All set to come home!

Well..its been a long week. Mom had surgery on Monday to revise the scar's and work done from some earlier procedures. As good as I've been feeling...taking care of her has been a bit much for me. When she laid down this afternoon for a nap I decided to take one too and didn't wake up til she woke me up 3 hours later! Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight.

So now I'm all packed for tomorrow...I shipped a box yesterday..and dad shipped the computer so hopefully those will be there by next Tuesday. Which should work out great since I fly to PA to do my househunting on Thursday. My suitcases are packed SO full! But I love being able to have most of my new stuff with me right away when I get home. IT was mostly books I shipped and lets face it...I can only read so many of those at a time!

I expanded my knitting skills this trip to include "felting". If you are not sure what that is....have you ever shrunk a wool sweater in the wash by accident? That's felting! Except I did it on purpose. I made a hat and mittens. I'll post pictures after I get home.

Tomorrow I'll probably take a nap and then get back to work on organizing for the movers. I can't believe they are coming on the 18th already!

Merry Christmas!

Look what I got for Christmas!!! Too bad I'll only get to play with it a few days before I head to PA to househunt and meet new work people. As soon as I get back the movers come!!! Better start planning my going away party! Probably will be the 20th or 21st of January as when I leave for Portland that next Monday I'm probably gone for good. So sad!

I also got lots of books, some DVD's and some of my collectible shoes. Hope your Christmas's were all wonderful!

I head back to CA on Thursday!

I feel so grown up!

I just got approved for my mortgage! I still need to find a property - but I'm actually approved - not just prequalified or preapproved - so I can shop with confidence and will be able to close in as little as 10 days once I find someplace! Maybe my stuff won't have to sit in storage too long afterall!!! And-if on some off chance I actually find a better mortgage elsewhere (which I haven't so far in all my looking/talking to banks) my current lender will meet it or let me walk away at no cost! I'm so excited! Now I just need to find a place!

Still bored

Okay...so now that I'm a week post op and starting to feel better I'm BORED to tears! Mom finally decided I was okay enough to drive so I took her to work today so I could have the car. But then my little sister couldn't go out because she had to clean her rom and my dad never called me back about lunch! So I made our peanut butter cookies and some fudge for Christmas Eve (we do dessert at our house with our family friends after going out to dinner). Then mom and I had dinner at CPK and now I'm at home printing of real estate listings that my realtor has been sending!

BRRRRRR!

Minus 6 degrees when I woke up this morning! Hope its warmer tomorrow!

In case you doubted my genius!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Word to the Wise

Don't get on an airplane 5 days after you have your appendix out. At least not if its a 4 hour flight. Was not fun! At least I'm home now getting some TLC.

Off to Chicago I go!

Well, thanks in part to Beverly (for picking mom up in the airport) and in part to Dad (for giving mom a ticket) mom arrived safe and sound in Oakland on Thursday night. My guest room was a wreck since I've been trying to get organized before the packers come - probably the week of Jan 16. So we had to clean that up so she had someplace to sleep. Yesterday consisted of lots of errands and chores to get me ready to go home today - although it did start with breakfast at Panera - always a good way to start my day. Oh! And a stop to Old Navy where a bunch of stuff was only $10! Then to the bank, post office, and Kinkos before returning home to do laundry and pack. Now we are just waiting for Amanda to pick us up to head to the airport.

I'll be blogging from Chicago so talk to you soon!

Believe it or not I feel blessed!

So Sunday night about 11pm I started to have this sharp pain on my right side. When I started throwing up I knew I was in trouble. I called the urgent care center Monday morning as soon as they opened and upon describing my symptoms - they insisted I head straight to the ER. And so my trip to John Muir Medical Center this week.

After a few ultrasounds, some bloodwork, and a CT scan I had a visit from a very nice Greek surgeon who insisted my appendix was to come out that very night. After a few tearful calls with my mom (believe it or not - she was the one crying - and none too happy with me that I didn't call her sooner since by the time I did talk to her it was too late for her to get on a plane and be with me for surgery) I called Amanda to come sit with me until surgery - and Michelle called her mom to drive down from Sacramento. Amanda and I had great fun sitting in pre-op for nearly 4 hours as we watched patient after patient come in and get to go into surgery before me. Of course the good part of that was that it allowed time for Margurite (Michelle's mom) to make it down from Sacramento. My mom was very pleased I at least had A mom with me.

After a short hour in surgery I emerged appendix free. I had a not so lovely 36 hour stay at John Muir after emerging from surgery. I really don't understand why they have to wake you up so much. Considering the pain I was in I would much rather have slept. And the way my neighbor was snoring I'd think they could figure out a way to let you sleep a little longer once you're actually able to FALL asleep.

Tuesday consisted of lots of sleep and lots of phone calls from those near and dear to me. To those of you who called - I aplogize for being so out of it - but I'm sure you understand! Tuesday morning when I saw the dr he indicated I MIGHT get to go home Tuesday night, so Amanda, Bev, Jen, Ann and Tony all came by to visit and maybe give me a ride home. Alas, my dr decided that with me flying to Chicago on Saturday he wanted to keep me in the hospital one more night.

Wednesday morning I was up and at 'em trying to get through my list of things the dr said I must do before leaving the hospital. I won't go into the gory details on what that entails - but I was on a mission to get out of that hospital as soon as possible.

At 10:30 I saw my dr and he gave me the good news....homeward bound was I! A call to Amanda for a ride home and I was busy getting my IV removed, post op instructions, and getting dressed. We left the hospital then and headed home to drop off my flowers before hitting the drug store to pick up my pain meds and some food. Then it was time for me to crash - and if I thought I was in love with my bed before it's nothing compared to how good it felt to be in my bed again last night!!! Amanda - thanks SO much for chauffering me around yesterday and getting me settled at home.

Thanks to Amanda and Ann for making the trip to pick up my car at John Muir last night. One less thing for me to worry about now. Thanks to Beverly for picking up mom tonight at Oakland. Yes, mom who is so upset she hasn't been with me all week is flying in tonight to help me get ready to go home on Saturday. She was really freaked out about me traveling on my own Saturday and when she talked to my stepmom to tell her what was going on, Cynthia offered her a plane ticket to come and get me.

After about 10 hours of sleep last night I spent today catching up on voicemails, important emails, christmas cards, and tv. With a nap or two of course. I'm still pretty sore, but being home has me feeling SO much better!

Again, thanks to all of you who sent your well wishes. Its terrible times like these when I feel extra special to have met each and every one of you!

Its Official

More details to come, but I officially was offered and accepted my promotion today. I'll be moving to Harrisburg, PA sometime in late January early February.

Good news is, a raise, small territory (like my old one before I started going to Oregon) and I'll be able to BUY a house - well a townhouse. But still exciting!

Bad news is not getting to see you guys all the time! I can't imagine being without all of you so close! I'm expecting LOTS of visitors!

Is it Saturday yet?

Thanks to Beverly for the horseback riding photos! Now the rest of you can see what a beautiful day it was!!!

Well...made it back home after (of course) the typical travel delays last night. But since I was just going to be in the "office" today I decided to sleep in a little bit. Now that I've gotten a little bit caught up on stuff since I've been out all week I think I'll run out for a haircut (noticed a lot of split ends this week), stop at UPS (damn UPS man came three times this week - after 8pm when the office was closed so no one could accept my package and now I have to go there to pick it up before they send it back!) and eat something!

By the way, if any of you need a romantic getaway. We stayed this week at the Inn at Langley in Langley, WA. It was amazing. And probably the best part was the food. The chef is also the general manager - and not only did he make us amazing lunches (and have phenominal breakfasts brought in - we're all dying to know where the bacon came from), but in the afternoon one day we got a tour of the wine cellar, his garden, AND we made dessert with him (I've got a mean chocolate mouse recipe I may prepare for this weekend!). Then we had a Chef's Table dinner. Now I don't know if anyone has done this before...but its when you sit right along the kitchen and the chef just whips up all kinds of great stuff for you. I've always been intrigued by the idea - but never participated because of how picky I am about food. I was a little more confident than usual going into it because they'd already been told I didn't eat seafood and they'd done a great job preparing me alternatives and getting Michelle vegetarian items. I got MORE nervous when the menu's were placed in front of us on what he was making. But you'd all be SO proud of me for actually eating what I was given!

First course was a tiny (I mean like half dollar sized) waldorf salad. You all know I'm not crazy about nuts - but they were crushed up so small I did okay (remember its the texture I don't like).

Second course was sweet potatoes with scallops (I'll admit here - I did not have a scallop but an additional sweet potato) with some kind of potato sauce and crumbled bacon. Now I'm not really a fan of sweet potatoes - but this was okay.

Third course was venison. This REALLY freaked me out as I've never had it. But as amazing as all the food was I figured what better place to have it than there. Now - the rarer parts of it were okay (but I don't think it tasted like filet mignon as some suggested) but overall I was not a fan. Too dry for me. But it was in an amazing sauce and had yummy mashed potatoes with it.

Fourth course was a cheese course. Triple Cream Cheese with crostini, vanilla bean jam, and vanilla poached pear. And did you know - triple cream is not a brie (despite the fact that the brie I buy at V Sattui says its triple cream) its its own type of cheese. But AMAZING.

Fifth course was our desert we helped with. A thin layer of pumpkin spongecake with a THICK layer of our chocolate mousse topped with some vanilla bean sour cream. (we made the mousse and sour cream). I'm not a fan of the pumpkin but the mousse and cream were amazing! And so easy to make!

We also had 4 wine pairs along with our dinner that really accented the entire meal! Just amazing.

Then I kicked all the guys butts at poker (ladies I think its time for us to play again - after a night playing with 8 boys I've got Texas Hold-em down. I was kinda mad because I didn't sleep so well the first night there. Came to find out all the noises I was hearing were the boys upstairs playing poker (we were the only ones at the inn). And I was mad that they didn't even invite me. So the second night they did...and it was a three dollar buy in. They gave us all lots of quarters nickels and dimes. And while I did lose all but 40cents my first hand. I borrowed $1 from my one co-worker and proceeded to take 4 hands in a row. And several after that as well. I ended up paying him back the dollar I owed, recouping my $3 buy in, and making $6 on top of that! I don't think the boys are going to invite me to poker anymore!


For those of you who have heard some rumblings about me moving - I still have not heard my OFFICIAL word as of yet. The person I'm replacing in Harrisburg has been ironing out some details on HIS next move. Although it seems that he's starting it the last week of January so its looking like I'll have a Feb 1 start date in Harrisburg (plus probably a week there earlier in January some time to meet everyone and look for housing). Anyway, I just hope I hear soon so I can really start full force at all the stuff I need to do since I want to BUY a place! And at the same time of course I'm so sad to leave all of you - but everyone is always welcome to come visit me in Harrisburg (for your shoppers its like a 1.5 hour drive to Philadelphia and a 4 hour train ride to NYC) and wherever my job takes me after that! And I of course will be VERY excited to come back and visit!

Nice way to get back into the week!

So...this is the view from the room I'm sitting in right now as I type. Gotta say...its breathtaking. We're having a meeting the next couple of days at the beautiful Inn at Langley in Washington.

Rest of my weekend was good. Saturday night folks out at Spoontonic. It was pleasantly mellow for the better part of the night since its was just Cindy, Harsha, Walt, Cathryn and me. Cleve, Munny, and Tony were supposed to meet us at Spoontonic - and not long after I arrived Munny came in and told us that Tony and Cleve couldn't get in because they didn't have collared shirts. When I suggested that they just go to Cleve's house (since he lived the closest) Munny said they didn't have a car because they'd been drinking for hours already. He wandered back outside - and later they called us to say they'd walked down to Masses and we should come. But none of us really wanted to go to Masses. So instead - Munny wandered back to Spoontonic and we smuggled out shirts for Tony and Cleve. It was hilarious watching Munny stuff them in his jacket to sneak them out. Now I must say - I was a tad bit skeptical this would actually work since - apparently Cleve had on sweatpants. Alas - after a bit more time passed - a VERY drunk Munny, Cleve, and Tony made their way into Spoontonic. Somehow despite their hilarious outfits they were let in. I won't try to describe how Cleve looked - because I can't do it justice. But let me just say - if ever there was a night we should have had a camera that was it! Anyway, I stayed a bit longer to commiserate with Cleve before heading home for the night.

Sunday I did more cleaning up around the apartment - still on a mission to find those damn 2003 hallmark ornaments - and then did a little more Christmas shopping. I'm so excited to say that I only need presents for my stepmom's dad and my 2nd mom's husband. AND I got my paystub and didn't even get screwed as bad on the tax on the company car as I normally do! Which means PLENTY of money to pay my bills for Dec and and have fun in Chicago next month!

Today had to be up early to be at Oakland - since last year the Monday after Thanksgiving was the nightmarish experience at LAX, and Monday's in Oakland generally not being great to start with - I was at the airport at 6:15am for my 8:15am flight. Good news is line was still inside - bad news it was still long. I heard it got a lot worse but at least I ended up on time with plenty of time for breakfast. Anyway, now I'm sitting in a rocking chair with my eyes bouncing back and forth between the very inviting looking bed, and the beautiful view outside!

Ah...only Saturday!

YEAH! I've done so much this weekend and its only Saturday afternoon! So exciting!

Thanksgiving was GREAT at Ann's house! Perfect day with perfect friends and GREAT food. Yesterday I was one of those crazy people up at Target at 6am because they had a vacuum for $37 - and let me tell you...after 3 years of dog hair my last vacuum couldn't take it anymore. And the new one is GREAT! 12 amps of power and only weighs about 10lbs! I've been vacuuming up a storm. Also picked up a $17 printer - not the highest qualify..but since my work one still doesn't work its something! Got a few more Christmas presents purchased and was out of target by 6:20am! After going back to sleep I did some more cleaning/organizating/decorating since Chalis reminded me on Thursday that the girls holiday party is at my house next weekend! Then Mun and I went and did a little bit more shopping and went to see Walk the Line (very good - but I didn't like the casting of all the other singers outside Cash and Carter). Then last night MORE work around the house.

Today I've alternated working around the apartment and catching up on Tivo. I still haven't located my 2003 hallmark ornaments. And I realized I'm also missing some Little Mermaid ornaments I bought the same year. The good news is...while tearing apart every box in my apartment I did find my DRILL that's been missing since I moved in! Very exciting! Now if only I had something to drill! And had my Hallmark ornaments from 2003! Alas..the search for those continues - it only took me a year and a half to find the drill....so maybe after I get moved I'll find them when unpacking.

Anyway, gonna get some more done around the house and then head out to meet everybody at Spoontonic!

Hm...did the tree grow or my ceilings shrink?

No your eyes are not deceiving you....my new Chritmas tree reaches floor to ceiling (and about 5 feet in diameter!). Wonder where I'll put my angel? Oh well at least I got it. I ordered it online from this company that has been advertising in a lot of magazines lately. But my lazy UPS man didn't bring it back to my apartment when he delivered (despite the fact that I was HOME all day the day he came). I finally got to the office when it was open and this thing weights like 75 pounds! It took me like 20 minutes to waddle it back to my apartment from the office.

Anyway its been a few years since I decorated for Christmas due to my fall down the stairs 2 years ago, and just plain running out of time last year...so this year I'm very excited to dig all my stuff out and show it off! My old tree was only 4.5 feet so ornaments were packed on it...I'm thinking it might look a bit bare this year!

Another Monday

Thank goodness for short weeks! I'm just not motivated this week!

Friday I hung at home catching up on some Tivo and resting. Saturday I ran some errands and then met people for dinner to celebrate my birthday! (I'll post some pics if someone sends them to me!). Had dinner at Cantina with Ann, Amanda, Rachel, Jen, Steve, Cindy, Kathryn, Walt, Bev and Tim. A GREAT big thank you to everyone who showed up to celebrate with me! It meant a lot! After dinner Ann, Amanda, Rachel, Cindy and I all headed to Crogans to do a little dancing. And let me just say, guys have gotten WAY to aggressive. And NOT in a good way! We were tolerating it most of the night...but it really got to be too much. Tip for random guys out there lurking on this blog. Most girls do NOT want you to put your hands on them without some kind of invitation. And, NO means NO. Not come back and start harrassing us again in 10 minutes!

Anyway, Rachel stayed at my place Saturday night and Sunday we went for breakfast at my favorite spot, Crepes A Go Go. After that we wandered around Walnut Creek to get a little shopping done. It was really nice to spend some one-on-one time with Rach! I was very proud of myself - I got my Dad and Mandy's christmas presents purchased and only bought one tiny little lip gloss for myself at Benefit (although I did buy a few pairs of jeans, a new belt and couple of random kitchen things at Kohls the day before). Of course, I got home and took a look at my Christmas list and I still have only purchased/made gifts for HALF the people on my list. Better get cracking on that since the November paycheck is the one I get dinged on taxes for driving personal miles on the company car!

Birthday update

So in case you are all wondering I did have a good birthday even though I didn't get to see all (any!) of you.

I've been in Portland all week...and yesterday was definitely a LONG day of work because we're in some pretty intensive meetings. I did take a few breaks to check my email and voicemail and thanks to ALL of your for your well wishes!

I woke up to find one of the people I'm traveling with had left a birthday card for me at my door of my hotel room. Very little, but really sweet since I'd only gotten 2 cards and 1 present before I left town on Sunday (can't wait to get home! I know its bad to say..but I LOVE getting presents an I know there are some sitting in my apartment office waiting for me!).

After our meetings we (we being all the people in my meeting and I) headed down to the Red Star Tavern in Porttland that makes the BEST Lemon Drops ever. Now...several of you know...I like my lemon drop. But most places...they're very heavy on the vodka and not so much on the sweet lemon. The Red Star Tavern has figured out how to make them JUST as strong..but they really TRULY taste like a lemon drop candy! So....we drank from like 6pm until 9pm (yes I was hammered...Happy Birthday to me!) and then headed to Macaroni Grill where....yes...we drank a bit more with our dinner!

Anyway, it was lots of fun and I didn't have a hangover this morning (although I really don't know how that could be!).

And another weekend ends...

Had a good weekend even though it was cut short by flying to Portland tonight.

Friday night Amanda and I saw Pride and Prejudice at the CineArts in Pleasant Hill. Good movie. It was long, but shorter than the BBC miniseries. I felt the parts of that movie that were cut from the new one helped keep a good flow to the movie.

Saturday morning I was up early to go horsebackriding on the beach in Daly City. (Thanks for arranging Julienne!!!). It was amazing! The weather was SO beautiful Saturday morning and we rode down the hills and onto the beach for a while. Was a GREAT relaxing morning - even if my legs are a little sore still!

Saturday night was the big 70s (and now) 80s party. Amanda and I met up in the parking garage so we didn't have to walk to the bar alone (we were in full 80s style). Started off at Crogans - music was great there! Moved on to Mr. Lucky's - music was not as good...but company was. Then we ended up at Dan's, which was fun til the band started at 9:50 - they were REALLY not my taste. And the sound was TERRIBLE at Dan's. They were having lots of mic problems which was causing some high pitched feedback - that hurt my ears pretty bad. But even when that wasn't happening - for some reason it was especially loud - my ears just couldn't take it. So we bailed a little bit after 10. But since I'd had such a full day already I didn't care.

This morning I slept in a little, finished catching up on Tivo, and packed for my week in Portland. Of course my flight was NOT on time...I knew it was a bad sign when I got to the gate at 5:10 and the 5:00pm flight before mine was still sitting there not having boarded. Anyway, I'm finally here....at least this is the better of the hotels I get to stay at. And I have a sleep number bed. The only really sucky thing is that I have to be here over my birthday instead of down in CA with all my friends!

Thats all for now. Have a good week everyone!

Depressing....

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

Guess I need to blog some more???

First Birthday Present!

I just got my first birthday present. Mandy and Michelle had a handbag CUSTOM made for me by this company called LILL.

Web site is www.1154lill.com

You can either purchase a premade bag, or they have tons of styles you select from and bunches of fabric swatches and you pick and choose which bag and swatches you want to make your bag. Mine has a pink interior and then the inside of the pocket inside matches the pattern on the outside. Its SOOOO cute! I can't wait to show it off!

Weekend with the Family

Thank goodness its Tuesday.

So my dad and sister Stephanie got here Saturday afternoon (and for those of you who were wondering I did finally finish cleaning up my place about 11pm Friday night - sorry I missed you girls but I'm glad you had fun!). We stopped at my place and then headed into downtown Walnut Creek to do some exploring and had a nice dinner at Lark Creek, where I talked Dad into my favorite bottle of wine - a nice Silver Oak. We wandered around town a bit more and then I dropped them at the hotel (yes they didn't even stay with me) because Dad was exhausted and Steffo wanted to take a swim before bed.

Sunday we were up early to get to Alcatraz for our 10:15 tour. Did the requisite visit to see the seals at Pier 39. I must say...no matter how many times I've seen them...I just love to sit and watch for a while! The fog seemed to be lifting slightly so we decided to try and see the Golden Gate Bridge. While it was still pretty foggy, we did get some good shots and my sister can say she's seen it now. We then drove up to Suausalito. My mom had told me before about how when my parents visited CA when I was a baby they had this amazing brunch at some hotel there. Well in strange fashion my dad mentioned it and said we should look for it for lunch. He knew the name, Alta Mira, but that was it. So after driving around Sausalito for nearly an hour (I know can you believe it?) we actually found the hotel. And wouldn't you know, LAST week Sunday was the last time they were serving Sunday brunch. So we ended up at some little place in town. We then drove back to SF and drove Lombard Street. First time I've actually been the one DRIVING when I went down it. Then we headed over to Union Square as the only think Steffo really wanted to do besides see Jelly Belly was shop. Good news was a finally found a pair of black boots - I've been looking for months! Then we headed back to WC and went and saw Dreamer at the movies. Actually enjoyed that quite a bit.

Sunday we were up early again to have breakfast and head up to Napa. Dad and Stef had to check out of the hotel because for some reason they goofed and only booked 2 nights and the hotel was sold out for last night. We decided it would be best for them to get a hotel near SFO for last night so that we weren't trying toget them to SFO with crazy traffic this morning. Then we headed up to Jelly Belly...and into Napa. Visited Sterling, lunch at V. Sattui, and then Silver Oak. Stopped at the Napa outlets then so Stef could do a little more shopping (you'd all be so proud of me because I bought NOTHING there!). We then decided around 5:30 to head towards SFO. Of course weather was terrible yesterday...so between that and freaky traffic going west bound we didn't get them into their hotel until almost 8pm. Luckily by then eastbound traffic was basically over and I was home by 9pm.

And now today I'm enjoying a day of catch up in the office!!!!

Well...kinda hard to argue with this one.....

The Priss Deliberate Brutal Love Dreamer (DBLDf) Mature. Responsible. Aristocratic. Excuse me. The Priss. Prisses are the smartest of all female types. You're highly perceptive, and confident in your judgements. You'd take brutal honesty over superficiality any time--your friends always know where they stand with you. You're completely unfake. Don't tell me that's not a word. You're also excellent at redirecting internal negative energy. These facts indicate people are often intimidated by you. They also fall for you, hard. You have a distant, composed allure that many find irresistible. If only more of them lived up to your standards. Your exact opposite: The Playstation Random Gentle Sex Master You were probably the last among your friends to have sex. And the first to pretend that you're pregnant. LOL. Though you're inclined to use sex as weapon, at least it's not as one of mass destruction. You're choosier than most about your partners. A supportive relationship is what you're really after. Whether you know it or not, you need something steady & long-term. And soothing. ALWAYS AVOID: The Playboy, The Loverboy CONSIDER: The Manchild Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating. My profile name: ShelBellYeah

AH...seeing much clearer now....

So I discovered why the random totally last minute visit from my dad and sister this weekend.....it seems actually there are 2 reasons....

First of all - my sister has Monday and Tuesday off school for some reason....

Second of all - my dad and stepmom bid on some American Airlines plane tickets at some auction and they were about to expire.

So...thats why I get a visit this weekend. And because the tickets were American I have to drive ALL the way the FUCK out to SFO! I HATE driving to SFO!

Anyway...think we have our plans figured out for the weekend.....

Saturday we're gonna hang in WC probably (they don't get in til 2pm).
Sunday we're hitting Alcatraz and then prob some other stuff in the city.
Monday we're going to Jelly Belly and up to Napa.

Should be fun. Now I just need to get my apartment in shape!!!!!!!!! Could take me til Saturday at 2 to do that!

Interesting Morning So Far....

Wonder what else will come up today?

I turned on my laptop this morning to find an email from my stepmom that my dad and sister were thinking about coming to see me this weekend and was I going to be in town. Love how they plan ahead. I'm figuring its probably that my dad needs to come to CA for business again and she's "making him" come visit me too. But that's a few extra days for Stef to be out of school so who knows. Hopefully they let me know soon though because I told Amanda I'd go to this thing with her Saturday night...and I cant go if my Dad's going to be here.

Then just now Mandy called to tell me that her and Michelle are going in together on my birthday present. And that it is something that takes a while. And even though they ordered it in time for it to get here, it might not be ready in time. But that they're going to call again in another week and if they have to change the shipping to get it here they will. Which leads me to wonder...what on EARTH did this two girls get me for my birthday??? I'm clueless! Michelle's always been GREAT at paying attention to things you said you wanted - but that either you forget - or just wouldn't think to actually buy for yourself. And Mandy always picks out beautiful thoughtful things too. I just can't imagine! But now I'm so excited to see! Plus....it reminds me my birthday is soon...which I'd forgotten except for the fact that I'm going to be out of town that entire week in Portland. Funny though...I've been thinking about Christmas and it completely escaped me that it was almost birthday time!!!!

And of course...it occured to me this morning when I read my stepmom's email that tomorrow is the 2 year anniversery of my tumble down teh stairs. Which reminds me to reflect back on how lucky I am to be alive and not more permanently injured. But also what GREAT friends I have. You all know who you are...but let me just say ...I never would have made it through those first few days without you and I can't thank you enough for being there for me.

I want I want I want I want!!!!!!

Mid week update

Okay..so maybe my travel issues are clearing up. I've now been on 2 ontime flights this month!!!! A record for me!

Left town Monday..flew to Portland, drive to Eugene. Spent Monday night and Tuesday there. Tuesday night had to drive back to portland....a drive that normally takes me about 2-2.5 hours traffic depending. But since it decided to RAIN in every town I'm visiting this week and someone drove their car off the road so it took me 4 hours to get to portland! Today had meetings all day here, then met Munny for dinner (he says hi to everyone). Tomorrow morning I hop back in the car and head to Seattle. Don't I lead an exciting life???

What should I be for halloween??

Hmmm...does this mean I should take the other costume I got back??


Your costume is a show girl costume!


What Should Your Halloween Costume Be?
brought to you by Quizilla

Yeah Vegas!

Had a great weekend! Got upgraded to a penthouse. Had all of our drinks purchased for us! (And not by the casino). Didn't win - but didn't spend much at the casinos.... Did a little shopping, spent a little time at the pool. All and all a GREAT weekend! Thanks Girls!!!!!

Yipee!

Las Vegas here we come!!!!!!

Happy Day!

So when I started working from home I bought a new printer so I could print stuff decent quality. It stopped working like month 3 and since then I haven't had time to take it to the repair place...so I've been printing what I could at Kinkos...or to my nearest office and having someone mail me things. Now...why I say what I could at Kinko's...is because previously the connections they had to print from your laptop were not compatible with my computer...so I was only printing there if I put stuff on my flash hard drive and used their computers. The other day I went out and bought an adapter for my computer because I was tired of this bullshit and not being able to print EVERYTHING at kinkos. So today I went in to print up stuff from my expense reports...and happy day....Kinko's has CHANGED how you hook up your laptop. Its now just an ethernet and usb connection....so I was able to plug right in and print everything I needed right at kinkos today! It was awesome!

What Season Are you?

You're a Spring. You usually are very close-knit
with your friends and value everyone friendship
you have. You're a real people person and
everyone loves how friendly you are. You're
good with encouraging people but usually don't
like to be the center of attention. You are a
social butterfly and probably are in several
circles of friends but it's just because you're
well liked and you make people comfortable.
You're both fun and wise but you are very
realistic about life.(If you can't see the
pics, go to my homepage)


What season are you? (pics)
brought to you by Quizilla

Car Alarms...WHY!!

Okay...so I live in a gated complex...but SOMEONE who lives here has a car with a car alarm. And that SOMEONE turns it on at night. And its been going off with only 60 second breaks since like 5am this morning!!!! Its bad enough I had to be up early for a teleconference....but to get up because of the damn car alarm! If the damn thing would shut it self off I'd seriously go back to sleep! And obviously the car has NOT been stolen because its still here with the alarm going off. And why have a car alarm and activate it if the owner can't HEAR it going off and go protect his car??

Damn Airlines! Part 2

Well...my flight's supposed to board in 10 minutes...but already its showing a 30 minute delay....surprise surprise. I suppose I need to give proper credit where credit is due though...when I flew here this morning my flight was actually on time! First time in 4 months at least!

What kind of girl are you?

I am a hybrid of: Progressive Girl Uptown Girl Click on the pictures below to read more: Take the 'What Kind of Girl Are You?' quiz at CookingToHookup.com

Not what I was expecting!

You Are A: Lamb!

Peaceful and gentle, lambs have been used in religious imagery for millennia. Lambs are baby sheep, an animal tended by shephards since the dawn of history. As a lamb, you tend to stay together in a flock and graze on grassy land. Lambs don't mind being led and tend not to go off on their own.

You were almost a: Duckling or a Bear Cub
You are least like a: Squirrel or a FrogWhat Cute Animal Are You?

Something in the water?

So I was outside tonight getting my mail, and when I came back my neighbors upstairs were sitting out on the patio. They asked about Chloe because they hadn't seen her in a few weeks....they just put their dog down about a month before Chloe and knew I was about to do the same. They got a little kitten a couple of weeks ago and she's the CUTEST, SWEETEST little thing you've ever seen. So they brought the kitten out to visit me and I got to cuddle with her for a half an hour. Then more neighbors started coming by. Turns out that one of them, her 14 month old Golden was diagnosed with Lukemia about 2 months ago and was gone within 2 weeks. And we've had two other dogs in the complex die in the past month. Seems strange to have so many animals gone in such a short time. The lady with the Golden told me there is a support group that meets right across the street as well as a hotline at UC Davis (she's on the hotline 3 hours a night). We were saying as many losses as we've had these last few months we should have our own support group right here.

Good to be home!

By some miracle my flight was only 30 minutes late yesterday! A new record for me I think. Of course traffic was so nightmarish that I still didn't get home until almost 6:30pm! Alas - It was good to sleep in my own bed last night. But its very strange to be here and not have Chloe here. She lived with me since my senior year of college...I'm just used to the noise.

Anyway, I have four meetings in four cities Monday and Tuesday so I'm working today and tomorrow to get ready for that. Then, I've decided my closet is in MAJOR need of cleaning out...I kept too much stuff last time I did it that I shouldn't have. So I'm planning that...some laundry...and a trip to Color Me Mine this weekend. Maybe if I keep myself really busy I won't notice how quite it is here.

Nice..but long and tiring day!

So I had to be in the meeting room by 7am this morning to make sure everything was working right for our presentation. Not bad except I went to sleep really late last night! Anyway, meeting went well other than the room being freezing cold. We wrapped up around lunch and a handful of us went to Cheesecake factory for lunch. Even splurged and got some adult beverges. Then Michelle and I had a few more hours to kill before our work dinner so we drove to Laguna Beach and checked out a nice yarn store we spotted on Sunday. Spent about an hour there and then drove to the Amtrak station to pick up her mom who is coming to visit since she's in Calfornia. Then we headed to our dinner....where I didn't really eat since we didn't have our cheesecake factory lunch until 2pm and ... lets face it...any meal at cheesecake factory is big and includes desert. But we had a lot of nice wine! I finally got back to the hotel and got my flight changed for tomorrow since my meeting is ending early again. will be landing in oakland at 4pm instead of 8pm. YEAH!!!!!!

MAN!

So I posted a nice long post last night about my three day vacation in orange county before my meeting today...but for some reason even though I told blogger to publish my post is was lost...so...trust me I had fun! That's the second time that's happened to me with Blogger though...kind of annoying.

Not a bad week considering...

So...I'm definitely doing better after my tramatic Saturday than I was in the few weeks leading up to it. The vet techs and my vet spent a lot of time with us. I got to sit there and hold Chloe for the last 45 minutes. One of the vet techs was crying just as much as Mandy and I were. The other was trying to tell us funny stories to make us laugh. When the doctor came in the thanked Mandy right away for coming to be with me, since he knew I was waiting for her to be with me for it. He thanked her again afterwards. Although it still sucks...and its very strange to be home and not have Chloe here with me....I feel better than I did the last few weeks...when I knew what was coming. I felt very guilty...which I shouldn't...because she was in a lot of pain...but still its a weird experience.

Sunday I went with Mandy, Ann and Amanda into the city for Now and Zen. Billy Idol cancelled which was a major bummer since I was most looking forward to him (even more than Maroon 5). But the other acts were good. We left about halfway through Maroon 5 so we could make it back onto Muni before the park emptied out and it would take us forever to get home. Then after we got back my dad called to check on me. I guess my brother and sister told him about Chloe. It's been about 4 months since I talked to him...not that we talk more often than that anyway. But it was nice that he called to see how I was doing. Turns out he's going to be in Las Vegas the same time that I'm there next month. Then...my best surprise of the day. Dear sweet Amanda surprised me with some beautiful flowers to help cheer me up.

Yesterday I went teambuilding with some co-workers to Napa. We had a great lunch at V. Sattui (spent some time in the reserve room with a very drunk host), a nice stop at Jarvis (the wine was much better than the last time I was there), and then finished up at Domaine Carneros. We were staying the night at the Napa River Inn (which turns out to be haunted and we did find a few folks who had some freaky experiences in our crowd). Today we had meetings in the morning and then headed home.

Now Mandy and I are just sitting here trying to get some work done so we can go out and have a little fun tonight before she flies out in the morning. And I need to do some laundry since I'm headed out of town Thursday for a week!

Sad day...

Well today's the day my dear sweet Chloe will finally get to walk without pain and only go potty outside again... I'm trying to think positively about the good I'm doing for her. I found this really great letter online that sums up why this is a good thing. I'm posting it below for anyone else who every has to face what I'm facing today.

ANNIE'S LETTER

Dear Susan,

I just want you to know how happy I am to be in doggy heaven. It is great up here! My legs work fine, and I only go to the bathroom outdoors, just like I used to, before I got real old. Also, I can hear again! The other barking dogs here are all very friendly, and once in a while I even bark back at them. It feels real good to bark again.

The views are spectacular. I can see all of Winnetka, Deephaven, Tonka Bay, Bloomington, and all points in between. I can see the work going on in our back yard... it is shaping up and will stay beautiful now. At the end of my time there, I could not see the yard or anything very clearly. My mind is inquisitive again, too. I am sticking my nose in to all the new nooks and crannies here. Exploring used to be a big part of my life. Remember me tugging you in all directions on our walks, except for the last year or so. And I like being real mobile, nimble on all four feet, again. I want to thank the whole family for taking care of me for 15 great years (well, really, 14 great years---my last year of real advanced age was not so great, for me at least).

You may think you rescued me years ago after I was abandoned, but that is not quite right. You see, I selected you guys, not the other way around, because I knew you were a great family that would take really good care of me! And did you ever take really good care of me!! Really, really good as you would say. Especially you, Susan. You were the one who usually put my food in my bowl, took care of my water, too. That is all I ever really needed. And you kept the bowls clean, because you knew that was important to me. You were my very best special friend. Thanks.

You took me to the vet for my check ups, and had me fixed when my spleen went bad on me. Remember when my ear filled up? You nursed me through that too. Even though you laughed at me, you knew how stupid I felt walking around with that lamp shade device on my head and you were able to comfort me through that difficult time. By the way, would you please throw out all the photos of me bumping into walls and chairs with that stupid thing on my head... it just is not in keeping with my lady-like personality!

The affection shown to me by Maggie and Katie was awesome. I felt like their sister, except I liked them so much I could never fight with them like some sisters do sometimes. I just tried to return their affection to thank them for cuddling with me on the floor and petting me so gently and stuff like that. I know they loved me so much, even when I got old and even though I could not show them the attention the way I did when I was younger and full of it, like I am again now.

But you, Susan, meant the most to me because you did the most for me and we spent the most time together. You really favored me with so much care and love for 15 years. I know I was helpful to you when it was just the two of us at the end of our time in Minnesota, and how glad I am for that---just to be able to repay you a little bit for all that you did for me. How many piles of my poop did you pick up? How many thousands of times did you open or close a door to let me in or out? How many bazillion hairs did you sweep up? How many hours did you spend vacuuming? Thank you so, so, so much. (Regarding the poop, I apologize for my little problem in cars---and boats---but I just got so excited that, well... you know.)

There is NO way I could possibly thank you enough for the help and joy you gave to me during our 15 years together. I was sorry I had to go when I did, but I was so old. I did not want to be boarded any more. I had zero energy for that, or any other activity either! It was definitely time. Like Uncle T. said, I was having way more bad days than good, many more bad hours than good hours. I really was not happy at the end, and now I am happy again. Remember me with a smile on your face because that is the way I remember you and Maggie and Katie and Paul. I have a big smile on my face now. My ears are sometimes floppy and sometimes (as you would always say) "precious". I get hamburgers any time I want. My head is way out the window when I go riding around with my furry pals. There are no fences or leashes here. I go for walks often. Life is great again! It really was time for me to go, and I thank you for your help in making it dignified and easy.

I love you, Susan, and Maggie and Katie and Paul, and always will.

Annie

P. S. I really liked being a girl, in a house with three other girls. It was especially fun when we ganged up on Paul. Ha!

Finally

Okay...I think maybe the zicam kicked in a bit finally...my throat doesn't hurt, my voice lost that sexy 86 year old smoker sound, and I'm down to half the amount of tissues I went through yesterday.

Must say though...don't care for the gritty zicam losenges. Not only do they feel horrible in your mouth...but I swear they make me sneeze just as bad as the nose spray. maybe worse since its prolonged by the 30 minutes it takes for the damn things to dissolve in my mouth. Think I'll stick with the nose spray from here on out...once I've finished the $13 bottle of losenges I have I mean....

Hope I'm feeling much better tomorrow as I can't cancel that meeting like I did the one I was supposed to have today!

Zicam not to the rescue...

At least not yet....

But gotta love the Nyquil....except of course when your nose starts running and wakes you up. I can't be the only one that happens to...no matter how dead asleep I am...the tiniest little nose run has me wide awake.

Gonna have to go to the store for more kleenex today....and I think I better reschedule tomorrows trip ... think I may need another day in bed....

Zicam to the rescue?

Hmm..its been a while since I've taken Zicam...I recall it worked OK...but I've always used the nose spray one before....when I was at Safeway today they had these little dissolvable tablets you could get also...and since the nose spray one always made me sneeze furiously...and therefore probably reducing the effectiveness I thought I'd try them....

However...I've had this thing that I'm not allowed to chew or swallow in my mouth for like 20 minutes and its getting gritty...and the little pieces of grit are drifting down my throat...its not a pleasant experience....hope this works well!!!! If not I also picked up a big huge thing of chicken noodle soup...that always works right??

I hate being sick!

Man...I guess I'm due...but it still sucks being sick.... I started to kinda get a stuffy nose on Friday...and now I'm all stuffed up, coughing like mad, and have a killer sore throat! And I'm all out of Zicam....but not in the mood to go to the store! I wish drug stores delivered!

Conversation with my sister

I just got off the phone with my little sister - she's three years younger than me. And we're not exactly close...in fact...we drive each other mad. And I've had very limited contact after she spent 10 days visiting me last year because it was WAY too much of her at one time.

Anyway...I was worried she was calling to bitch me out for not talking to my dad (I think he's mad at me right now - but she likes to yell at me when he's upset about something).

But turns out she was calling because the invitations to my cousins wedding in November showed up and she wanted to know if I was going to go (I'm not). But then she asked me if my dad had called me this week.....I told her I haven't talked to him in months (leads me to believe either he's not mad at me...just being normal and not talking to me)...so she tells me that my GRANDMOTHER is getting married and my dad is supposed to be calling and inviting me to that...and am I going to THAT wedding (I'm also not - 3000 miles away and thanksgiving weekend...no thank you!).

So still on the topics of weddings she says to me "I know we aren't really close...but when you get married I'm going to stand up in your wedding right? Because I know a lot of people that are excluding their siblings lately and I think that's wrong." I really didn't know what to say....I told her that honestly I'm not planning on having a big traditional wedding (true). That I want to get married on a cruise ship, with very few people there - just family and closests of friends (true). And that I didn't know if I would have anyone stand up for me (not exactly true - probably would have my friend Michelle). But I guess its good to know that she feels this way...because if I have ANYONE and don't have her that would probably cause major family issues. Of course...it means I also have to have my other little sister and my brother in the wedding too....so maybe I will not have anyone and just have "honored guests" like my friend Mandy was going to do if they got married in Hawaii (they are not anymore).

Anyway, since we were having this big long chat I figured I should tell her about putting Chloe to sleep next week since once upon a time Chloe was her dog too...she was actually really great about that too. Asked me how I was doing with it, talked about why its the right thing to do (I guess my mom's been telling her about how Chloe's been not doing great lately), and said she'd call to check on me that day to see how I'm doing.

So I guess it was good...its probably the longest conversation we've had in over a year..and there was no yelling or arguing at all! Maybe she's finally growing up a little bit! I'm planning on spending like 2.5 weeks at home over Christmas...so we'll see if I can handle that much time with her by then!

Damn Airlines!

Let me preface this by saying...that in the past 4 months...I believe I've had one flight (out of probably 30-40 flights) that has been on time.

So I was supposed to be on a 7:30pm flight home tonight. But my meeting wrapped up early - so I checked the schedule and there was a 5:30pm flight available. I had the airline switch me (and paid the fare change) and got to the airport at 4pm.....to find that my flights delayed until 7:02! So now I'm stuck in the damn airport and am only getting home 20 minutes earlier....provided it leaves at the time its currently scheduled to!

I'm SOOOOO sick of air travel!!!!!!!!

So drunk last night!

So I'm out of town at a meeting all week this week. And yesterday we finished up early and I got invited to go out with the guys golfing...I wasn't going to go...but I didn't really want to work anymore so I did.

We loaded up the golf cart with beer...and off we went...10 of us in total. Now....back in the day I knew I might need to golf with customers so I used to go with a group of girlfriends every Wednesday to play 9 holes. While I can't drive the ball too far, I usually go straight, and was really good at chipping and putting. However, in the 3.5 years I've lived on the West Coast I've been golfing exactly 3 times.....and haven't had any trips to the driving range. So...needlesss to say...I suck at golf these days. However, my scramble partner noticed that the more beer I drank...the better I got at golf.... So I drank some more. Then after I got the golf cart stuck on a concrete block...he decided no more beer (I dont know why he just didn't drive us himself???). Anyway, after golf we all went for dinner....where we probably had 5 pitchers of margarita's among the six of us....and of course I was already hammered before we even got to dinner. Then we were back to the hotel for MORE beer before bed.

So, I'm tired, hungover, and fly home tonight not to arrive in my own apartment until 11pm. Why do I do these things??

More on my wish list.....I'm dying for both these!!!!

Panera Bread and Mini Golf!

Okay..I've been waiting 3.5 years since I moved to the west coast for my FAVORITE restaurant to open....they're finally coming to in my area....drove a little out of my way today...but did get to have Panera Bread for dinner. Problem was...its only been open like 3 days and everyone who works there doesn't know how to do their job yet! It took them 20 minutes to make my latte! Oh well...I've got a dozen cinnamon crunch bagels to go in the freezer til the one opens up closer to home.

Also went mini-golfing with Amanda, Ann, and Tony. Haven't been in ages...we had a blast ... but the course was HARD. And they charge you $.25 a ball if you lose it...which of course I did....oh well. Still a good time. Now time to chill with Chloe a bit before bed. I'm attaching a picture of my pretty baby here.

Halloween Candy!

So I went to Costco today to load up on supplies for a care package I'm sending to the gulf. Then I headed over to target, because I'm told where I'm sending things the folks are also badly in need of tarps. And I also saw that target is in fall on Halloweem mode already!!!! Costumes and more importantly! Halloween candy! My favorite are the little Brachs pumpkins! Gotta get them while they're out!

Damn!

Got up at 5:30 this morning...got ready, got in the car, turned on my cell phone - to find out that my meeting that was 100 miles away at 8am had been cancelled! Too late now to go back to bed...guess I'll get some work done.....

UGH!

Man! Last night I wrote this long raving rant...and then my computer crapped out on me before I could publish....don't feel like re-writing it now...but it sucks! Time for a new computer for me...but I really don't want to spend the money right now...I mean...I already just made myself take back the Coach Scribble Tote I found on clearance at Nordstroms..and the knee high black boots I just bought on zappos. Trying to be financially responsible so I'm in better shape for moving...but its hard when you need to make major purchases!!!

Devistation of Katrina

So I just watched today's Oprah..I've been avoiding watching too much tv because all the reports are so depressing...but I always watch Oprah...I think I cried through 70% of the episode. It's obscene how poorly we've reacted to helping the victim's of Katrina....I'm ashamed of how long those poor people had to spend at the Superdome....and all the dead bodies laying about because we're unable to clear them up. And at the triage center at the airport in New Orleans - they're bringing people still alive to the morgue..because they believe they'll die anyway and its peaceful there. Unbelievable.

So much Coach...so little Time

Okay...so I'm completely and total obsessed with the Coach label. I mean...I have over 50 different handbags/shoes/scarves/accessories from Coach...I could open a store..... Just wanted to level set for you.

So coach came out with a new catalog week before last...and I'm DYING to have the Naomi Pumps....they're SOOO cute!!! But I have a really hard time paying $230 for shoes! I did pay $210 for my pamela sandles...but I've only worn them 4 times so far.... by the time I decide they probably won't be available anymore and my decision will be made for me...but man do I want them!!!!

Welcome!

So I've been fascinated by the BLOGGING phenomenon of late....spend WAY to much time reading them...thought I'd write one!!!! Hope you all enjoy it!