Didn't want it didn't need it but we knew that we could see it ...

I expected to come home from the car show with a long list of cars that I wanted to buy TOMORROW unfortunately that wasn't so. The good news is that Dave and I both found one vehicle we loved (and it was the same vehicle!) but the bad news is that for now the purchase price is not in our budget. For the $48,000 Lexus 400h we would need to put a down payment of $15k in order for our monthly payments to be $550 per month. With our income this is easily do-able but we're about to begin a kitchen remodel and the kitchen is more important then the SUV. *whine* Why can't I have both the new kitchen the 400h AND the Lexus IS250? Yes, I am a spoiled brat and yes the fact that I will have to wait to buy the 400h makes me extremely pouty and yes you can feel free to hate me for my pissy princess thoughts.

In slightly less shallow thoughts, when we bought this house 8 months ago we were convinced that we would be eating budget meals for the rest of our lives while we stretched our budget to afford a $450,000 house. Never did we think that in less then a year we'd be able to afford a contractor to remodel the kitchen but also be able to contemplate buying a new car soon after. It's amazing how things just have a way of working themselves out.

The Lexus IS250 which I love even more then the 400h but unfortunately is not as practical

Greed is the New "It" Sin

I want a new purse. I have a really cute deep red purse that I have been using that is somewhat small but super adorable. I really want a Coach purse in brown or deep red but I know that I will tire of it much too soon.

I want a new car. I am loving the Lexus Hybrid 400h SUV but not liking the $48,000 price tag. I am also loving the Range Rover but not loving the fact that it only comes in gas engine. Right now Dave and I are sharing one vehicle (my 2006 ford focus) which is fine since he works from home most days and I only work 5 miles from home. I'm just so bored with the safe blah-blah focus and want something much more exciting that also has navigation and Sirius satellite radio built in (ooo! also leather seats). We have a portable Garmin Nuvi as well as a handheld Sirius radio but trying to juggle both of them for car trips is frustrating. We are going to the auto show on Friday so expect me to come back with a long list of DINK cars that I have drooled over.

I want to go on a vacation but really don't have a specific location that I would like to visit. We are going on a mini-holiday to a mountain lodge resort to play in the snow in mid-January as well as a longer vacation to Lake Las Vegas in March. I just want to go someplace right this second (and never come back).

I really want to lose weight. Since late October when the fires happened, I have lived on a steady diet of ho-hos and late night McDonalds combined with root beer and zero exercise. Needless to say I have gained 15 pounds as well as become flabby. I hate flab. Now that things have slowed down (or seem like the will be slowing in the next few weeks) I need to get back in the grove of eating healthy and exercising daily. I'm actually looking forward to not feeling so yucky and unhealthy. Now talk to me in 2 months when I complain about not being able to eat the cake in the break room ...

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Good News: I am finally in the Christmas spirit and ready to decorate my house!
Bad News: The holidays are over.

Good News: I braved the crowds and did some after Christmas bargain shopping.
Bad News: I spent tons of money.

Good News: I have so many cute things to use as Christmas decorations.
Bad News: I have to store them in our attic until next year.

Good News: Christmas went well and we had a nice time.
Bad News: Now I have to go back to work. I am not in the mood to work.

The End.

He Makes Me Laugh

Scene - He is preparing dinner and I have just arrived home after a long day at work.
Him: How about angel hair pasta with mushroom spaghetti sauce?
Me: Ummm ... no.
Him: Por que?
Me: I just don't feel like mushroom spaghetti sauce. Is there any garlic spaghetti sauce?
Him: pero tu quires mushrooms.
Me: ehhh ...
Him: No comprende.
Me: No necessita comprende. Idiota!
Him: I give up.
Me: Wait! Did you just go from English to Spanish to spanglish and I didn't even notice until I answered you back in Spanish.
Him: I guess.
Me: Only in San Diego County (aka Northern Mexico) would it be so common place to hear Spanish everywhere you go and begin incorporating it into your everyday language.
Him: haha!
________________________________________________________________________

Scene - We have just arrived back at our hotel room after attending his work holiday party. I am very drunk and we are in the middle of doing what married couples do.

Us: kiss, kiss, smooch, smooch ...
Him: Look there are crumbs in the bed!
Me: ummm ... yeah, crumbs.
Him: *stops doing what he was doing and begins brushing the crumbs off the bed*
Me: Holy Hell! What are you doing?
Him: Brushing crumbs off the bed.
Me: I think not! Get your head back in the game and Man Up!
Him: *blank stare*

12 Days of Christmas

I was reading this blog and this blog which did a 12 things about Christmas meme and it made me think how differently the holidays are celebrated by each family. Since I'm not into tagging and I don't care to wait until I am tagged, I thought I would do my own 12 things about Christmas.

1. I hate gaudy xmas decorations! The type I am talking about is the snowman snow globe, tacky multi-colored lights, and other garish cartoon like decorations. I much prefer something like the picture above; classy, simple, and yet still festive.

2. This year I haven't even decorated a single bit for the holidays. No tree, no stockings, no outside lights. I've just been way too busy the past few months and to be honest we don't have little ones nor do we have family in the area. What point is there in decorating when no one besides ourselves will see it?

3. Growing up we always opened presents on xmas eve. We'd travel to my Grandparent's house, visit with extended family, eat tamales, then open presents after everyone but immediate family had left. Xmas day was spent being lazy and eating breakfast at Denny's.

4. I really hate that the holidays have become an over commercialized affair. I would much prefer to go sans presents (except for the kiddos) but this idea is never appreciated by our families. I would really like to do some type of charity work as a family since in my eyes this is what xmas should be about. At the very most I would do a secret santa exchange but even this idea is never liked by anyone but me.

5. I REALLY hate opening presents in front of others. For starters I think it sucks to have to pretend to love your gifts when the gift giver is staring at you from across the room. But I also think it sucks to have to sit there for a long period of time while I watch each and every family member "ooh" and "aah" while they open their gifts.

6. I never send holiday cards and I never will!

7. I love holiday parties. I look forward to them for days. I love dressing up, seeing friends, drinking, eating good food (usually), and the festive spirit.

8. Even though it may sound like it, I'm really not a Grinch. Each year I look forward to the holidays but I just sometimes think that the reason for the season has been forgotten.

9. Dave and I alternate where we spend the holidays. One year we do Thanksgiving with my family and xmas with his. The next is t-day with his family and xmas with mine.

10. Dave and are I doing stockings this year as our presents to each other. I do love waking up on xmas day and digging through a stocking full of goodies. I always think the little presents are the best (mmmm ... chocolate candies!).

11. My perfect holiday would be xmas eve spent at a holiday party (at my house or at a relatives) during which we eat, drink, and catch up. Everyone would then exchange presents and take them home to be opened later that night or the next morning. On xmas day the hubby and I would wake up in our own home. We would cook a good homemade breakfast and then open our stockings and spend the rest of the day lounging around the house. Xmas dinner would be spent with immediate family.

12. Next Saturday Dave and I are going to my grandparent's house to learn how to make tamales. I am so excited since tamale making is something you can't learn at your local culinary school. It's a weird association but more then anything, tamales remind me of the holidays.

How do you spend your holidays?

Snippets of Vacations Past

1) Glamis, December 2001 - We've driven for over 10 hours and have finally arrived at our destination. We're dirty and extremely tired but at the moment all we can think of is how excited we are to finally be here. We jump out of the truck and immediately I am blinded by the bright sun, white sand, and blue sky. It is December but in the middle of the desert it feels more like July. That night the opportunity arises for us to sleep together in the same bed. I will attempt to touch his penis but he will shy away each time. Two years later he comes out as gay.


2) Las Vegas, February 1990 - I am ten years old and we have just arrived at our hotel. While my Mom checks in I stay in the lobby and stare at the carpet. At that moment the gaudy, brightly colored designs look like the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I vow to never forget the carpet and focus all my attention on remembering each feathery loop.


3) Vancouver BC, December 2002 - We are walking through downtown after visiting a local wine bar in search of more ice wine. Between giggles we talk about our futures and what we want our life to be like someday. A few girls express their wish to live in the country on a farm. I look up at the high rises and realize with a sudden clarity that a thriving city is where I need to be. Our conversation turns and we begin talking about what to eat for lunch and someone suggests sushi. Three of us have never had raw seafood and politely refuse. A few years later on one of the rare occasions when we are all together we devour sushi.

That's what I'm waiting for

I'm really not gonna shut up about Modest Mouse.

Someone posted a clip from last night's show. This was actually one of their more sedate songs that they played and while it was good I didn't love, LOVE it but it still shows their awesome rock starness.


Even better, they recently released a video for their kick ass song Little Motel. Watch this video from start to end and be prepared to cry.

It rained and its over a shooting star
Landed directly on our broke down little car
We fold and we had made a wish
That we would be missed
If one another just did not exist

Right wing, left wing, chicken wing

You know that feeling you get after you've just had a fantastically fun time? A bit of the ho-hum blues when you realize that the moment you just had will.never.happen.again. *sigh* Last night Dave and I went to the Modest Mouse concert. Easily it was the 2nd best concert that I have ever attended (1st is the Dave & Friends concert at Oakland Coliseum which was a once in a lifetime opportunity where I was just the right amount of inebriated and had 8th row seats).

I was hesitant about going to the concert as it was held at an open seating concert hall and Modest Mouse is notorious for being too drunk to perform which is why I've never seen MM in the past even though I have loved their music since 2003. Dave and I got there 30 minutes before the opening act because I wanted a good spot and Matt Costa was the opener (Me + Matt Costa = Forever). As soon as I found out that Matt Costa was the opener I should have realized that the stars were aligned and this concert was made especially for me. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Matt Costa is more like Jack Johnson (he makes me want to surf, smoke some up, then eat a breakfast burrito) while MM is just so spastic (they make me want to take a long drive while singing at the top of my lungs). Two great styles (in my book) but not exactly two types of bands that you expect to support each other.

Matt Costa was fantastic. His voice was pure loveliness and the crowd was very polite even though Matt is still relatively unknown and I think I was the only one in the crowd who could actually sing along to his songs. MM began to perform after an obscenely long set change during which 2 drum kits and a stand up bass were brought out. For once Isaac Brock (the lead singer) wasn't doped out of his mind and could actually sing the songs well and with understandable lyrics. The two drummers (who were beating their little hearts out) combined with the guitar god Johnny Marr and a on-top-of-his game Brock made for a spectacular concert. The set list was just the right combo of classics from their early days combined with songs off their new album. They jammed out and funked up some of their songs but didn't spend half the concert going off on some musical tangent *cough* DMB *cough*. It was just the perfect type of concert where the music infuses your soul and makes you dance and sing without consciously realizing what you are doing. *sigh* All in all it was a perfect evening and I am so sad that no recording was made of the concert because I would love listen to it and over and over while reliving the concert.

If you haven't done so already: fall in love with Modest Mouse.

Pain (Invaded)

When Dave first graduated college he worked for Makita Tools in their marketing division and as a result he became the proud owner of almost all the top of the line tools Makita has to offer. This is great now that we are first time home owners and need to do some type of home improvement on a regular basis.

We're getting ready to remodel our kitchen so this weekend I've been playing around on Ikea's on-line planner tool trying to lay out the kitchen cabinets. I was stomping around in the garage trying to find a tape measure and getting progressively pissy that no tape measures were to be found when I threw open one of the garage cabinets and discovered that it was empty. Bare. The cabinet we use to store all the Makita tools. Barren. We have lots of bright teal Makita tools and for all of them to be missing from the cabinet is a bit jaw dropping to see. I keep our garage very clean so I took a quick spin around the garage to make sure they weren't sitting on top of the washing machine. Nope. Missing.

Dave and I searched the house and garage again and sure enough they were no where to be found which means that someone came into our garage and burglarized us most likely when we were home. This thought has been so unsettling to me. Not only because we live in a private country club and you just assume that you are safe but also to think that someone might have invaded our personal property (regardless if we were home at the time). Even scarier is the thought that since only our Makita tools were taken that likely someone "cased" our home and had watched us for awhile to determine where the good stuff was. Creepy.

I've been so busy at work so we haven't done any home improvement projects in some time so Dave and I were trying to rack our brains to determine when the tools might have been stolen. Luckily, I took pics of the entire house during the fire (in case it burned down) and in those pictures I found many of the garage and the tools. That means that the person who stole from us targeted us within the last 6 weeks. Scary.

Luckily, we have a home alarm and plan on using it a lot more in the future. Still I find myself in a very sad mood to think that there are people out there who invade others and take things that aren't theirs. Errr ....

Vacation

I saw this picture on dooce.com and it immediately made me want to run away to someplace cold and curl up near a fireplace. The high here today is 77 and it's sunny. I'm so ready for winter-like weather and a vacation.

PS - Tammy, don't suggest Iowa!

Pump You Up

Sorry I've been MIA but after working five straight weeks of 70 hours plus, my body is finally starting to feel the stress and break down. It all started when Dave made me leave work the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so that we could fly up to my in laws house for the holiday. We weren't due to return home until the following Saturday (4 days later) and the thought of being away from work all those days was STRESSing me the f'ck out. Plus, Dave's mom tends to stress me out naturally so that didn't help my anxiety level much.

Thanksgiving evening I began itching all over. I blamed the dog and its fleas but apparently I was the only one feeling the bugs. By Saturday the itching had turned into ugly red welts all over my chest, arms, legs, back, and stomach. On Tuesday I went to the doctor and learned that I am having an allergic reaction to something. He put me on steroids which helped but I'm still having a hard time breathing because of the allergic reaction. I go next Monday for testing to see what the offending allergen might be. Obviously it is something that I am encountering in my everyday life.

Then last Thursday (the night before a very important deadline) I woke up at 11pm yaking my brains out. This lasted every 30 minutes all night until 5am. By dawn I could barely walk because I was so weak and was shivering cold. It's not even hyperbole to say that I truly wanted to die at that moment from being so miserable. Showing my true commitment to work, I slept from 6am to noon and then went into work to finish my project. I think I deserve the #1 Federal Employee Award (or maybe just the #1 Crazy Award).

OK. This post isn't even funny or entertaining but unfortunately I couldn't think of a way to make hives and puke interesting. Only 3 more weeks of this heavy workload and then I am taking one long arse week of vacation during which I plan on doing nothing but sitting on the couch and watching TV. The countdown begins ...

Funny Life

Isn't it funny that 3 weeks ago I was ready to hang my hubby by his toenails. As we all know relationships have their hills and valleys and at that time I was in a valley. Not anything that he did yet I certainly loved my husband but wasn't sure that week that I liked him. In all honestly it prolly had more to do with me and my state of mind versus him and his habits. Anyways, 3 weeks ago I could of easily ran away from that man and not looked back. This week he is gone on a business trip and I am missing him like crazy. Happy Thanksgiving. I am very thankful to have such an awesome husband.

Breaking Point

On Friday I gave four media interviews. Two of them were over the phone interviews for newspapers, one was for the local ABC affiliate, and the other was an in person interview for a regional news radio program. I sucked in all of them.

Previous to Friday, my media resume had consisted of two different experiences. In the first I shot a 15 minute fluff piece for a special that aired on PBS. It took a whole day to shoot the piece during which I was ordered to walk here, walk back, pretend to explain something to someone else, smile, play dead, etc. Most of the piece was going to be pre-written voice over work so the amount of questions that I had to spontaneously answer was minimal. Plus I had 2 public affairs specialists on-site watching my every move on camera, therefore I never felt nervous since I knew if I fumbled my words they would both pop up and feed me lines.

In the other previous experience I was emailed a list of questions a week before hand so that I could formulate my response. The whole time I was being interviewed I pretty much read my response verbatim and then afterwards handed over my written answers so that everything could be transcribed correctly.

Lesson Learned: I do well when someone holds my hand.

During the phone interviews I was given no advance warning. So in effect they went something like this:
Me: *drawing a map, rocking out to Coldplay, probably thinking about what I will eat for lunch*
Phone: Ring, Ring!
Me: What up? (Just kidding! I answer the phone like an adult)
Phone: Hi, My name is Debbie Downer from Serious Newspaper and I have a few questions for you.
Me: *fumble response, drool, bang head against computer*

The TV interview was worse since my State Head Honcho left it up to me to present for 10 minutes in front of a packed press conference during which everyone else who presented was the head of their federal or state agency. Actually, I am thankful for him giving me the opportunity to present since it shows that he trusts and respects me plus he was by my side the entire time so it's not like he fed me to the wolves. Point being: it was a massive press conference, lots of tv cameras and reporters, and angry people who have lost everything in the fires. As soon as everything ended I was happy as a clam since I had been nervous to the point of throwing up but as soon as I got up to the podium I was overcome by the ghost of George Washington and magically became this poised speaker. Bottom line was I rocked.

Then a news personality sweeps me to the side as I'm limping off the stage and drags me to a corner so that they can get a one-on-one interview. Have you ever had a giant camera stuck in your face while someone asks you difficult questions? Not easy. I ended up stumbling through the entire interview while at the same time shadily shifting my eyes back-and-forth toward the camera man since he was standing mere inches from my face. Thanks dude. The radio interviewer dragged me away as soon as the TV person had chewed me up and spit me out. At that point I didn't have much left in me.

I think I'm gonna need media training since my agency has pledged a bazillion jillion dollars towards fire recovery work on private lands and I have a feeling that there will be more interviews in my future. Today has already been nasty crazy and I am just about ready to hide under my desk and cry until everyone goes away and leaves me alone.

I Needed a Reason

#2 Reason for Having a Husband: When you have a nightmare at 2am about an out of control dump truck that is careening through your neighborhood, you can awake startled and have someone hold you tight while you calm down and go back to sleep. Best. Feeling. Ever. (#1 reason is sex on demand. Duh!)

And on a totally unrelated topic: everyone seems to be going shoe crazy with NaPoBloMo. My boots today which I bought this weekend at Macy's which was having a rocking shoe sale.

He is Playing SoCom, I am Listening to Hum

Surprise, surprise. I decided to honor part of the 3 day weekend and only go to work one of those days. The other days I've been running around trying to catch up on my personal life. All the fun stuff like bills, grocery shopping, dropping off dry cleaning, and clothes shopping. Also, downloading my camera which I haven't done in far too long. Here is a picture catch up:

A few months ago, I went to Oregon to visit my best friend. Oregon was far more beautiful then I imagined it would be as well as far more rural. I miss her so much ;-(

About a month ago we went to the San Diego Chargers vs Oakland Raiders football game. Good game except the part where the Raiders f'ed up and lost yet another game. PS - Dear Chargers, when playing another Cali team please stop playing this song every time you score a TD. In that case it doesn't make sense!

Dave's office that we recently (2-3 months ago) renovated by laying ikea tundra laminate flooring. Cheap and relatively easy. Now if only I could find pictures to hang that Dave actually liked. The boy is PICKY when it comes to just above everything. Oh lucky me.

The view from our house on the first day of the fires (Monday). The nasty red color and smoke lasted for days.

Goodnight!

PS. Doing it old school: Hum

Destruction

Various pics that I have taken over the last week. I was out with a tour of congressional representatives when a fire began 300 yards away from where we stood. Luckily, a helicopter spotted the fire immediately and began dropping water buckets on the hot spot. We were so close to the fire that the helicopter was dropping water on us as it was flying overhead.

Man Candy Music

I'm busier then a worker bee. Going 100mph without time to stop and breath but I love it. Doing a lotta driving and listening to Snow Patrol. Still love them. You should too.

On an unrelated note, fires are still burning here but are 100% contained (contained just means that there is a fire line around the perimeter of the fire, not that the fire is out). Anyways, lots of firefighters running around town and sleeping in local hotels. Seems like everyday I run into one and they all seem to have the same basic qualities: smoldering good looks, hard body, exudes sexiness. Not sure what is about them but I'm starting to think it's a requirement for firefighters to be hott. Luckily, I worked for the Forest Service while in college and personally came to realize that most firefighters are cocky asses. Cute but pricks. Oh well, I still love the eye candy.

Trick

I didn't get home tonight until 8:45pm and unfortunately missed all the trick or treaters. As I was driving home from a meeting at 6:30pm and going over all the things I would need to do when I got back to the office, I became super disappointed because Halloween is one of my favorite holidays ever and we bought tons of GOOD candy for the kids (big snickers bars and pb cups, we have no kids and tons of disposable income). So I'm driving home and feeling sad that another 12 hour work day would ruin something I've been looking forward to for the past month but then as I entered the County line I looked to my left and right and saw the hills and mountains that used to be covered in lush landscape but has now been burnt to a blackened moonscape. It made me realize that there are those out there who wont have a home to trick or treat from. Thousands who will walk down a street where one home exists and another doesn't as they knock door to door. Many have lost their homes, many have lost their land, and I feel so proud to be part of an agency that is helping them restore what was taken from them. It makes these late nights and 7/11 meals so worth it as I realize that what I am doing is making a difference. For so long I've babbled on about how much I miss San Francisco. Yet, for the first time as I drove through the moonscape I felt an overwhelming sense of love for this County. For the first time San Diego felt like home.

Photo Credit: San Diego Union-Tribune

Happy Halloween

My arse is being kicked by these 12 hour days. My typical day:

5:30 - Wake up and go to the gym

6:30 - Take a shower and get ready for work

7:30 - Get to the office

8:00 - Run out the door since I am late to my first meeting. Scarf down a boiled egg and string cheese while trying to weave in and out of traffic.

8:30 to Noon - Meetings, meetings, politicking, driving, tours, blah, blah, etc.

Noon - Realize that I have another meeting or appointment across town which I am already late for. Stop at gas station and while filling up on gas, grab a diet coke and something that I can eat quickly. Yesterday was Oreo Cakesters and while very yummy not exactly a nutritious source of energy. I'm having a really hard time with lunch these past few days. Usually I eat salads or lean cuisines. Unfortunately, I can't eat a salad in the car and I'm no where near a microwave to heat up a frozen meal.

12:30 to 6:00 - Meetings, tours, strategizing sessions, blah, blah, etc.

6:00 to 8:00 - Get back to the office and return phone calls, answer emails, make maps.

8:15 - Drive home and eat dinner.

8:45 - Watch one hour of tv and converse with Hubby.

9:45 - Get ready for bed.

10:00 - Out cold.

My Perfect Saturday

In honor of the fact that I will be working 12 hour days and many weekends from now until December (I already have to attend a community meeting this Sunday!). I am spending this Saturday doing everything that makes a day perfect for me.

7:30 - Wake up naturally feeling well rested and refreshed.

7:30 - 9:30 - Go to living room, brew a huge pot of hot green tea, curl up in a blanket on the couch and read a good book while listening to some new music. Current read: The Count of Monte Cristo. Current Music: Snow Patrol

9:45 - Get my arse handed to me at pilates class.

11:00 - Drive my sweaty booty to Panera for a french toast or pink ribbon bagel with honey walnut spread. Mmmmm ... Yum. The only reason I endure the weekly 60 minutes of hell otherwise known as pilates.

Noon - Go home and take a steaming hot shower.

12:45 - Lay in bed while watching a sappy chick flick.

2:30 - 3:30 - Nap (I love me a good weekend nap)

5:00 - Meet good friends downtown for a good bottle of wine and some sushi!!!

11:00 - Collapse in bed, drunk and happy

What is your perfect Saturday?

Day 4

My how quickly life returns to normal-ish. 36 hours ago Dave and I left the house to drive around the corner and grab a frozen yogurt treat. The entire trip lasted 20 minutes and yet the whole time I was riddled with anxiety about BOTH of us leaving the house at the same time and not being able to answer the reverse 911 call. I couldn't even relax enough to enjoy my fro-yo and had to keep fighting the urge to sniff the air every 5 minutes. Since then the winds have been calm and the fires have reversed direction. Last night Dave and I even went to Fry's and out to eat! It felt like a whole new world after being stuck in a house together for the last 72 hours. Today I'm back at work and just like I predicted my feet have hit the ground running. My day is filled with an 8am briefing, 3pm briefing, recon planning, politicking for local government sponsors, staffing needs diagrams, and lots of other stuff that only makes sense if you've just been ravaged by a natural disaster. Thanks to everyone who sent emails. Any social interaction I received was much appreciated after staring at the news so much. Posting will be light and will mostly consist of pictures that I take while doing the reconnaissance tours of the burned and damaged lands. Ciao.

Photo Credit: San Diego Union-Tribune

Update Day 3

7:55am - Life is trying to return to normal. A prime time show was actually shown on tv last night; news has re-introduced commercials; even a radio station played an actual song instead of reporting non-stop about the fires. As much as I would like this nightmare to end, I really think the media is forcing us back to normal even though we shouldn't be. While winds were calm last night, as you can see from the pic above, more fires began last night and the existing fires are still 0% contained. At this point my house and much of the County is still within danger. Heck half the County is still colored purple and under mandatory evac. I thought about getting away and going to the office this morning but then I quickly realized that beyond organizing my email, sitting in the office would be worthless. I can't go into the field since most of the roads are closed and half my landowner's properties have burned. All my meetings for the week have been canceled. And four of my ten staff is in other parts of SoCal and still evacuated from their homes.

On a lighter note: Have you all heard about the outstanding job that is being done at Qualcomm stadium? One of Dave's coworkers has been evacuated to the stadium since Monday afternoon and it seems to really be like a big tailgate party.

Update Day 2 (as of 10:45pm)

7:50 am - Well it was nice to pretend to sleep last night. The constant smell of burnt campfire and the bright orange color of the sky (even though it was 2am) make it hard to relax enough to stay asleep. We found out that we are in the evac zone but so far haven't received the 911 call. For now we will stay put since I'd rather be as comfortable in my home for as long as possible. Several sources of water and electricity were damaged last night. They are asking us to conserve water, energy, stay off the roads, and not use our cell phones. Best estimates are that 300,000 acres have been burned and over 1,500 homes. I think those numbers are conservative. Things got much worse in the night. Almost the entire coast has been evacuated since they are sure that the fire wont stop until it reaches the ocean. We're being threatened by a new fire (Poomacha) that began last night. See this blog to see the path of the fire and the green dot that is very close to our house. I think we'll be evacuated by tonight ;-( I remember how I used to joke that I wish I had lived here during the 2003 fires since my agency did so much of the restoration work and I was constantly looking at sites that had been burned before I moved down here. Now I realize what an idiot I was. I wish I wasn't here today and I know others wish they weren't here in 2003.

9:05am - I just ran to the corner grocery store to pick up a few staples that would be needed if we evacuate. I expected to walk in and see aisles and aisles of empty grocery racks. I even expected the place to be a mad house. Our neighborhoods is one of the last to receive it's mandatory evac orders and it seems that everyone and their brothers have brought their personal effects laden cars and RVs to camp out on our streets and in friend's homes. What I didn't expect was to find the Starbucks counter the most crowded part of the store. I guess that people in times of emergency find Starbucks to be a source of comfort? I seriously didn't even attempt to walk past that portion of the store because the area was so crowded with people standing like sardines in a can.

11:50am - I feel like things have gotten better in the last hour. It's hard to tell. The news is on 24/7 with no commercial breaks but is having to devote itself to 4 major fires (in SD alone) therefore receiving specific info about our location is kinda hard. At this point many emergency info websites have gone down too from so much traffic. Making it worse the largest mountain in the city limits burned this morning taking with it major cell phone towers and TV/radio transmitters. We still have TV but it has sub par quality in both audio and visual. I took a shower earlier and I must admit that I've become somewhat addicted to showers knowing that if we need to go to a evac facility, hot showers will prolly not be included. Things are so much sweeter knowing you might not have them tomorrow.

3:15pm - Life has stopped for everyone in SD. No driving, no shopping, no going to work, no going to the movies. Just sit at home with your eyes glued to the TV and wait, wait, wait for the reverse 911 call. Sending emails to local friends asking "have you got your call yet?". Same email repeated several times through out the day. Occasionally stealing 2 minute phone calls to ask the question and receive limited social interaction. Cabin fever has set in. Two entire days at home and I feel no more relaxed then 4 intense days at the office. The Poomacha and the Witch Creek fires continue to threaten us. Over 1,800 firefighters battling a 23,000 acre and a 200,000 acre blaze. Over 1,250 homes burned and 510,000 residences evacuated (which pisses me off when nat'l news reports that as 510,000 people, noooo residences don't equal people, residences equal so many more, 2-4 people per residence!) All I can do is wait at this point knowing that as soon as the fire is controlled, my work days will become 14 hours long as I race to prevent the mudslides before the season's first rains.

7:40pm - This like a scary nightmare that I am ready to wake up from. One minute things are better, the wind has died down quite a bit, and firefighters are gaining control of the fires. The next we're placed under 2 different mandatory evac zones (one for the Poomacha fire and one for the Witch Creek fire) yet no reverse 911 call. So far our neighbors are staying put therefore we are too. Night is fast approaching and I am dreading sleep (or I should really say laying in bed while one sleeps and the other stares at the news). Night tends to be when the winds pick back up and the fires begin raging out of control. I'm almost attempted to go into town tomorrow and make a visit to my office. This sitting and wait, wait, waiting is killing me. We could go to an evac center (aka the local high school gym) but I know Dave and I would both be up half the night wondering if we made a good decision and whether our house was truly in danger.

10:45pm - Time to pretend to sleep. I've never dreaded night as much as I have these past few days.


Photos by nctimes.com

Update (as of 8:25pm)

Due to the nature of my job, Dave and I are staying until the last possible minute. I'm gonna keep blogging just because this whole situation is so unreal. The fire began in the mountains but because of strong Santa Ana winds, the fire quickly flew down the canyons and into the city boundaries. A HUGE part of the city has mandatory evacuation and the rest of the city (even along the coast) is being encouraged to be prepared to leave at any time. The fire is traveling so fast and the winds are so strong plus they still have 0% containment, therefore they don't know where the fire may hit next. Already there was a small fire on the hill directly across from our house but luckily a fire engine was stationed there so the fire was put out quickly (the hill offers a nice vantage point of my town). The sky is a dark brownish red and smells horribly. Power keeps going on and off and people have been encouraged not to go to work or use their cell phones.

There was a similar fire 4 years ago that almost reached the city limits. Today's fire (in my opinion) is so much worse. My federal agency pledged $120 million to the restoration of lands after the 2003 fire. Today most of those projects have been burned to the ground. $120 million. Gone. I'm so upset about that. It looks like as soon as the fire is contained, I'll be very busy trying to ensure that mud slides don't occur when the burned land receives rain (burned dirt + rain = mud + downhill slope = mudslide).

I'll keep updating if anything else interesting occurs. This whole situation is so horrible and scary but at the same time I hope I never forget how this feels.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/22/wildfire.ca/index.html

8:56am - I totally forgot to add that Dave was supposed to fly to Dallas for week long a business meeting. Fortunately/unfortunately the airport is closed due to the smoke and limited visibility. I'd be terrified if I was facing this alone.

10:38am - Our house is almost engulfed in a smokey haze. We still haven't received the reverse 911 call that means get out now. I was supposed to box all the important (sensitive) files in my office. Unfortunately I couldn't get to the office quick enough before the area was named off limits. So far 250,000 residences have been evacuated. 250,000 residences!!! If 4 people lived in every house that means that 1 million people have been evacuated. This is far from over.

11:15am - Within a 5 minute period the sky turned from brownish-red to milky white. I almost feel like we're in the eye of the hurricane. I have attended several basic fire ecology classes (because of my job) and never have I heard of a sudden change in the color of the smoke. Surprisingly, this milky white smoke is actually harder to see through versus the brown red (we can't even see the hill across the street). This fire started less then 24 hours ago and is far from being contained. I really wonder what the next 24 hours will bring us. We already knew that the main freeway south of us is closed, as well as the road east (duh! it's where the fire began), and earlier this morning we learned that the road west of us is closed too. About 5 minutes ago the news reported that the roads north of us are closed as well. That had been our plan before (drive north upon evacuation) so essentially we're confined to a box. I have no idea where we will go if the fire continues to proceed in our direction. Right now the fire is 8 miles away (according to our best estimates). The fire originally began 36 miles away. 28 miles in 24 hours. Wow.

1:30pm - Still no idea where we're going to go upon evac. News just posted a big map showing our area as being under mandatory evac. We've been waiting for the reverse 911 call but at this point we just might pack up and sit in the car. I know that emergency resources are all heavily taxed right now and I wouldn't be surprised if the reverse 911 system fails. Since my staff and I can't even reach the office (road closures) we've all been granted admin leave for the next few days (admin leave = paid vacation). Unfortunately, my day has been anything but relaxing. News has been on 24/7, preempting regular programing and not even stopping for commercials. This fire is so sporadic and volatile that I haven't even taken a shower for fear of missing something big being reported on the tv. Luckily we haven't lost power like the rest of the county (yet) so we're much more in the know then others.

4:02pm - All around us is burning. We've been lucky (so far) and have evaded mandatory evac but it is pretty scary that we seem to be this little unburned island in the middle of hell. I finally convinced Dave to pack up the car so that if the call did come we wouldn't be running around like chickens with our head cut off. See this google map and note that all the red dots are fire. Dave, in an emergency situation, tends to favor the "ignore and it will go away" mode of thinking. I remember after I crashed my ATV in Mexico, Dave kept saying "come on get up and let's get back on the ATV". Let me remind you that I was splayed out on my back in the middle of a ravine. Getting up and continuing to ride the ATV was not an option. Anyways, I finally convinced Dave to pack the car since if we do evacuate, we'll need to stay at a make-shift high school shelter. Many of the shelters have already ran out of cots and food. Dave and I needed to pack like we were camping. Items packed: pb&j sandwiches, blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, towels, nana's china, cat supplies, pictures, and computers. For some great pics check out this blog. He's been picture blogging the entire few days and lives really close to me so many of his pics are exactly what I've been looking at all day. PS - I randomly found that blog while searching for a map of evac zones. The news is being a bit unpredictable and one minute shows our area as being evacuated and the next shows us as being clear. Oye Vey.

8:25pm - Conditions are just as severe as they were this morning. Logically everyone knew this fire wouldn't go away in 24 hours but I never imagined we'd need to try and sleep with the constant threat of evacuation. Tv and internet have become our lifelines. Our neighborhood is still being displayed on the news as under mandatory evacuation but we haven't received a reverse 911 call yet. Dave and I would both rather not spend the night on the hard floor of a gym when we could be pretending to sleep in our own bed. I think it might surprise most people to know that we live in the middle of suburbia. This fire is racing like a machete across tract homes and shopping centers. They are saying that it is the worst fire to ever hit California. I don't doubt it. Last report was 145,000 acres and 0% containment. Yep, let me repeat that. 0% containment as in this fire is burning out of control and there is no one who can stop it. They say that there are 650 firefighters working on the blaze with no hope of reinforcements (for the foreseeable future). I have no idea how these poor guys are supposed to keep fighting after being up for 24 hours straight. I should prolly also clarify that I keep saying this fire when in fact I am referring to the Witch Creek Fire. There are 7 other major fires burning in our County all at the same time (for a total of 8). At least 8 is the conservative number. There are no planes being flown so officials are having a hard time detailing exactly how many fires are burning.

Armageddon

It's crazy here. Half of the San Diego County is on fire. We're being evacuated. I've never seen anything like this.

PS - This is an actual photo. Crazy!

We've Got Everything

Ever have one of those days when you just can't feed yourself enough food in order to stop your tummy from grumbling? Today is one of those days for me and surprisingly enough I'm super busy today and usually when I'm busy or preoccupied, I forget to eat. It'll be 7pm and I'll still be at work and all of a sudden I look at the clock and remember that it is an hour past my normal dinner time, I forgot to eat lunch and my 3pm snack. Oops! Time to eat. Today I'm super busy but am interrupted every 30 minutes by the rumble and tumble going on in my midsection. At this point I'll eat anything that I can get my hands on. Hello banana! Making this even more bewildering, it's not even cold or overcast today (I always seem to get hungrier on chilly days). According to weather.com our current conditions are 74 and sunny.

In other news, I went out into the field with the super cute landowner from my last post. Damn, he makes me drool. Let's just say that the meeting was awkward thanks to my inability to form coherent sentences or words around his Holy Hotness. I ended up stammering and making no sense for most of the visit which royally sucked because I was supposed to be giving him advice and recommendations. D'oh! The whole meeting got off on the wrong foot when I hopped out of my 4x4 and I couldn't find the words necessary to greet him. He walked up to me as I am planted at the door of my truck and looked at me weirdly (prolly cuz my mouth was agape and I was staring at him). I then said the first words I could think of "cold. I'm cold". Let me remind you that it was 70 and sunny when we met and we were both wearing t-shirts and jeans. He looks at me even more quizzically (which is a way hot look for him) and says "really. do you not have a heater in your truck?". It's a brand new truck so all I could think of in response was to stare into his eyes with my mouth still wide open. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID. Let's all be thankful that I'm out of the dating pool cuz that interaction right there tells you that I am not meant to ever exercise my flirting skills. Poor guy probably thinks I'm a ditz.

Hotcha Boys

Two things about life in San Diego:

1) Most people think that we are lucky enough to have a Mediterranean climate. This means that our summers are 85 and sunny and our winters are 75 and sunny. I don't kid. My next vacation wont be to someplace sunny and warm. Nope, I'll be headed to someplace foggy and cold because I am sick and tired of the same ol' weather day in and day out. Give me a little variety please!

2) Walk down a street in SD and you will be surrounded by good looking, fit people. I don't know why but it seems that this town has a much higher then average population of people that could be models. I'm very glad that I'm not single because I know I wouldn't have a chance against some of the leggy and thin women that I meet each day. Usually I interact with cute boys occasionally but lately I have a met a bevy of hotties through work. Four hotties I've met in the last 48 hours:


I was at SeaWorld today to view the yellowtail and seabass fishery. I was led by a cutie marine biology research associate who could have passed for a shaggy surfer haired Chris O'Donnell. Add some dickies and a pair of vans for a yum, yum effect.



In the afternoon I went to view a retaining wall demo. The two civil engineers on the project could have passed for Paul Walker and Ewan McGregor. Double YUM.


Tomorrow I have a field visit with a landowner who could pass for a slightly more masculine version of Enrique Iglesias. He is HOTT! Poor me will be stuck outside hiking with him for several hours. I may be married but just because I can't have the wine doesn't mean I can't enjoy the bouquet. Yum.

Guide to Loving Isaac Brock

I plan on going to the Modest Mouse concert in December and as a result I've re-found my love for Isaac Brock. Isaac Brock is the lead singer (and sex god, mmmmm tattoos) for the band Modest Mouse as well as his side project Ugly Casanova. Because I think that Brock's musical genius is often overlooked, I've made a little guide of Isacc Brock's best songs (in my opinion). Good music is yummy.

Note: Due to my laziness, I've abbreviated the band names and the CD titles. MM = Modest Mouse & UC = Ugly Casanova.

Float On - MM, Good News
Ocean Breathes Salty - MM, Good News
Little Motel - MM, We Were Dead (One of my very favs!!!)
Paper Thin Walls - MM, Baron Von Bullsh&t
The World At Large - MM, Good News
Hotcha Girls - UC, Sharpen Your Teeth
We've Got Everything - MM, We Were Dead
Bukowski - MM, Good News
Polar Opposites - MM, Lonesome Crowded West
Gravity Rides Everything - Moon & Antarctica
Dramamine - MM, Long Drive
Good Times Are Killing Me - MM, Baron Von Bullsh*t

Holy cow. I'll stop there even though I haven't included half the songs I would like to off of the Lonesome Crowded West, Moon & Antarctica, or from the Ugly Casanova CD. Hopefully you fall in love with them just as much as I have.

Good Music = Happy Soul

We all like music. I'm partial to the indie type and as we all know the indie nerds couldn't be happy just categorizing all indie music together. Nope they had to break it up in a million sub categories. I like to call my preferred category "whiny boys with guitars".

Good stuff I've been listening to lately (not all is indie)

Ugly Casanova - I love me some Modest Mouse and some Isaac Brock. As can be seen by the fact that my blog url comes from the song Heart Cooks Brain and my title quote comes from the song The View. (My last title came from a hauntingly beautiful Death Cab for Cutie song).

Brandston - Such an awesome band still touring in a beat up van.

Matt Costa - Can I marry him? He can be my 2nd husband. I love surfer boys.

John Mayer - Seriously the Continuum album rocked me like only a whiny boy with a guitar can rock me.

Keeping It Real

Things your Mom didn't tell you (but really should have):
* Your first love will most likely grow up to be a total loser. In high school he was probably the shit but as we all know that the requirements for being cool in grades 9-12 are not often the qualities that enable someone to make it in the real world. There are very few exceptions to the rule.
* Giving birth is nasty messy (think blood and poop TOGETHER). Not that I know this first hand but I've read enough blogs to know this is true.
* Breast feeding is really hard. Again not something I know first hand but I've watched enough TLC Baby Story to know this is true.
* Making dinner every night, night after night SUCKS. Luckily we have enough room in the budget for me to become a whiny baby every week (or more) but if not then I would be moaning all the time about cooking (and I like cooking).

Most importantly, the one thing your mom didn't tell you but probably should have: Marriage. Is. Hard.

Now I'm not saying that Dave and I are having issues. In fact we're just as happy as we've always been for the most part. As we all know every relationship has it's highs and lows. There is nothing to be ashamed of in that. Sometimes the highs (like in the beginning) are enough to keep a smile on your face all day and sometimes the lows are enough to make you lock the office door while you frantically call your best friends to dissect his a-hole tendencies. Other times the highs are great and the lows are sad but are less like mountains and more like rolling hills.

The hardest part of marriage (for me at least): THIS IS FOREVER. You know that annoying way he starts projects but doesn't finish them? FOREVER. How he can kinda be selfish in bed sometimes? FOREVER. How he conveniently sucks at doing the dishes? FOREVER. Yep, all minor things but mind-numbing when I'm experiencing them and thinking to myself "yay! only 40 more years of nagging him to re-attach the fire detector after taking it down to paint 6 MONTHS AGO".

Really I should be thankful. I've found someone who loves me just as much as I love him. Someone who is good with his money, honest, loving, hard working, successful, and rubs my back each night. Someone who is tall, blue-eyed, athletic, and and makes me laugh. Still for the rest of my life I will be turning on the AC behind his back and then turning it off as the house finally reaches a pleasant temp because his eyes are bulging out of his head at the anticipation of the e-bill being higher then $30. Oh joy.

In other news, I want this car. Way out of my price league but still a girl can dream.
Lexus SC 08 Hard Top Convertible

Confessions

All in all, I am a pretty normal person. I'm friendly but not that annoying person who follows you around the party chatting in your ear. I'm clean and organized but not to the point of OCD. I'm not flakey and I'm not scatter brained. I don't have self esteem issues and at the same time I'm not overly cocky. I can dress well, read a map, make intellectual conversation, or give speeches in front of audiences. I've never suffered from a mental illness other then the fact that I'm from California (we're born with a natural sense of wackiness).

My one non-normal trait: books effect me so much more then they really should. I've said how much I love reading books and how I often cocoon myself into the author's world. As I read the Twilight Series I can't tell you how many times while at home I ran after Dave yelling "I'm a vampire and you're a werewolf, now RUN!" (as you can imagine this did wonders for our sex life). But on the other end of the spectrum when I'm finished reading a really great read, I often get this sudden overwhelming feeling of melancholy that affects me much more then it should. For a few days or a few weeks after, I often don't want to eat, sleep or go to work. It's almost like I'm mourning the loss of the book and the story that will never be new to me again. Or maybe I'm mourning the loss of this imaginary world that I loved so and am regretting the return back to my mundane real world. The Time Traveler's Wife effected me so much that I refused to read another book for several months after I finished. I just couldn't bare to endure the melancholy I felt for the week or so that followed. I'm almost at that same point after reading Twilight Series. I loved Harry Potter and found Twilight to be the perfect band aid for the ache I felt but now I'm left with an even bigger ache. Whatever the case this is so not normal.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to barricade myself in my office while I further instigate my sadness by listening to Coldplay, David Gray, and Damien Rice CDs on repeat.

I'm Done with the Shaking

Yeah, I'm done. Done with the constant deluge of mini-earthquakes that we seem to be having lately. I'm a native SoCal-ian and I've been here through several biggies. I remember driving by the collapsed bridge many times after the great big Northridge earthquake in 1994. Yet, never have I experienced such a plague of so many earthquakes in such a short time period. Enough already!

Many people think that several small earthquakes are better then one big one since each rumble releases pressure. I disagree, I think the fault line is just getting angrier as time progresses (and making other fault lines angry too) and sometime soon a big one will hit. Even my fellow SoCal-ian Megan agrees.

Mark my words (and stock up on the emergency supplies).

PS - The above map is from this website. 569 earthquakes in JUST the past week. Sheesh!

My Top 10 Good Reads

Many people look to music as the fuel for their soul. I appreciate music but have always found that reading books is what I need to keep me sane and happy. I am most as ease with life when I am curled on the couch, with a good read, and a green tea. If I was ever exiled to an exotic island, these are the books that I would bring with me to keep me entertained.

Honorable Mention: Epitaph for a Peach by David M. Masumoto – Not on my top 10 list because it is the one book that I wouldn’t recommend for the average reader. The true life tale of a peach farmer in the Central Valley of California as he struggles to survive the first few years of farming. A place and a subject (agriculture) that is dear to my heart.

10. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens – This might be the first great work of fiction that I really truly appreciated. Throughout my schooling I always enjoyed reading the books that were assigned in English, but never became enthralled with a book until I read this one at the age of 18. A true classic that I can always go back to and read with enthusiasm.

9. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway – What is it about Hemingway that attracts me time and again to his stories and style of writing? I don’t know but this is one of my favorite Hemingway novels.

8. The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership by James C. Hunter – This book changed the way I live my life at work and at home. An entertaining tale of how we should always strive to serve others and give them what they need (which is different from what they want).

7. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner – I appreciate chick lit just as much as the next person but often find the stories to be mindless reads that occupy my heart but not my brain. Good in Bed is different. A story that made me cry, laugh, and ache. So good that I stayed up all night just to finish the story.

6. East of Eden by John Steinbeck – Gosh I love me some Steinbeck. East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath are a tie in my heart for favorites. Classic tales filled with characters that I fell in love with.

5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – It took me a while to get into the grove of the author’s antique speech and cadence, but once I did I fell in love with this tragic tale. I love most Victorian classics but this is far and above my favorite.

4. Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman – A very short book filled with entertaining stories that made me stop and think much more then I ever had.

3. Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer – These books are not higher on my list only because I don’t know how the series will finish. As I said in my post before, a tale that engulfs you in a land filled with romance and mystery.

2. Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling – There is definitely a reason why so many people across the world fell in love with the story of a young wizard.

1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – If there was one book that I could go out and force you to read, this would be it. A tale so haunting and memorable that I have never ever re-read this book. To this day (one year after first reading the book) I’m not sure that I could yet go back and re-read. This book is like the tragic tale of a friend you love and enjoy who suddenly is ripped from your life. The reason I have never re-read this book is because I don’t know if I can go through that journey of emotional turmoil yet again.

First Sirius, Now Edward

Oh! Yes, hi there. Sorry I've been MIA lately. I tend to do that whenever I find a really good book that I just can't put down. I forget to sleep, I forget to eat, I avoid work and people, and I cocoon myself in a little dream world where all I do is read. In the past 4 days, I've read 3 books that each exceeded 600 pages.

This time my fixation was the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. Yes, yes, I know. Technically the Twilight Series are supposed to be for young adults but based on a recommendation by Kerflop I decided to request the books from my local library in an attempt to replace my Harry Potter obsession. It worked.

Even though I'm an avid fan of the literary arts, I tend to suck at books reviews. Royally. So I wont even attempt to give a synopsis of these books. Just believe me, they will suck you in to a land filled with angst, romance, and morality. *SIGH* Just thinking of the books makes me want to re-read them again. Which I'll probably end up doing since my only other option is to pout and write hate mail to the author since the next book in the series wont be coming out until Fall of 2008. I'm not sure I can last that long. *POUT*

Weeeeee Goes the Plane

I am sitting in the Sacramento airport, in the bar, waiting for my flight to take me to Portland. The glass of pinot grigio has me feeling good (very good) even though I really should be working on a powerpoint presentation. Some random observations.

1. I have 2 hours til my flight takes off which means I should either eat something or stop drinking. I think I'll choose NONE of the above.

2. Drunk people in bars have loud conversations that often revolve around topics I think that they would probably not talk about if sober.

3. I love sitting alone in a restaurant or bar. Give me a good book and a coffee or wine (depending on the situation) and I could spend hours people watching and eavesdropping. I rarely feel self conscious when alone in a public situation. In fact I prefer it.

4. I had a 3 day meeting in Sacramento and now I'm off for a few days of vacation to be spent with my best friend who just moved to a vineyard in Portland where her boyfriend is a winemaker. I'm hopeful that my time will be spent drinking good wine, eating good cheeses, and going for long runs amongst the grape vines.

5. Pinot grigio is yummy.

6. I really should be working on my presentation.

7. Damn I really need to find an outlet before my computer runs low on battery.

8. I have a skirt on and I am not sitting like a lady. Two reasons: a) I am feeling good after a glass of wine. b) the chairs are super uncomfortable.

9. That is all. Time to procrastinate before working on my presentation.

Update:

10. ONE hour and 2 glasses of wine plus one personal cheese pizza = I am BLITZED. To lose weight before the wedding I stopped drinking but who knew I had become such a pussy when it came to holding my liquor. 2 glasses PLUS food is pathetic.

Overdone Phrases

Back in the beginning days of Dave and my relationship, when we had sex two to four times per day and I was able to consume any food I wanted because I was exercising at the gym for 1.5 hours per day plus having all the sex, Dave invited me over to his house for an ice cream run and to watch the VMAs on MTV. For some odd reason I remember this mini-date with some of the fondest memories I have of any date that Dave took me on. Maybe it's because I really do love ice cream or maybe it's because I really do love MTV or maybe it's because back then every blog post started with "OMG. Dave is so hot. I think I'm falling in love. We have so much sex!". Whatever the case, the ice cream and VMA mini-date is one of my favorites and is one that we like to repeat each year. This year our traditional Baskin Robbins was replaced with Coldstone's because have you tasted the Birthday Cake Remix??? Ummmm ... YUM.

Watching this year's VMAs I was really filled with a huge desire to hop on the next plane bound for Vegas. This is a strong statement coming from me since I've probably been to Vegas over 50 times. When I was growing up, Vegas was our traditional vacation spot, 2 times per year, once in February (Prez Weekend) and then once again in the Summer. With college I once again jumped on the Vegas bandwagon since it was a rather short 6 hour drive from where I went to college. Now that I've gotten older it seems like Vegas has become the top getaway for bachlorette parties and cheap girl's weekend getaways.

A few years ago the saying "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" became popular and I really began to grow tired of the Vegas party scene. The place had become too popular and expensive. A typical weekend getaway cost $800. My budget and my patience for the tourists was at it's limit. Yet, watching Sunday's VMAs I felt an intense desire to experience Vegas once again. One of my best friends just found out she is pregnant. Is it kosher to host a baby shower at The Palms?

Peanut Butter Surprises

Him: How long until the cookies are ready?
Me: Well I have to let the dough set for 2 hours before I can begin balling the cookies and candy.
Him: 2 hours! What type of cookies are these? That is riduculous. I've never had to let dough set for 2 hours before making the cookies.
Me: And exactly how many times have you made cookies before?
Him: Ummmm ... None. But I did take home ec in high school.

Here is a recipe for some awesome cookies that I made for my staff meeting on Tuesday and then since Dave liked them so much he had me make them again for his staff meeting that was today. You can use snickers, reese's pb cups, almond joys, or butterfingers for the center of the cookies. I call the cookies Peanut Butter Surprises but during the holiday's you can call them Santa's Surprises.



Ingredients
2 sticks butter
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. light brown sugar
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pkg. Snickers Minis (or candy bar of liking)

Directions
1. Combine butter, peanut butter and sugars using a mixer on med. to
low until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs and vanilla slowly until combined. Mix in flour, salt and
baking soda.
3. Cover and chill for 2-3 hours.
4. Unwrap Snickers.
5. Remove dough from fridge. Divide into 1 tbsp. pieces and flatten.
6. Place a Snickers in the center of each dough.
7. Form dough into a ball around each Snickers.
8. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.
9. Let cool on a baking rack or wax paper.

Yield: 2 dozen-ish

From the Woulda Coulda Shoulda File

Oh why didn't I move to a foreign country after college? Why didn't I do a semester abroad while in college? Why didn't I think ahead and do all the fun stuff while I was still young and before I had a career? Why wasn't I more selfish!

I hate regrets.

How I Spent My Weekend

(aka Creative Ways to Escape the Heat)

Here in San Diego it rarely exceeds a high of 85. The heavenly weather is great except when we get an unusual heat wave and then suddenly us Diegans are found withering on the streets since we have no idea what to do when we can't walk around comfortably in our year round attire of hoodies and flip flops. Luckily we have AC (half the city doesn't have any form of AC and swamp coolers don't work since we live along the coast) so when the temperature exceeds 87 we are able to survive. Unfortunately, I have a conservative husband whose eyes roll back in his head every time I turn on the AC as he seems to think that our electricity bill will automatically be $400 if the AC is used for more then an hour each day. I can understand his fear since we do have a rather large house but at the same time I would much rather be comfortable and have a high e-bill then sweating on the couch with a box fan set on the coffee table in front of me.

This weekend the high was 107. By 9:30 am in the morning it had already reached 98 degrees. The husband and I had to get creative. Saturday we made plans to go to the movies. Dave saw Superbad and I saw Harry Potter. We both thought that each movie was the best ever. To make our air conditioned movie experience last as long as possible, we arrived at the movies an hour early ate lunch, went our separate ways to watch the movies, then stayed in the movie theatre a while longer while we enjoyed a Cold Stone ice cream. Total Cost: $10 matinee movie tickets + $10 lunch + $5 ice cream (shared) = $25.

Sunday morning after being woken up by the weirdest feeling earthquake ever (and I am a native Cali girl and have lived through quite a few earthquakes). This one measured 4.7 and instead of being the normal rumbly sound in the distance that sneaks up on you then the ground shakes type of earthquake, this one was a giant WHOOSH that lurched the whole earth one time forward and one time backwards. They say that someday SoCal will fall into the ocean and with this earthquake I almost thought that was going to happen. I had been in the kitchen when the earthquake hit and this one sent me running up the stairs with my heart beating out of my chest.

Around 1 pm we drove 20 minutes to the mountains and went to 1 of the 19 tribes for a little gambling fun (yes we have 19 tribes here in San Diego and probably 7 of those tribes have really nice casinos). We spent several hours at the nickel video poker machines while enjoying the AC and our free beverages. After getting chilly we walked around and then ate dinner at the buffet. Total Cost: $30 gambling money (love them nickel games) + $20 for dinner = $50.

Side note: As we left it began raining and it never rains in the summer (much less any other time of year) in SoCal. So the monsoon rain combined with the earthquake and unusually high temps have Dave and I convinced that the apocalypse is coming.

Monday we both succumbed to the heat wave and decided to turn on the AC and live with the electricity costs. To curb my boredom (the house never got cooler then 80 so it was a bit too warm to do housework) I indulged my recent obsession with Switzerland. Dave's company's international headquarters are in Vevey, Switzerland. Quite often employees are asked to do a month (or longer) detail in the NHQ. Sometimes employees are even permanently re-located to Switzerland. I'm not sure that I'd want to a make a permanent move but I would love to live in Switzerland for a month (or two). I've already researched pet importation laws and learned that Fluff will be able to join us (I am so bringing my cat with me to Europe, don't laugh!). I'll probably need this so that Fluff has a nice space to stay in the hotel. I've found a French immersion class that I would be ecstatic to take during the day while Dave is at work (Vevey is near the France border and they speak French). I've researched all the touristy things to do in that part of Switzerland and France. As well as read about a million and one blogs from Americans who have relocated to Switzerland. I'm more excited then ever. As a I keep telling Dave, "when do we go???"