in-town vacation day 1

I had a fairly relaxing day today. Woke up a bit before 8, watched tv, fell back asleep, watched more tv. I finally got off my ass to return my comcast modem. That was hell. I waited 45 minutes in a line that was literally out the door of the building for a 40 second procedure. Everyone in front of me had some massive issue so they all took forever. The place had 6 service windows and was only staffing two of them. I am so glad to be done with those shit heads forever. I crossed the street to the home depot to pick up a light bulb as well. Pretty exciting news. When I returned home I took Audrey for a fairly long walk to get some energy out of her.

Since that time I watched Harlan County USA, a documentary from the 70's about union organizing of a coal mine in Kentucky. I cried through most of it. The whole thing was so depressing. It wasn't just the coal miners not being able to unionize, it was the living conditions, the utter hopelessness of the area, the beaten down faces...ugh.

I'll do my weekly Monday night chat with my pals online, then maybe watch another movie or read. The only thing I "have" to do is run tomorrow. Maybe I'll finally get over to Anthropologie to use my gift certificate I've had since Christmas. Or maybe I'll go to the MCA. Who knows, the world is my oyster for one week.

buhhhlog

I'm alive. I went to San Francisco last week, where it was a crisp 60 degrees and sunny, where a bum spit in our cab driver's face, where we ate 'fresh-tasting' food, and where we slept a ton. For some reason I haven't recovered from my two weekends out of town, and am constantly tired. Some may call this "welcome to fall" and I may be one of those some. I'm falling asleep earlier and waking up later. Hopefully this weekend will repair my blogging abilities. But not tonight or tomorrow because its "meet the parents" tonight and tomorrow. Nate's parents are here tonight, my dad and his wife are here tomorrow. Now that's what I call a doozy of humor and free food!

A photo from the trip:



There's a difference between bocce ball and lawn bowling? Do bocce players wear black?

you ever hear the one about...

Hey blog guess what?

Chicken butt?

No, no...

You are at work procrastinating?

Well yes, but that wasn't what I was after.

You are going on vacation tomorrow?

Ding ding! You've just won...GOLD CASE.

This vacation will also include the conscious decision to do NO INTERNETS. So no email, blogs, or internet addictions of any other kind.

Congrats Kevin Party

This past weekend I went to Minneapolis to celebrate my best friend Kevin. Why? Because he obtained (is that the right word?) his FSA. Meaning he is now a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. So he's super fancy basically. His friend lives in a complex that lets you reserve party room space for events, so we held it there. Our high school pals Matt, Liz, and cousin Kristin all flew in to attend. It was great to see them all, and very refreshing! I didn't really know anybody there, but it didn't bother me at all. I was so proud of Kevin, and loved meeting all the people he sees on a daily basis. You can see photos of the party here. Thanks to Kristin for being the photographer that night.

Aside from the party we did lots of lounging around all weekend and catching up. Of course Paulie and I giggled and acted like ten year olds the entire time. It was a great weekend.

Up next: SF on Thursday with Nate.

Right now: Tired, doing laundry, trying to plan the trip and prepare work for my absence.

Homecoming

I'm returning to San Francisco October 4-7th! I've been seriously homesick for the place, and desperate to return. Nate and I have been discussing going on this trip for a few months, and I've been dying to show him my 'old life' since we started dating. So on Saturday we booked our plane tickets, and found a nice, reasonably priced hotel. I am so happy and relieved to be going on this trip. A lot of stuff was up in the air, and I was worried I wouldn't get out there for a long time. As it is, I haven't been there since last November. It'll be good to get four days of uninterrupted Nate-time. Even Audrey can't bother us! I envision sleeping in, grabbing breakfast at Tartine, lunch at Klein's Deli, Cancun, or Sunflower, wandering a neighborhood that I've missed, getting dinner at one of 1,000 places I miss, drinks with some old coworkers, rest, repeat. This trip is super important to me because of how busy he will be for the next 8 weeks. I'll admit I was getting some serious Jake deja vu with Nate becoming engulfed in bands. That stuff makes me intensely nervous, cautious, bitter, cynical, and a host of other attitudes/emotions that aren't all that fun or cute to be around. A stinky, muddy elephant has been lifted off my shoulders with this decision to take the trip, and I think it'll make me feel much more relaxed about life in general.

vapor action

I came down with a cold the past few days, so today all I want to do is curl back up in my bed. Work has been really busy and my cold has made me brain-dead at night, so I don't have much to report. I keep forgetting to mention that in March my best friends from high school and I are taking a vacation together. We are going to Gulf Shores, Alabama and staying in a condo/resort at Gulf Shores Plantation! We will be driving down together, watching oodles of Golden Girls, being jerks, assaulting Nashville, and listening to tons of bad music. Once there, we will sit, swim, drink, hike, and share one last bonding moment before Matt and Kristin finish their fancy JD and PhDs and enter the workforce. It'll be the spring break I never had! Unfortunately I'm totally not in shape for a swimsuit and my pastiness will cause me to be camouflaged with the white sand. Oh well, I'm so excited to spend some quality time with these people that it doesn't matter.

Nate will be dog sitting and house sitting for me while I'm gone, which makes me really happy. It means that not only do I not have to worry about my belongings getting robbed, but that Audrey gets to stay in her normal routine and environment with someone she really likes taking care of her. I couldn't ask for a better situation.