet possible that Joey witnessed the entire incident from his kitty perch.)

I was supposed to get some stuff done around the house, including cleaning the carpet. Then the plan was to meet my friend Jenn for dinner. (She was planning to come to my 'hood early to hang out in a coffee shop and do some studying.)

So I called her to see if she could meet earlier. I then bundled my cold groceries together and headed to McNally's for a warm drink (I didn't have super warm clothes on as I was still in my gym clothes) and to go to the bathroom. When I can't get to my house where do I go? I go see my favorite bartender, John.

I met up with Jenn after my drink at McNally's and we had lunch and wine. Lovely. Then we decided to see if my street was clear. It was. I asked the officers at the house next door if I could go into my house. They said yes. So I went to the street over to get the car, groceries and carpet cleaner.

After dropping everything off and changing into warmer, non-workout clothes Jenn and I headed to coffee. Then I came home and cleaned my carpet.

Once done with the carpet cleaning I was exhausted. So I took a shower and now Curt and I are relaxing with beer, venison pepperoni sticks and Portlandia.

A weekend experiment

2011-01-25T07:51:00.000-08:00

This past weekend (which wasn't too exciting of a weekend--need a break from the exciting ones) we were careful with how we spent our money.

I went to the grocery on Saturday and Curt hit the liquor store for beer. But other than that no visits to McNally's, no eating out once or twice or three times over the weekend.

I was busy enough around the house to not notice so much.

And instead of paying someone else, I gave myself my own pedicure. Of course, not as fun as someone else doing it. But much cheaper.

I don't want to be doing this experiment all the time. But sometimes it is a good thing.

We are fairly comfortable--but not rich.

Last weekend

2011-01-23T17:12:00.000-08:00

This weekend wasn't too exciting. But I did get a lot of stuff done around the house, which was great. We have many people visiting next month and our house was a pit and especially the spare room. The extra room is slowly coming back to being acceptable once again for guests.

Last weekend was a great weekend. It first started Friday night with my company holiday party. Curt and I stayed at the Intercontinental, where the party was held. I left work a little early and headed to the hotel for a little relax time and to get ready. Curt joined me at the hotel. Eventually we headed down to the party for first, cocktail hour, then dinner and then dancing with an amazing band. A small group of us lasted till the very end. A few pics from the party are here.

Saturday Curt and I headed to Portland for the rest of the weekend. We arrived Saturday night and almost immediately headed to Montage for dinner. We had oyster shooters, I had my Spicy Mac and Curt had his Crawfish Ettoufee.

Sunday morning we met up with our friends Don and Kristin and their kids, Chase and Annie for brunch at Edgefield. The food was so good. And, of course, the visit was great.

After that visit we headed to Angela and Michael's to visit with them and Lenore. We hung around the house and then headed out for a bite to eat. After some beers and food we walked around the area we were hanging out in. It was cool to walk around and it gave Lenore some moving around time. She was pretty good while we were at Prost. After that we headed back to their house to hang out until bed time, Lenore's, that is.

Once Curt and I left we headed to the Horse Brass Pub for dinner.

Monday morning we had breakfast with one of Curt's former co-workers. Yummy breakfast (there are so many great places to eat in Portland) and a fun visit. After breakfast back to Angela and Michael's to visit before nap time, Lenore's again.

We headed to NW Portland for lunch and to walk around a bit before heading to the airport.

It was a great weekend. We love Portland and miss Portland.

Check out our Portland pics here.

I finally uploaded all my pics from our Christmas season. Check them out here.

Celebrations and tragedy

2011-01-09T19:56:00.000-08:00

My weekend started Friday evening with a yoga class and then a fun night out with some of my gym buddies. A group of us took our friend Jenn out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. We had a delicious dinner and so much fun. This group of ladies is totally awesome. I look forward to the next outing.

Saturday I met all those ladies and many more for spin Saturday morning.

After my two hours at the gym I rushed home for a quick shower and something to eat before heading to my hair appointment.

After that Curt and I headed to Jacob and Aileen going away/wedding reception party. Our dear friends are moving to Chicago soon. We are sad to see them go. But we are excited for this new adventure in their lives. And we look forward to visiting at some point.

This morning I hit the grocery and then yoga.

After I came home Curt and I headed out to lunch and then McNally's for drinks and football.

It seems like the weekend always ends too quickly. Boo.

In case anyone is wondering (I posted this on Facebook earlier): Despite the horrific tragedy in my hometown yesterday and the recent ugly politics in my home state I am still proud to be an Arizona girl. My heart is heavy over the deaths, especially the 9-year-old. Despite what you see and may believe, not all Arizonans have hatred in their hearts.

A new year

2011-01-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

The rest of our time in San Diego was relaxing and enjoyable. There was football watching, beer drinking and eating of lots of great food.

Thursday Curt and I headed to Ocean Beach for fish tacos and some wandering around.

We found a new place to eat dinner pretty much every night: Nick's. Good food and decent pick in drinks.

Friday we headed back to the Bay Area. The small San Diego airport was absolutely nuts. I guess that is what we get for traveling back the day after the Holiday Bowl.

Friday evening was quiet and loungy. I somehow managed to stay up until midnight. Joey and I spent most of the evening on the couch watching movies.

Saturday I attended a two-hour yoga workshop at the studio in our neighborhood. Then the rest of the day was mostly relaxing with movie watching and knitting.

Today I started to get back into the regular groove and routine. Grocery shopping this morning and then yoga at 10:45. The rest of today has been a little laundry, movie watching, knitting, dishes, making homemade healthy soup, sorting through mail, etc. I thought about taking down the tree and the other Christmas decorations. Maybe next weekend.

After 11 days off from work and a nice vacation tomorrow back to work. Bleh!

Rainy day in San Diego

2010-12-29T10:02:00.000-08:00

We arrived in San Diego late Monday night.

Yesterday the weather was about 65 and sunny. Likely the best weather we will have while here.

We met our friends Stephan, Gaby and their daughter Annabelle for brunch. We had a delicious meal and then went for a walk on the beach. After that we found a little place to sit outside and drink some coffee.

After that Curt and I visited PB Shore Club for a beer and appetizer. Then I took a nap. We headed out for dinner and football.

Eventually I came back to the room for some veg time and watched The Kids are All Right. That was a pretty good movie.

Today is cool, rainy and windy. But we already knew the weather was going to be like that. I found a mani/pedi place close by and I may head there for some pampering. Plus all my nails look atrocious. They need some help.

Food, fun, family ... sun, sand, beer

2010-12-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

Right now Curt and I are sitting at the Tucson airport waiting for a delayed flight to San Diego. After visiting family we have a few days planned in San Diego, and we will get there eventually.

We had a good visit. It seems the longer I am gone from Tucson the more I miss it.

On Christmas Day when leaving my mom's house my aunt asked me when we would be back in Tucson. My answer to that is always, when are you coming to visit me? But I really don't know when I will be back.

Sunday Curt and I headed to the Arizona Inn to meet up with any family members who were willing to meet us. Both my grandparents were kinda ehhh to the idea. But my mom, Fred and my brother joined us for warm sun and good eats.

After brunch Curt and Fred headed back to the house for football. My mom and I headed to

Grandpa's and then off to Alison's to meet baby Ashley, newest member of the family. We had a nice visit. I was so happy that I could help Grandpa meet his great-granddaughter. That made me feel good. Ashley was a little fussy. But was still a sweetheart and pretty good for not even a 3-week-old. She has so much hair!

After our visit we dropped Grandpa off at home. He was planning to head to the bar and show off his Christmas gift from Curt and me: Willie McCovey autographed baseball.

I had to get my strawberry eegee. That is a must when I come home.

Eventually Curt and I headed back to my dad's for some relax time. Dad and Hilda headed to a movie. I took a nap. Then Curt and I heated up yummy leftovers for dinner: tamales, rice, beans, carne and tortillas. When Dad and Hilda got home we sat around and chatted for about two hours.

This morning some more lounging and packing. Dad, Curt and I headed to lunch on 4th Ave. Eventually we headed out to my mom's.

My mom had posole and menudo for us. Oh, so yummy. We had fun hanging out, eating, drinking beer and telling some HILARIOUS stories. Man, I was crying and almost spit out my beer.

Then we got dropped off at the airport ... where we still are. Our flight is delayed to San Diego. But Curt is content watching Monday Night Football while we drink beer and munch on quesadilla.

We are going to spend a few days in San Diego just relaxing and enjoying our week off from work.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T21:09:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas! To find out more about the pic above click here.

We flew to Tucson last night. Got in about 5. My dad picked us up at the airport and took us to my Mom's to fetch her car. We headed to my Great Aunt Alice's and Uncle Eddie's for an amazing Mexican feast. My mom and Fred arrived shortly after we did. We ate, drank and had a good time. Then we played White Elephant. I almost had that bottle of sparkling wine!

Today we had a leisurely morning and then headed to Mom's for lunch. Got to see most of the immediate family. Good food, lots of laughs and as always, crazy conversation.

About 4 we headed to my grandpa's to pick him up and take him to my dad's for dinner. Three of the six grand-children were in attendance. We had a nice (second) feast and just hung out for a bit.

Eventually we headed out and took my grandpa home. After the drop off, Curt and I headed to The Buffet for a drink or two. We spent less than 20 bucks the whole night and tipped really well. How can you not love The Buffet?

Now we are home and I am tired. Hanging out with family almost nonstop is exhausting, but I still love it.

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas.

Happy Holidays from us to you

2010-12-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday season.

~Ann, Curt & Joey (meow!)

Christmas came early in our house

2010-12-20T22:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was pretty nice.

Ended the workweek with a great yoga class. Then home for some Ann and Joey time before Curt came home from a day-trip to Tahoe.

Saturday the usual two hours at the gym, then some errands, and then home for coffee and waffles. Curt ran some errands and then we headed to McNally's to visit John and give him his Christmas gift of some tamales.

Saturday evening was low-key. Just what I needed: some movie watching and knitting and lounging.

Sunday I headed to my regular Vinyasa Yoga class. That class is so tough and intense. My shirt was absolutely soaked.

Curt, Joey and I had our Christmas celebration early since Curt and I are heading to Tucson for the actual holiday.

We had shrimp, cracked crab, cous cous, green beans, etc. Delicious. Afterward we unstuffed our stockings. Curt got me an armband for my iPhone for when I workout, Snuggle Socks and an REI gift card to buy some bike shorts. I got Curt Tully's gift card, Rick Steve's new DVDs and the Barcelona guidebook for our trip next year and a remote control helicopter, which he is having a good time playing with. And Joey either loves it or is freaked out by it. Joey got a nutcracker catnip toy, green glittery mouse and green glittery ball with feathers.

Check out pics of our early Christmas celebration.

December birthday: Curse or blessing?

2010-12-17T07:17:00.000-08:00

The Chronicle had a little story online about December babies.

Today is my mom's birthday.

As an adult she has enjoyed having a birthday so close to Christmas. We had traditions--like decorating the Christmas tree on Mom's birthday after dinner. As an adult I have carried on my aunt's tradition of giving my mom ornaments as birthday gifts.

I think as a kid having a birthday so close to Christmas wasn't so great. That whole here's your birthday AND Christmas present is total BS.

I have many friends and a few family members who have birthdays in December. When we were all still exchanging birthday and Christmas presents I made sure December babies

got a birthday present separate from Christmas and wrapped in birthday paper.

This year Curt and I took my mom (and Fred) to Paris to celebrate Mom's birthday. We thought since London was so close we would visit for a few days, too. Ed and Marilyn (Curt's parents) met us in Paris to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. After Paris we headed to Amsterdam. One item on Marilyn's bucket list was to visit Keukenhof gardens and she got to do it!

Happy birthday, Mama!

(Photos are of us on the Eiffel Tower. I was so happy to take my mom there that I got all emotional. Once I was over that I was ready for a picture. Then she wanted to show her appreciation with a kiss on the cheek.)

Like mother, like daughter

2010-12-16T20:43:00.000-08:00

If you know my mom, you know that she knows how and loves to throw parties. I got part of that gene. If you know my mom, you know that she has a huge heart and is a major advocate for helping others and volunteering at various charities. I like to think I got part of that gene, too,

I am a little selfish with my free time as I don't have much. So instead of time, I give monetarily. (Is that even a word?) I also love hosting various activities at work and personally.

During this holiday season at work I am in charge of the food drive in November, toy drive in December and Kris Kringle gift exchange also in December.

Today we had our Kris Kringle gift exchange revealing party. This time I had a lot of people thank me for organizing and said our little party was a lot of fun. I was so happy everyone had fun and were so appreciative. It made me feel really good.

We had a company meeting today and I helped pass around the mike for people who had questions. When there were no more questions I raised my hand and told our CEO I didn't have a question but since I had the mike I was going to remind people about our toy drive. I am going on a toy shopping spree tomorrow and was still taking monetary donations for that. I also reminded them that the toys will be picked up Monday if they want to do their own shopping. I am excited that I have a lot money to buy toys for children who aren't as lucky as so many of us are.

I wanted to add another pic of my prize winning cocktail (above). I was sipping that Tuesday night as I was catching up on episodes of Parenthood and knitting my scarf for my Kris Kringle pick.

Busy, fun, hardly had a moment to sit down weekend

2010-12-13T20:03:00.001-08:00

Friday night I ended my week with yoga and then a few errands. I got home and started on some chores. Curt eventually came home and picked us up dinner.

Saturday had my regular two hours at the gym, an errand or two and then I started doing some stuff that needed to get done around the house, I prepared my cocktail for the upcoming Cocktail Competition Party at Monica and Malcolm's, started getting ready for our guests the following day and squeezed in a little knitting time (working on a scarf for my Kris Kringle at work).

For the cocktail party I made Hungry Girl's Winter Wonderland Peppermintini (pic above). I really worked the angle that it was only 125 calories and quite festive for the holidays. I even had drink tags (pic on the left). As my friend Joe watched me prepare, You EVEN have drink tags for your glasses. Uh, yea,

I plan to WIN. And win is just what I did. Oh yea! First place. There were 14 different cocktails and beer bread (made by a pregnant lady). I probably tasted at least 10 different cocktails and, of course, the beer bread. It was a fun time.

Sunday morning I woke up with a headache and kinda tired (hmmm, I wonder why?). I got myself to the grocery, skipped yoga (ended up being a good choice) and came back home to prepare for the 5th annual Cheesemas.

We had friends over to eat cheese or cheese-like items and watch cheesy holiday movies.

We always start with Creature Comforts Christmas show. You have to click on that link--it's a clip of the show. Then we move onto The Christmas Shoes, which is tradition. If you want to watch the whole thing on YouTube, click here. You probably don't want to watch the whole thing. And you may have already seen it on Lifetime.

Knitting, knots and Charlie Brown

2010-12-09T20:48:00.000-08:00

Today after work I went to my day spa for a massage from the amazing Thanh.

Before my massage I headed to Walgreens in the hopes of finding the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. And I found it.

I love it. It's so awesome!!! (Awwww, I killed it.)

After making my purchases at the drugstore I headed to the day spa for my massage. Of course, it was wonderful--as always.

And the best part was it was way cheaper today. Apparently Monday through Thursday the price drops dramatically. I need to start going in the evenings during the week more often.

I asked Thanh if she feels like my knots are "getting better." She said yes. Must be the regular visits. Wish I could afford to go once a week. I told her I wanted to charge my massages to work since work is the reason for the stress, tight shoulders and neck knots.

Curt and I are gearing up to watch the hour-long Office Christmas special. Yippee! I also need to get knitting on a scarf for the Kris Kringle name I picked for the drawing at work.

The best thing about not giving out Christmas gifts ...

2010-12-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

is that you don't have to go Christmas shopping. (Not that I really did before anyway. And if I did, it was before Thanksgiving. And after online shopping became the norm, that's how I shopped.)

We are focusing on charities this year for Christmas. It feels good ... like how it should be. Most people in our lives are pretty OK and/or lucky and have what they need. And there are so many people out there so much worse off than we are. There are children who are hungry, cold, don't have a place to live, don't have toys or books. That makes me very sad.

There are many things good about Christmas. But I think a lot of greed happens around this time of year, too. And that is just ugly.

OK, I'm done.

This was a good and relaxing weekend. Got a lot of stuff I needed to get done around the house. We got our tree (pictured to the left) and decorated. Our lights are up outside. Our few decorations are around the house.

Curt didn't like the tree topper we had before. I told him he could get a new one. He did. He picked out a gaudy angel that changes colors and is fiber optic. I think it was probably the only one he found at Home Depot that lights up.

I watched the latest Twilight movie, Eclipse, last night. It was pretty good. And Jacob did have his shirt off a lot, which was actually kinda funny.

Now I am doing laundry, catching up on shows and waiting for our sushi to be delivered.

Holiday Mail for Heroes

2010-12-02T21:02:00.000-08:00

Want to do something to help a troop or two or three or a dozen? Send some holiday cards now! Buy some extras or send some leftovers. They will all be appreciated. Holiday cards for our heroes can be postmarked up to Dec. 10, 2010. Read more about it right here.

I think most of my readers know that I knit and I like to give to charities. And if I can mix the two together even better. Between myself, Marilyn, Penny and Alicia we knitted 43 hats to be sent to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Handmade hats from home are a great way to support our troops no matter what your political views are.

Check out our hats that should be making their way to the troops now:

And an added bonus for you:

Cool, huh? Along with candy we also gave out glow in the dark bracelets. And they were a huge hit. We had around 90-100 trick or treaters on Halloween. We let the kids pick candy out of the bucket. At some point we were letting them grab three pieces each and a bracelet. One kid got their goodies and yelled down to the 'rents that they got THREE PIECES OF CANDY AND A GLOW IN THE DARK BRACELET. Yea, I will be buying those cheap bracelets from Michaels again. :)

'Tis the season

2010-11-30T19:18:00.001-08:00

This is my Christmas set up in my cube at work. There is a stocking for each member of the Legal team.

I am excited to get our tree this coming weekend and decorate the house. I was going to put the lights up outside last weekend, but I got lazy. And I didn't want to pull the Christmas boxes out more than once--because they are a pain to get to.

18-34

2010-11-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

I just realized the other day that I am no longer in the target age group for newspapers.

When I worked in newspapers our target age was 18-34. These were the readers we were losing (or really never even having) and we focused a lot on how to cater to them while also keeping the the regular "older" readers happy.

Much needed long, lazy, loungy weekend

2010-11-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

This long weekend was just what I needed--especially as I gear up for the busiest month of the year at work.

Thursday morning I attended a 2-hour yoga. It was a wonderful way to start Thanksgiving. We had a small and casual dinner with a few friends. Over the past few years Curt and I have started our own Thanksgiving traditions--one of them being a ham from Burger's Smokehouse. Man, is it good!

Friday my goal was to get all of my errands, things done around the house. Instead I was lazy and watched TV, movies and just enjoyed being lazy. At some point that day Curt texted me and said John, our favorite bartender, was asking about me. So I headed to McNally's for a couple of Bailey's and coffee.

Saturday I hit the gym for my usual two hours. Then I came home and got stuff done around the house: organized and sorted my clothing drawers, did a little closet cleaning, more knitting, watched a few episodes of Parenthood on the Mac Mini. Curt and our friend Michael went to the Stanford/Oregon State football game. When they got back the three of us headed to McNally's.

This morning Joey and I headed to the vet. He was not happy about it. But he had to have a blood sugar test. And his sugar is slowly lowering, which is great. Dr. Miller is happy with Joey's progress in health. You can read about his experience on his blog.

After the vet, I headed to what now is becoming my regular Sunday yoga class. That Vinyasa class is intense and an hour and a half. Though Sean, the instructor, lost track of time and class was an hour and 45 minutes.

Soon after class, Curt and I headed out for brunch. After that I got a much needed mani/pedi.

Family

2010-11-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

What does the word family mean to you?

Most seem to think children make a family. That is just one type of family.

When I was much younger I was part of what some would call a traditional family: Mom, Dad, me and my brother. Then my parents divorced and my mom became a single mom and our family was: Mom, me and my brother.

Family for me means: Curt and me; Curt, me and Joey (furbaby); my Tucson family; my Missouri family; my Philly family; a single parent and children; two parents and children; two adults and no children; adult(s) and animals; friends, etc.

If you want to read more about child free couples who are families, too: click here.

I am spending Thanksgiving with my family: Curt and Joey and also a few friends.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Get over it ... What? Already?

2010-11-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

I haven't traveled since that new scanner thing came in at airport security. I guess it wasn't ready when Curt and I traveled to Missouri a couple of weeks ago.

I understand if someone doesn't want to go through the scanner. That is their choice. But then the other option is a pat down. This is for all of our safety. So ya' gotta do one or the other. I don't know enough about the scanners to have an opinion. (I guess I better do a little reading before we travel for Christmas.) But people complaining about the pat downs? Have you people never been to a club before? And you have the same sex "groping" you. And really, you think that TSA worker is getting their jollies while rubbing against your fat and rolls? I doubt it. It's about safety. And we want to travel safely and avoid any crazy terrorists. So these are the sacrifices we make to travel safely in America and around the world. I love to have the freedom to travel.

Uh, Christmas music. For many years I could not listen to Christmas music without feeling anger. No, I am not a scrooge. I just worked retail way too long while in high school and college.

I noticed yesterday Michaels was playing Christmas music already. There is a radio station in the Bay Area that plays constant Christmas music, which I thought started after Thanksgiving. I discovered the other day that that was not the case.

I enjoy Christmas music now (to a minimum). But when it is Christmas season.

We still need to eat our ham (and turkey--if that is what you have for Thanksgiving) before we start rocking around the Christmas tree.

I have a new favorite adult beverage

2010-11-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

Friday evening about 6:45 Curt texted me saying he was heading to McNally's. After almost 12 hours at work I left about 7:15, headed home and then to McNally's. It was cold and rainy. I didn't want a cold drink. I asked for a hot one. Tobias suggested and Irish Coffee. But I am not a whiskey fan. He suggested A Baileys and coffee. YUMMY! After drinks at the bar, Curt and I had a late dinner, which was delicious.

Saturday I did my norm two hours at the gym. Then I hurried home to take Joey to the groomer, run a few errands and then head to my massage.

The rest of my day/evening included lounging and cuddling with the furbaby. He has been quite cuddly lately--even more than normal. Curt and I watched Get Him to the Greek. So disappointing. Not funny.

Today I felt quite productive. Started some laundry this morning, grocery for the week and the Thanksgiving feast we are hosting, dishes ... Then I headed to the yoga studio for a pretty intense class. After class I got some more laundry done and a few things around the house.

I am looking forward to my short week and long weekend. Hopefully this week won't be too nuts. Tomorrow we have a new person starting on the Legal team. She will be working with me. I am looking forward to the help.

Have a good week.

So freakin' funny

2010-11-18T20:36:00.000-08:00

My British twin, Karen, shared a link on Facebook today called Damn You, Auto Correct!

Some of the entries are dumb. But some are so freakin' hilarious. I was laughing and crying and at times I could barely breathe. Oh man, talk about cheap entertainment.

The auto correct function on the iPhone is great and sometimes it really sucks! I once texted Curt to tell him I was going to Zumba and it auto corrected to Zimbabwe. None of my auto corrects have been as funny as some of the stuff on the Web site above.

Enjoy!

10 points!

2010-11-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

Curt and I are back from Missouri. We had a good weekend and visit.

We arrived Friday evening. Ed and Marilyn picked us up at the airport. We headed into a major rainstorm to get back to Albany. We stopped in St. Joe for dinner. I had an amazing bacon cheeseburger with some delicious barbecue sauce.

Saturday morning Curt and Ed headed out for deer hunting. Marilyn and I stayed in the house and were nice and toasty.

We all had a delicious lunch (pork tenderloin) and a visit with Grandma Phyllis.

Saturday evening we had a visit from Howard and Myrna--Ed and Marilyn's best friends. We also received a singing telegram from H&M. There are certain things you can only get in a small town. The singing telegram arrived and they waited for Curt to get out of the shower so we could all enjoy.

Sunday morning Curt and Ed headed out to the farm again. They were back a little after 8 to show off the 10-point buck Curt got. If you want to see a pic, click here. It isn't too gruesome.

Whoever thought I would be the girl to go back to Missouri year after year for deer season? It seems to now be a tradition. And we celebrate early Thanksgiving. I like my venison jerky.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with the Humphrey family, followed by another visit with Grandma Phyllis.

The rest of the day was just lounging, relaxing, knitting, napping, TV watching, etc.

It was a good weekend.

Hangin' in Albany, Mo.

2010-11-13T09:06:00.000-08:00

Curt and I are in Missouri this weekend visiting Ed and Marilyn and Grandma Phyllis. We are also here for deer season.

Curt and Ed went out this morning. They saw a few deer.

I love coming to Albany to relax and visit.

And I know some people are wondering if we are ever home. And yes, we are. We spent a whole four weekends home since our trip to Honolulu last month.

Sleepy time

2010-11-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

Being from Arizona I never had to change my clock until I moved to Oregon after college. It never really bothered me until we moved to California. I have to say whenever we fall back or spring forward I feel like a complete mess.

For the past week I have not been sleeping well. I usually go a week or two with decent sleep and then a week or two with crappy sleep. This past week has been crappy sleep. The worst sleep was Friday night to Saturday--so let's just say spin and the other classes were tougher than normal. I figured a good nap was in order when I got home. Didn't happen.

Slept a little better last night. But, of course, woke up early because of the fall back. I went to the grocery and felt really out of it. I hate that zombie feeling.

We had brunch with friends and their adorable baby this morning. After we came home I took a nice, long nap. Normally I try to take yoga Sunday mornings. But brunch was a better deal.

Today was pretty much a day of lounging, knitting and Lifetime watching.

It was pouring rain all last night and a big part of today. It was one of those days where you just want to stay home and cuddle with your furbaby under a warm blanket and drink some hot tea while watching TV and movies and napping.

Here comes a grown up!

2010-11-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I have ever been called a grown up before. I don't really feel like a grown up most of the time. I was walking down our street on Saturday (on my way to meet Curt at McNally's) when a little girl yelled out: Here's comes a grown up! I approached the house and she was ready to scare me with her scary decorations in front of her house for Halloween.

At work on Thursday we had a lunch party for Halloween. Myself and maybe 6 or so other people dressed up. I was a crazy cat lady. My initial inspiration for my costume was: How can I wear my bathrobe to work? Then, of course, I love cats ... or at least one--my awesome old man furbaby, Joey. And it just went from there. I have to say it is rather hot with a 100% polyester muu muu, cheap wig and bathrobe. (My glasses steamed up last night while wearing it. That's when I took it off and wore normal clothes.)

After my visit with the neighbors kids (continuing story from above) I met Curt at McNally's. I had planned to have one beer and then come home to get some stuff done. That didn't happen. I stayed for more than one beer and the Giants game. It was fun to watch it in the bar ... even if they did lose.

Sunday grocery, Skyping with our German friends (got to see two little CUTE witches transform), then to yoga, then massage. And in between all that I did laundry, got the house in order, vacuumed and got a few other things done.

We invited friends over for pizza and beer and trick or treaters. Everyone also came over to watch the game--which ended up being awesome. We had between 90-100 kids last night. That was pretty good.

Curt and I are watching the game right now. I had to stick my pumpkin beer in the freezer--it should be ready soon. So I better sign off.

I have found the cure for adult acne ...

2010-10-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

Go to Hawaii for at least a few days ... (I was totally breaking out before we left. No breakouts while in Honolulu and then BAM! breakouts almost as soon as we came home.)

Sorry the updates have been few and far between.

I am gonna do my best to summarize the past week or so in bullets:

Joey is doing well with the shots. It's pretty much no big deal. He barely cares and seems to be willing to get him some treats.
Curt and I headed to Honolulu last Friday (the 8th). We did some lounging, eating and drinking Friday, then met up with old and new friends Friday evening. I had dinner, drinks, listened to jazz, had more drinks with new friends. We stayed out past midnight and I was wished a happy birthday.
Saturday morning Curt and I had met up with our German friend Martin (who flew all the way from Stuttgart, Germany). Then the guys headed to surf lessons and I headed to the spa for my birthday massage. After my massage met up with the gang and Curt, Martin and I had lunch and Mai Tais. Well, I had Mai Tais (Martin had one).
Saturday evening we headed to Ken and Karen's (couple getting married) for dinner, mingling and lots of fun. A few of us headed to the jacuzzi, which got me all nice and warm and ready for a good night of sleep.
Sunday we met Martin for breakfast again and then got ready for the wedding. Ken and Karen got married on a boat--so awesome! We arrived a little before noon, got on board and sailed off. We saw lots of sea turtles and dolphins. We also witnessed parts of the Molokai Hoe canoe race, which was pretty amazing. About 45 minutes into the ride we stopped for the short and sweet wedding ceremony. There was a little more sailing around. And then we headed back to land for a trolley ride and pictures around town. I made friends with Liliana, who is almost 7, and she wanted to sit next to me on the trolley. She said, I want to sit next to you because you are cool. Have you heard that before? After the ride, we were dropped off and given a little time to lounge. Then we had dinner in a private room, which had great wine and delicious food. (Oh, and there were only about 25 of us total.)
Monday had breakfast with Martin again and then headed to Ken and Karen's. A group of us headed to Hanauma Bay for beach time and snorkeling. I decided not to snorkle. But I heard there were lots of beautiful fish. The rest of the day was loungy and nice.
Then Tuesday we headed back home. What a sad day.
Lots of eating out this weekend: Friday two co-workers took me to lunch to celebrate my birthday--yummy sushi; Friday night had dinner with Sue and Alicia to celebrate my birthday: Cafe Biere--always good food and beer. Man we ate well, it was so yummy; Saturday after spin Jennifer and I had brunch at Sea Salt--another delicious meal; last night Curt and I got a pizza and headed to McNally's for beer and to watch the Giants game.
Today, grocery, yoga, lounging, paying bills, a little house cleaning, etc.

Today would have been my grandpa's birthday (my mom's dad). Grandpa Lisa (name is kinda a long story) would have been 87 (I think I have my math right). He died the day before his birthday. I can't believe it has been 16 years. He had the best laugh.

Smart kitty

2010-10-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

After Joey gets an insulin shot he gets treats. The idea is to associate the injection with a reward afterward. The shots have been fairly easy to give. Sometimes Joey resists. But luckily he has lots of neck scruff to poke.

This morning after his shot he almost immediately walked into the kitchen for his treats. Less than a week and he already knows what happens after he gets his medicine.

Oh, and check out Joey's (kinda) new blog right here.

What am I? 15?

2010-10-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

It must be the stress making me break out. Last week my chin totally broke out. Now it's my forehead.

Good thing I am getting a mini holiday at the end of this week. I think sand, sun, warm weather and drinks with umbrellas are all going to make me feel better and reduce my stress big time.

You take sugar? No, thank you. I'm sweet enough.

2010-10-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, that quote is from "Snatch."

This past week was a little rough for me. On Monday I took Joey to the vet as he was drinking a lot of water, losing weight rather drastically for a little guy and the week before the vet visit he got sick about four times.

So Monday we headed to the vet. Dr. Miller is awesome and didn't seem concerned. But he did take some blood and urine and ran the normal tests.

Tuesday evening when I got home from work I had a message from Dr. Miller. Joey is diabetic.

I know it could be a lot worse. But it still made me sad. I hate needles and, of course, I don't want my baby to be sick. I did some research online--found a video on how to administer the shots. Not sure if that made me feel better or worse. I found an article about diabetic cats. What I found out was that 1 in 300 cats become diabetic. It is more common in older cats and male cats. Joey is 16 and, of course, a boy.

I made an appointment for Curt and me to learn about Joey's new diet and learn how to give the injections. I was dreading the appointment all week. I was so stressed. (I also got sick. At first I thought it was allergies. But I think I got a mini cold. My cough and congestion are almost gone. I should be as good as new soon.)

Joey is now on a new Science DIet diet: high protein, low carb. I learned how to give him injections, which I was super worried about. I thought there would be much crying by Mama and furbaby. It was actually a lot easier than I thought. We have to give Joey two injections a day along with the new food. The good thing for Joey is he now gets more treats (he was limited before as we were trying to control his weight). After every injection he gets a couple of treats. That way he will associate his injection with a reward. Though I seriously don't think he even notices the shots.

We have kept our weekend low-key to keep an eye on him. And he seems to be responding well to the shots and he seems to like his new food, too.

Last night we did have dinner and then drinks with our friends Jacob and Aileen who have cats who have been diabetic and needed fluids. So they are used to the needles and injections. It was nice to talk to them about it.

Today was a visit to Target and mostly lounging around the house. I want to make sure I am healthy for this coming weekend and our upcoming trip to Honolulu for a friend's wedding next weekend. (We have awesome catsitters who will take good care of my furbaby.)

Pretty fun weekend

2010-09-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

I have to say my weekend was good. A variety of relaxation and fun stuff.

Friday I worked from home and only for a half day. I headed to the movies Friday afternoon and watched Going the Distance. Eh, it was OK. There were some funny moments and some weird ones. It was a chick flick but they were definitely trying to cater to the boyfriends and husbands dragged to the movie against their will.

Friday I met up with my friend Jennifer (I have many friends named Jennifer--this one is my spin instructor) and we headed to the city for a free concert by Neon Trees, which is a band we recently discovered and really like. We had to stand in line for more than an hour, but we were close to the stage and had a great view.

Saturday the gym in the morning. I got home from the gym and had some coffee and waffles with peanut butter. Yummy! Then Curt and I loaded our honker Tube TV into the back of the Subaru along with some other e-waste and headed to Berkeley to drop it all off.

After that some relaxation and viewing of Season 2 of Californication. That is one crazy show.

In the evening Curt and I jumped on BART and headed to the city for movie night in the park. We stopped at a cafe for dinner--delicious sandwiches. Then to Dolores Park for a viewing of The Big Lebowski.

I didn't sleep so great last night. So I tried to sleep in--which was difficult. Neighbors were being quite noisy this morning. Eventually I headed to the grocery (one of my least fave chores), then made a yummy breakfast and then laundry and more viewing of Californication.

Now I am watching the Clergy Killer marathon of SVU episodes.

I tried to upload video from the Neon Trees concert with no luck. Maybe another time.

Ugh!

2010-09-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

I worked until almost 7 tonight. I left work with a headache. On the way home I stopped at Babies R Us--one of my least favorite stores (Toys R Us is even worse). That place is under construction as they are getting ready to have Toys and Babies under one roof. The noise was not tolerable without a headache.

I tried to buy a gift card. Three registers, three different gift cards and three different cashiers trying to get me my gift card. But they were offline--whatever that means. What it did mean was that I couldn't buy my gift card and now I have to go back!

When the third woman told me they were offline and couldn't sell me the gift card I told her that I hated that store in a joking way. But I really do.

Yup, we're all good

2010-09-20T21:39:00.001-07:00

Curt was reading me an e-mail last night from our German friend Martin. He told Curt that Lea, who is almost 5, heard about the pipeline explosion here in the Bay Area on the radio and was very upset that we might be hurt. Awww, how sweet is that? Her dad assured her that he had heard from Curt and we were just fine.

This made me realize that only one other friend inquired about the explosion.

The funny thing is there could be an earthquake 500 miles away and people are calling to see if we are OK. That explosion happened about 20 miles from us.

So in case you were wondering, we are OK.

Taking care of Ann

2010-09-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

With work being so insane I am trying to not get overwhelmed and have a breakdown or a crying fit or whatever could possibly happen.

This weekend was pretty much about me. I got my hair trimmed yesterday. My regular hairdresser left the salon and I had my hair cut by Noah--who was totally awesome. He gave me a great head massage while washing my hair and made my hair look great. From him and one other person at the salon I was told I have great hair. Well, thank you very much.

I missed yoga class on Friday night because I worked late. So I went to a yoga studio near the house this morning. An instructor who used to teach at the gym teaches at this studio. I was excited to take his class. It was intense and sweaty! But an amazing work out.

After yoga I had an amazing massage from Thanh. She has been helping me so much lately with my stress.

I got a few things done around the house. But nothing major. I am working on a hat for a friend's mom undergoing chemo. I started reading again (you can't knit and read--and since I have been so focused on troop hats lately I have found little time). I am reading Crashers by an old co-worker, Dana Haynes. It has great Portland references. It is a fairly easy and exciting read and the chapters are short. So I can read one or two chapters and not feel overwhelmed.

As I mentioned on my Go Fit Girl! blog I am really trying to focus on taking care of me lately, physically and mentally--with healthy eating, losing a few pounds, hitting the gym regularly, yoga, monthly massages and mani/pedis. I also am doing my best to limit my work days to no more than 9 hours a day--which is working most of the time.

I'm jazzy

2010-09-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

Started my weekend with a yoga class, which is always a great way to end the workweek. Later on Friday evening my friend Jennifer (I have many friends named Jennifer, by the way) came over to drop something off and hang out for a bit. We chatted, had some wine and cheese. (I recently discovered the light Laughing Cow cheeses. They are so yummy.)

Saturday headed to the gym in the a.m. Headed home and got cleaned up for a baby shower. Curt headed to a football game so I had the house to myself that evening. I started watching the United States of Tara. I love Toni Collette. It is an interesting and intriguing show. I finished the first season today. I am hoping Season 2 is already on DVD. (Bummer! Just checked Netflix--nope, not out yet.)

Today was a lazy morning with coffee, knitting (finished troop hat No. 18) and working on some app reviews.

Eventually I headed to McNally's to hang with Curt and have a Bloody Mary ... or two. At some point Curt took off (had to get cheese and salami at Market Hall) and I stayed to finish my second drink. I made friends with a few people and two drinks were attempted to be purchased for me. I took a raincheck and headed home. Oh, and I got called jazzy. HA!

This evening has been getting ready for tomorrow, knitting a hat for a friend's mom, dinner, Mad Men and a few other things.

Time for bed soon ... Good night.

Screaming Children will NOT be Tolerated

2010-09-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love this: A North Carolina eatery has drawn a line in the sand by posting signs prohibiting children’s uproar.