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???"