10/21/07

This morning I failed to get up early enough to make the 10:30 opening of California Adventure. But sleeping in is SO GOOD.

My ring finger burn is healing pretty well. I've been anal retentive about protecting it and putting on silver sulfadiazine. I'm hoping that it won't be as ugly as I originally feared; there's no dent in my finger any more. Apparently you can buy it on amazon.com, but their site isn't working right now.

We're having super Santa Ana winds, and it's knocking the power out in north LA. Too bad, because I love windy warm days!

I got the Christmas Oriental Trading catalog, but I've been disappointed in what they've offered lately. But I tend to examine it pretty closely, and I noticed these little wood boxes that would be perfect for work "holiday" gifts. Maybe filled with Christmas-y candy?


I couldn't be more excited about Christmas this year. I can't wait!! School will be over for the time being, and I get to visit family, and they'll start playing Christmas songs on the Coast, and I can bake all kinds of things... But, we all know what really happens. I get really excited, finals come around, and I don't get around to any of it. I'm hoping this year will be different!

We made it out to California Adventure for the evening, but it was really windy. Trees were falling everywhere, and it was probably a little dangerous. But I was happy to see the decorations, and we went on the Tower of Terror and California Screamin' before we left for home to do the laundry.

10/19-20/07

Yesterday was a pretty productive day. I scanned and emailed a copy of the chapel information packet to send to my mom, and mailed her that along with a big awful picture of me and one of my company directors. They'll like it, I'm sure! The computers were down when I went to the post office, but apparently you don't need a special computer-generated sticker to mail an envelope under 13 ounces. Mine came in at 12, so for $3 it's on it's way. Thanks USPS!

After work, I drove to LA for a group meeting. I had bought a Wendy's meal with a side salad that I saved for dinner, but forgot it before I left. We worked until 10 and I got home at 11. I swear I think I was delirious at that point; you can only draw ERDs for so long! We also got nice certificates in the mail for completing the Disneyland half-marathon.

Today was a busy day also. I started the morning with a run, which went terribly because I haven't been running in almost 3 weeks (and the Pumpkin Run is next weekend, already!). Came home, had some morning-weekend coffee, and got ready to go on our LA adventure.

Andy got us tickets to a movie and had looked up a talk. First, we saw the Darjeeling Limited at the Arclight theater. It's at Hollywood and Vine, and sort of upscale - they have assigned seating. It was probably the nicest movie theater I've ever been in! We almost didn't make it because of the traffic / not really knowing where it was, but we ended up having 10 minutes to spare and time for hot dogs!

As for the movie, I'd heard plenty of good reviews and an interesting radio commercial. But the movie itself was, I hate to say, disappointing. I didn't think it was funny, and there were a lot of really sad parts. The scenery was beautiful and the acting was really good, though. As we were leaving, though, I swear I saw Doris Roberts at the box office.


Next up was the Ayn Rand talk at the 50th anniversary of Atlas Shrugged exhibit. The lecture was pretty good and only 30 minutes, but the questions went on for over an hour. Unfortunately there were some real crazies too. On the other hand, it was neat to see some of the handwritten pages. By the way, I'd recommend the book; it's long but the story is great!

As we were leaving, a woman driving the Doris Roberts - lookalike in a hybrid Civic took our spot. We got Goody's pizza on the way home (the only place with pokey sticks!).

Week

Wow, the week has gone by so fast. It seems like just Monday I was wishing it was Friday already.

Monday:
Was a holiday for every company except for mine. It's alright, though, because I had what's becoming a fairly typical, uneventful day. I stopped off at Target for a gift bag, snack bar, and Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte on the way to PM class. Since when is a tall latte $4??? I think for Christmas I will ask for a very generous gift card, otherwise I won't be able to justify my peppermint, gingerbread, or egg nog lattes.

Tuesday:
I went to yoga, and the class was almost empty! The problem with going to class by myself is that when someone ... um, over extends themselves, and ... well, farts, there's no one to laugh with. It just seems rude to laugh by yourself. I tried the turkey chili from the cafeteria, but it was a weird sort of spicy, not the good kind. And nothing like the Von's chili, which could possibly be the best chili ever. I went up to LA for class and didn't have any money so I couldn't buy anything more than a bag of Skittles, but Andy made me a sandwich when I came home.
So sweet! Every time I go to the little shop in the business building, I want the caprese sandwich. It's $7, though, and they don't take cash. As I didn't have cash, I decided I'd just go to the grocery store and make my own, and bake my own foccacia to boot. I also got to deliver a gift to one of my birthday girls, which of course was fun. I did a little better than average on my non-midterm midterm, but I feel kind of slighted about my pre-fall grade. To be fair, I didn't put in much effort. But at least I sat through the whole thing, which is more than I can say for most people!

Wednesday:
The best part of today was going to Todai for lunch with Andy and friends. It's not fun not seeing him for most of the week. I sent out about eight emails through Here Comes The Guide to potential reception venues, and sat and stared at my inbox waiting for replies. I didn't want to go to self-help class; even though it was fun I simply couldn't wait to go home. But once I was home the exhaustion from the week, being sick, and the pressure of work, school, wedding planning, property purchasing, car buying, along with not being able to do the little things that I enjoy so much, really got to me. But I was so worn out that I think I eventually just passed out.

Thursday:
Not having to go to class is fantastic. I didn't go to yoga and instead ruined all the healthy eating I've been doing because our department hosted a pizza lunch. It was fun, and I had no idea how funny some of the people I work with are! After a slightly botched attempt to surprise my friend with her very belated birthday gift, I went home, took an easy run, and talked to my parents for a very long time about wedding related things (I think I'm hardly a bridezilla, but I feel like I have to talk over every decision!). Andy came home rather late with my cold, so we got smoothies from across the street, came home and made him soup, and sent my mom the information I'd found so far. I also finished reading Critical Chain, which ended up being as cheesy and self-serving as I expected. The concepts are good, and the author is very good at explaining them, even if he beats a dead horse occasionally. It's a little like the Da Vinci Code - the history and theory are fascinating, but the story that drives it is formulaic.

These are my total weakness, by the way. Not cookies, not ice cream, not alcohol. I could eat boxes and boxes. Made of 100% recycled paperboard!


Friday:
I found out that our chapel is available both weekends we were considering, which was great news! Now we just need to reserve it. I also typed my Critical Chain notes for my group. We had lunch at My Place (a sports bar, not my home!), and I finally got to deliver my last birthday gift for a while. It made her so happy! Which, of course, made me happy. I went to the grocery store after work, where the ATM never works, forgot a number of things, and dragged it all home. My mom wants to come out to visit, and help me find reception venues, but I just don't have the extra time. We had dinner at the Corner Bakery, came home, read, and that was pretty much the night.

Weekend

The past few weekends have been really great. Very fun, very active. This weekend sucked, all because I was sick.

Friday I missed Oktoberfest, Saturday I missed our potential Temecula trip and the USC-Stanford tailgate (perhaps just as well!), today talking Andy into visiting Disney's California Adventure, and no running or yoga whatsoever.

Instead, I spent all Friday sleeping and studying. I did pay my $63 so the state will continue to allow me to drive, but with that and the plane tickets not showing up until the first of the month, I've got to be more careful what I spend. We went across the street to Islands for dinner, which just about killed me and my diet. Then, instead of going out (because after dinner I was on my last leg), we picked up The Lives of Others. I've had some time to think about it now, and it was definitely a good movie. Not the type I usually like, but I can still appreciate a good one when I see it. Although, it was very long, and I think I just passed out after.

Saturday I slept ... and slept ... and slept. I finished my project management homework, not without typos, and spent part of the day in bed reading Critical Chain. It. Is. Awful. But at least I was still working something off my list. I used our wonky banana to make muffins, but they came out really dry because it really takes two bananas to make a good muffin. We'd planned to go out for a celebratory dinner, since I couldn't make it Friday, but we ended up getting Chicago for Ribs (yum!) takeout and listening to the last few minutes of the USC-Stanford game on the radio (it wasn't on TV!). I did some database homework, wedding planning and ... can't really remember what else!

Today was laundry day. That was rough, but at least we got it done early in the day. Andy made pancakes, and I could have eaten about 50 but I didn't. Then spent the afternoon doing database homework, writing out some answers to the Critical Chain questions, and working the project management practice midterm. I also got to finish up the guest list! It looks like we'll get the chapel that we want, but now it's a matter of finding a reception site. They are all so painfully expensive! Well, not expensive per person, but the minimums make things tough. And while all that is important, I have this up to torture myself:


Who wouldn't love a $10,000 dress from the one designer who doesn't seem to have a California store?? I bought a copy of People magazine in June just so I could have a picture of this dress. Now, it seems, I just have to get my mom out here to look for reception sites and dresses.

So, I didn't even get everything I needed to get done this weekend. Why do I have so much homework??? Bleh. I need a snack.

10/4/07

10-4, good buddy!

My quasi-cold with sniffles is now a full blown cold. I'm sorry I went to work (for more than one reason).

Today:

I confined myself to my desk and hid out. I was pretty much miserable all day. I did go to the Corner Deli to pick up lunch; I didn't want to go to Von's and touch the soup pots. I was also desperate for either a mozzarella and tomato or veggie sandwich, but it was cold in the office so I wanted soup too. I ended up with chicken & wild rice soup, which I didn't like too much - I don't know if it was because of my cold or if it was the monster sized pieces of chicken. I also got a veggie sandwich reminiscent of Jimmy John's, but just not quite up to par. Yep, that was basically my day.

I also found and was reading Mental Floss. It seems like I've heard of it before, but it's full of funny and interesting trivia, and I am a font of useless knowledge. My favorite post? The flickr photo series showing the limitations of the BMI calculation. Some of the people looked perfectly normal! I can't complain though; I'm solidly in the "normal" range. I may need to add Mental Floss to my daily readings.

I came home tonight and slept. Then made chicken ravioli for dinner, ready when Andy got home (I love doing the good housewife thing!). I certainly didn't get very far on my homework. There's always tomorrow.

10/3/07

Now I have that quasi-cold that's going around. It's not bad enough to merit a sick day, though. I may as well sit at work as sit at home. I've been rather in the dumps lately, and being at work seems to ... OK, being at work doesn't help the bummers.

My database "midterm" was pretty miserable. Nearly 3 hours of ERDs, with no book or notes to help. The professor was very forthcoming with help, though.

I heard a very cool rendition of "Puttin on the Ritz" on the way home tonight. Too bad JackFM doesn't give artists.

I can save 15% at Joann's with AAA! And 10% at Target! If only I could remember to use it.

Fresh mangoes are a great breakfast or snack.