2 Weeks of Randomness

* Summer has arrived in SoCal. Days have been 80 and sunny and the Cali poppies have sprung up all over the sides of the roads and are making me want to call in sick each day to work and hang out at the beach. Unfortunately no matter how many times I start out the week thinking that this week will be slower, it turns out to be just as hectic as the past 4 months.

* Dave is at the gym and I am sitting on the couch watching Sex and the City. I love me some SATC. I want to be Carrie Bradshaw minus all the drama.

* It seems like each weekend I make a list of things I want to do (go hiking, read Sunday paper, pilates, catch up on DVR'd shows, clean the house, etc). By the time the weekend is done I've done a 1/4th of the things on my list. The weekends really need to be longer.

* Vday weekend was wonderful. We ate at Gaslamp Strip Club which was wonderful. Seriously if you're ever in SD then I highly recommend the strip club. Excellent steaks and a really fun atmosphere. We also ate at Nobu (the same fancy sushi place that all the celebs frequent). Good sushi and a hefty bill ($2,000 for 10 people). I do not kid.

* During Vday weekend we stayed at the Omni Hotel which was nice but nothing spectacular. Just a nice hotel room with a nice view. They did have an awesome gym which rocked. Each cardio machine had its own flat screen tv. I could have spent hours on the treadmill walking while watching Romey and Michelle's High School Reunion.

* A week ago we met Dave's family at Disneyland for an afternoon of fun. It was cheaper for us to buy a SoCal resident year round pass then it was to buy a single day ticket ($91!!!). I grew up in SoCal and have been to Disney a bazillion jillion times but I must admit that place is just as fun your hundreth time as it is your first.

* In one week we leave for Las Vegas (including 2 nights at the Venetian). I am so freaking excited especially since this week will be crazy at work.

Frustration

I worked late tonight and didn't have enough time to go to the gym. I was away at a meeting last week and missed my last French class. I tried doing the weekend's French homework tonight. It was too hard so I gave up. Instead I read blogs and ate ice cream with caramel sauce. I am fat and frustrated. Foux da fa fa.

California

You know you're from California if:

1. Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.

2. You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house.

3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.

4. Your child's 3rd-grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Flower.

5. You can't remember . . is pot illegal?

6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.

7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.

8. You can't remember . . is pot illegal?

9. A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.

10. Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.

11. Unlike back home, the guy sitting in Starbucks at 8:30 a.m. wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney

12. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.

13. You can't remember . .. is pot illegal?

14. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: 'STORM WATCH.'

15. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cellphones or Ipods.

16. It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.

17. HEY!!!! Is pot illegal????

18. Both you AND your dog have therapists, psychics, personal trainers and cosmetic surgeons.

19. The Terminator is your governor.

20. If you drive illegally, they take your driver's license. If you're here illegally, they want to give you one.

My V-Day Thus Far

Gag Inducing

Cupcakes that I baked for my staff.

Dave and I usually do a pretty low key Valentine's Day. Usually we (meaning me) will cook a nice dinner or we'll venture out to a nearby reasonably priced restaurant. Dave isn't much of a romantic and I'm not the type to say we will do this, then that and you'll bring me flowers and chocolates. Needless to say I am a girl and a romantic. I've always wished for a boyfriend that would surprise me with a v-day getaway or some other fantabolous gift.


This year Dave who might be trying for Hubby of the Year award did just that. Tomorrow we take off for a stay at the Omni Hotel. For dinner we'll be eating at the Gaslamp Strip Club (Dave originally planned for sushi but I figured that I owed him steak). The next day after relaxing by the pool we will hit up the Melting Pot on our way to meet friends for drinks.

Making this even more exciting is that Monday is a federal holiday and I will have a 5 day weekend! 5 days, no work! EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee!!! (This is the point where my head explodes because I am so damn excited).

Flowers and chocolates that Dave had delivered to my office yesterday. Hubby of the Year.

Look Ma! I Can Translate

I love them California Cows. Even more so when I can actually understand what they are saying in the commercial.



Bob the Bull: Ladies, My Name is Bob
Diane the Cow: Hello my friend! Have you lived in Paris?

PS - Today's high? 80. What happened to winter???

J'aime un Petit Oiseau

A little birdie out in the internet land sent me her copy of PS I Love You to read. As soon as I received it in the mail I immediately began reading even though I am still working long arse days. What a sweet little story that has almost made me cry each night (and I never cry). I really recommend it to anyone who has a long term significant other because not only is it a quick read but it also makes me reach across the bed each night and tell my wonderful husband how incredibly thankful I am to have him in my life (stinky morning breath and all). Now I'm just trying to not read the book too quickly. Dave and I have a little Valentine's Day getaway planned and I would like to finish this little love story while sitting by the pool. This will be easier said then done as the book is so cute and heart warming and I want to read it all NOW.

PS - (Because what would a post about a book called PS I Love You be without a PS of its own) Dear Person Who Let Me Borrow Their Book - You are one of the evil non-spine book breakers. I am one of the lay diagonally across the bed with the book splayed as far apart while I voraciously read book readers. I am trying as hard as I can to respect your spine non-breaking ways but be forewarned that it is causing restraint on my part which I don't have much of. Merci beaucoup.

Great Interview Experiment

As part of The Great Interview Experiment Little Miss Mel asked me a few questions. I had a lot of fun answering these and highly enourage everyone to go over to Citizen of the Month and sign up.

1) As you mentioned, the "comments" field on your blog is not enabled. Is this intentional? If so, why?
When I began blogging I didn't do it to keep in touch with family or friends. I did it to exercise my creative writing skills because I spend most of my working day being dry and technical. Except for one friend from college no I one I know, away from the internet, really knows my blog address. I've enabled comments a few times and each time felt I censored myself and became hypersensitive to who was reading. Ignorance is bliss!

2) Being a resident of San Diego during the recent fires, can you give us an idea of what it was like from the front lines? Have these recent events changed you in any way? If so, why?
To read my account of the fires you can go here. I'm not a drama queen and I can honestly say it was SCARY! The only way it's changed me is by adding a few pounds on my frame. Too many ding dongs and root beer lunches as a result of long work days.

3) Congratulations on your recent nuptials! When and how did you meet your husband?
You can see my original post here. Two little details that I didn't mention in the original post: I vividly remember reading my email when I got back from the gym. I was wearing navy track pants and a stripped razor back tank and was laying on my belly in my roomate Steve's bedroom which smelled like boy funk and gym socks. At the time I didn't have a computer and would have to sneak on his to check my email. He didn't have a desk in his room and the computer was laying on the ground which meant that when I used it I was nose level with the most potent funky smells. Second thing I remember vividly was the moment I drove up to the softball fields. It was like slow motion as I turned into the parking lot from the street and made eye contact with the hottie standing at the gate.

4) Before moving to San Diego, you lived in the Bay Area. Why were you there and what were you doing prior to your move?
I moved to the SF Bay Area from Fresno for a boy who works for a space satellite company. The relationship didn't work out but I still consider it to be one of the best moves I've ever made.

5) Looks like you have a great love for music. Can you give us a sample of your most recent favorite bands/songs?
Recent? That would have to be Modest Mouse, Snow Patrol, Pinback, Death Cab for Cutie and almost anything that plays on the Sirius station Left of Center.

6) Seeing that you may add another member to your family in the next few years, will you stay in San Diego to raise your family or will you find somewhere else to settle down?
Errr! (That's the sound of braking). IF babies came onto our life it wouldn't be for another 3 years (pending no accidents). I can't imagine rasing a baby without family to help out but Dave is reluctant to move back to the Bay Area near his family cuz of recent family drama. I must admit that I'm not eager to have my MIL around all the time either. We'll see. A lot can happen in 3 years and as they say plans are just tiny prayers to Father Time.

7) From what I can tell, you work for the government. If that is the case, what do you do? Your job sounds extremely rewarding.
My job is rewarding. I don't like to blog about work for fear of being dooce'd. Hmmm ... what can I say? I work for an agency that addresses natural resource concerns on private lands. Our agency is divided into districts and I am the "manager" for one of those districts. I work in a great part of the US and have a wonderful staff that makes me laugh almost everyday. I'm pretty lucky.

8) You have traveled quite a bit to Europe, but haven't made your way to Canada or Mexico. If you could head out of town come Friday, where you would hit first and why?
Oops. It's the other way around. I've traveled to Canada (Vancouver in 2002) and several times to Mexico but I've never been to Europe. If I could leave tomorrow and travel someplace hmmmm ...... I would probably go to a small cabin in the woods where I would drink hot chocolate each morning, snow shoe during the day, and drink good wine while reading a book by the fireplace.

9) You have a lovely assortment of photography on your blog and linked off your blog. Is taking pictures a serious hobby of yours or just an enjoyable past time?Haha! I'm not sure I can even call photopgrapy a past time. I have a little Canon Powershot SD1000 that I just point and click. Beyond that I really don't give photography a passing thought. I'm really not a creative person.

10) And last but not least, I noticed you were a sorority girl in college! Going to school in CA, was being Greek something most gals did, or was it more of a personal decision? Going to school in the South, going Greek was just something we all did to meet people at such a large school.
Going Greek was something that I always wanted to do but never really had the social confidence to go through with. My junior year a girl who I didn't like much asked several of my friends to join a sorority and I kinda tagged along. That girl went on to become one of my closest friends and even did my wedding flowers. In Cali going Greek wasn't quite the same traditional activity that I've heard it is for those in the South. Some do and some don't.

Le cours de français

Mistake: While talking with the lady behind me who is also taking the class for fun and plans to travel to Nice, loudly exclaim "this class is so fun and so EASY! I actually look forward to coming to class each time!". This will result in the rest of the class who is obviously not finding French to be fun or easy to turn around and glare at you.

My how much changes in just a week or so. I've been taking 2 weeks of French and already the cobwebs have begun evacuating my brain and making room for a new language. I have a job in which I am thinking/evaluating/analyzing 85% of the day yet the learning portion of my brain had obviously been ill used since college because on my first day of class the terms and phrases which were very basic were bouncing off me and falling on the floor. No matter how hard I listened I couldn't absorb any of what the teacher was trying to teach us and I began to worry that I was in over my head with this class. Since then I've studiously reviewed material and completed homework and have found that my brain has re-opened for business and is easily accepting all of the French vocabulary. I honestly do look forward to each class and the possibilities of what I will learn that day. I've always been naturally good in school (graduated from college with honors even though I spent half the time inebriated and in my pajamas) but have lacked the motivation to actually apply myself and study. I think I am finally at the age (and maturity) where the idea of cracking open a school book and reading isn't repulsive. If only I had this motivation back in college, imagine what I could have done with myself.

I'm sure French will become more complex as the semester passes but I am incredibly proud of myself for sticking with something that was out of my norm. I'm also really pleased that my brain is working again. Continuation of my studies for fun will definitely be on my calendar in the future. It was quite scary to see how little information I was able to retain on that first day. I can only imagine what my brain would have been like had I waited 10 years before I took another college course.

In slightly french related news, tomorrow night's dinner is Coq au Vin (pronounced coke ohe vah). YUM!


And in other slightly less french related news, I was re-watching the series finale of Sex and the City where Carrie goes to France. Holy cow, I had forgotten how hot Mr Big was. I think he made my loins flutter. YUM YUM!

I See London, I See Sam's Town

I've been listening a lot to The Killers' Sawdust CD. Typically The Killers would be too mainstream for my snobby musical tastes but I just can't ignore good music.

Abbey Road version of Sam's Town


Tranquilize


And to appease the indie rock gods, I've also been listening to San Diego's Pinback


As well as St Vincent (who sounds 10x better not live. Her voice is amazing when recorded properly)

Bonsoir! Je m'appelle Cori

One of my biggest regrets after living in the SF Bay Area was that I never took advantage of the nearby UC Berkeley and the extension classes offered. So after moving to San Diego (home to 8 major universities and dozens of smaller colleges) I promised myself that I would continue my education (for fun) and try to take a class every semester. I've lived here for almost two years and have yet to take one class (although in my defense I did register for a class last semester and it was canceled at the last minute). A few months ago I bit the bullet and signed up for a French class at a college that is 15 minutes away from my house. I wanted to take French because I've always been interested in the language and we might need it should we ever commit to a long stay in Switzerland (location of Hubby's International HQ).

My first class was last night and already I am feeling overwhelmed and debating whether I should quit. Maybe it's because I am feeling a little rusty and the book learning portion of my brain hasn't been used in 5 years. Maybe it's because the French language is much harder then I imagined and very few words are actually pronounced how they are spelled (example number 4 = quatre but pronounced like kat). Maybe it's because my bilingual mouth keeps confusing Spanish and French and what comes out is a Spanish French English hybrid (example: soy suis Cori y quero deux kittens). Maybe I am just burnt out after the fires and I need a few months where I can work til 4pm, go to the gym, come home and JUST VEG for the rest of the evening. Or maybe I am just being a big baby and if I keep at it for the next few weeks I will begin to really enjoy myself and the fact that I am becoming tri-lingual. What do you think? (see poll in side bar and VOTE! I really am confused as to what I should do and would love advice).

Typing This While Watching Baby Story

I've never been the type to glorify in the fact that one day that I could be a mother. I've talked to some girls and when they think of motherhood they think about cute babies, being called mama, naming them, going to the park, having everyone ooh and aah over their bellies, etc. When I think of motherhood I think of sleepless nights, puke, poopy diapers, toddler tantrums, teens who talk back, stretch marks, and losing my "me" time that I cherish so much. I always thought that someday that Mommy Urge would click in my head one day and I would be like "yes! it's all worth it!!! bring on the babies". Now that I am approaching 28, I am realizing that the Mommy Urge may never turn on for me. Which kinda sucks because I am not looking forward to being 30 and making that decision to shit or get off the pot. (30 has always been the age that I have told myself that either babies happen or don't).

Tomorrow I am throwing an afternoon baby shower for one of my best friends. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding (she got preggo on my wedding night!) and I am really excited for her and this baby that she has always wanted. Yesterday, I went to Babies R Us for the first time ever to pick out a baby gift for her. Holy Cow! If there was ever a place to get me excited about the possibility of having a baby, this was the place!!! So much cute baby stuff and I all of a sudden wanted to get it all.


Pack N Play. Adorable!


Cribs. Must have!


Jumper things. Awwww!!!


Strollers. Tres chic!

Not to even mention all the really adorable baby clothes. That was just the icing on the cake.

More then ever I realized as I walked through Babies R Us, babies are expensive! I could have easily purchased $500 worth of stuff for my friend. (In the end my purchases totalled $200). The last reason to have a kid is just to be able to buy all the stuff but maybe this means that I am one step closer to finally catching Baby Lust.

Is This Serious???

As you might have heard, the San Diego Chargers are playing the Patriots this weekend in a shot at going to the Super Bowl. I hate the Chargers and think Tom Brady is hot so you can guess who I will be rooting for.

I saw this article in yesterday's newspaper. Is this REALLY how the rest of the US has to dress during the winter months??? I've never lived anywhere but Cali and complained this morning that the high was only going to be 66. Either this guy is joking or I am an incredibly big princess. To be honest if I had to go to a conference in Boston tomorrow I would never in a million years think of dressing like this. In fact I would probably come in yoga pants, hoodie, and flip flops (my standard flying attire).

John Gardner of Cambridge, Mass., e-mailed some sage – if scary – advice for San Diegans heading to New England for the game:

“Fans need to wear boots with at least 1000 grams of insulation, wool socks, thermal underwear with heavy-duty winter pants, a thick down parka, undershirt, wool shirt, sweat shirt and a fleece vest parka below the outer parka. And just as importantly, a thin coating of petroleum jelly on the face, a wool or Gore-Tex face mask, hand warmers and thick wool mittens! ... I would not want any human being to be underprepared for this game.”

Probably Not His Last ...

Problem: Fluff has a large matted piece of fur on his chest. Probably a result of me not brushing him out fully after taking him a bath.

My Solution: Take him to the groomers and have them shave off the matted piece of fur.
Cost: $30

Hubby's Solution: Go at it with a piece of scissors and take care of the problem ourselves.
Cost: $285 after a trip to the emergency vet where Fluff is put under and sewn back together with 7 metal stitches.

Big Bear Lake

One year ago Dave quit smoking. Having been a heavy smoker for 10 years I never thought I would see the day when I no longer had to wait in the car or in front of the restaurant while Dave took a quick smoke break. Saying that I am so VERY proud of him doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of how I feel. To celebrate I surprised Dave with a mini-vacation to do one of his very favorite activities: playing in the snow.

This was our first time going to the Southern California snow. Lake Tahoe and Central Sierras are our usual locations for snow escapades. On the way up we hit gnarly traffic. It took us one hour to go ten miles up the mountain. Dave wasn't happy but luckily we had Sirius to keep us entertained.


We finally arrived in Big Bear and the first thing we did was hit up a local brewery and drink beer. We did a lot of beer drinking that weekend (hence the weight gain) but with the ski lifts packed, relaxing in the resort pub while watching the playoff game was the perfect activity.

After drinking beer, we checked into our hotel. Our room overlooked Big Bear Lake and was less then 50 feet from the shore.


This was our view. I can't think of a better image to wake up to each morning.


Second best part of our hotel was that it was stumbling distance to The Village. It was quite nice to never have to drive to eat, drink, or play.


The snow lifts were still packed on Sunday so Dave and I decided to do a little hiking. Dave got us lost quite a bit and had to consult the map to find our way back on the trail.


Luckily, I am an expert navigator and was able to find the trail again.


Since everyone else was on the lifts, we were pretty much the only ones in the forest. I kept trying to convince Dave to write his name in the snow with pee but evidently Dave is much more mature then I and prefers to use his finger.


The view was gorgeous and I really didn't mind getting lost.


The most important thing is that I was spending time with the love of my life and really life doesn't get any better then that.


I am one lucky girl.

Clothes, Woes, Boys, and Toys

Weight Loss
When Dave and I first began our healthier lifestyle resolution we elevated the challenge by adding weekly goals and rewards/punishments. Going in to this I though "no problem!" since I am the Queen of Weight Loss and Dave is Mr Never Touched a Gym in His Life as well as the Baron of Taco Bell. Dave has always been athletically built and good at sports but beyond that has never had to try to stay fit therefore I thought I had an advantage to this whole challenge. I was born from the womb short and round and I've had to battle my figure my whole life.

Well, I greatly underestimated the competitive nature of my spouse. Had I known that all I had to do was issue a challenge I would have done this much sooner in order to motivate Dave to work out daily. Not only has he joined my gym and gone daily for 45 minutes but he has also completely revamped his eating habits (gone is fast food) as well as given up soda! This is huge coming from the man who used to drink 5-6 cans of coca cola a day. As of Week 1 Dave had lost 7 pounds and I had lost 3. Week 2 was tampered when we took a mini-vacation to a local snow resort and I re-gained the 3 from week 1 plus one I had lost in week 2 (total of 4 pounds). Dave regained 2 pounds. I'm really trying to make this healthy lifestyle something that I can do everyday for the rest of my life and evidently the vacation eating part of my lifestyle needs some tweaking.

Dreams of Our Fathers
Sunday night I had numerous dreams about boys I had dated in the past. Last night I dreamt of several scary wars in which I was forced to do battle. The boy dreams I enjoyed mostly because they involved lots of necking and heavy petting. The war dreams not so much. In one dream a tank was firing rapid succession at me and the ammo was oranges. It is citrus season here in Cali and obviously I have eaten one too many oranges.

Working Girl
I'm still insanely busy and working 12 hour days plus weekends. Luckily Dave is gone for work this week which allows me to work late into the night without feeling guilty. Now that it has been 3 months since the fires I am starting to get real tired of this schedule. Taking this past Monday off for our mini-vacay was refreshing but I can't keep doing this same schedule. Starting next week I am going to focus more on me and work only 9 hour days plus Saturdays. Dave is super motivated to do the gym thing and I'm going to make time to go to the gym with him as soon as my day has ended (4pm).

In other news, a National news crew is coming out next week to film our fire recovery work. I really would have liked to be much thinner but am trying not to stress over it too much. What am I saying? I am stressing over it big time! (to further clarify I am stressing over my weight not the national news part).

Shiny Toys
I got the new Sirius Stiletto 2 last week and I LOVE it. I'm already a big fan of Sirius but now I can take my Sirius with my when I go to the gym or out hiking! It's super small (about the size of a video IPOD) and light weight too. Now I am just waiting for the arm strap that I ordered to come so that I can stop treating it like a delicate flower.

Suddenly a Tennassee Titans Fan

Note to Self: When attending a NFL football playoff game, it might help if you are actually a fan of the home team. Otherwise you will spend a majority of the game fuming at the drunken douche bagginess of the home team fans. It didn't help that 95% of the fans in attendance were Chargers fans and only 5% of the rest were Titans fans. This meant that the drunken (and winning) Chargers fans felt it was their duty to yell insensitive slurs at the cowering Titans fans who were just trying to enjoy the game. It was worse then a Raiders versus Chargers game (at least then even when the game is played in San Diego a majority of the fans are wearing black and besides no one dares mess with the Raider Nation). Dave and I are neither Chargers not Titans fans but we had free tickets in the club level which meant great seats under cover from the rain and free food and booze. I would go again for the chance to watch a playoff game but after experiencing 3 hours of drunk asswhats I almost declared that alcohol and tailgating should be banned at games (this coming from me who is a huge fan of the beer in all situations and lovingly remembers tailgating from many Fresno State football games). Yet, you too would have immediately proclaimed that all games should be alcohol free after watching drunk idiots stumbling around trying to pick fights (unless you were a drunken idiot picking fights then you would have thought it to be a great time for all). Astonishingly enough we were in the club level where seats were $300-400 each and those in the cheaper seats on field level and in the higher decks encountered even more douche bagery and crowd fighting.

In more uplifting news, I've lost 45 pounds on three different occasions only to regain most of the weight back within one year. The latest time I lost the weight was for my wedding and already 25 pounds of that has crept back up on me. I am realizing that I am good at the losing but not so good at the keeping off. In the past I will practically starve myself for 6 months, drop tons of weight, and then become tired of the restrictions and go hog wild in the opposite direction. I really need to find a sensible eating plan that I can easily adopt as part of my everyday lifestyle so that I don't have to keep yo-yo'ing. Easier said then done. At the football game I was rather proud of myself, usually I will consume a bratwurst, garlic fries and lotsa beer (remember free beer in club level). This time I ordered a veggie burger and diet coke and I even held myself back when they brought out the mojitos (I will write a sonnet of my love for mojitos one day). One of my biggest problems in the past is that I splurge on special occasions and soon everyday becomes a special occasion for one reason or another. Lunch out with coworkers? Splurge! Hard day at work? Spurge! Finally Friday? Splurge! After a lot of thinking I have decided that the only days that count as splurge worthy are my birthday, fancy dinners paid by Dave's work, and holiday parties.

Other news, I am trying to convince Dave to let us extend our Lake Las Vegas vacation to encompass a night's stay at the Venetian since evidently 4 nights at the Ritz Carlton is not enough for me. I am having a hard time justifying my cause.

New Year, New Healthy Me

I'm a big fan of New Year's resolutions. No one is perfect so why not begin the new year with the goal of becoming a better person in one or two different ways. This year my goal is to become a healthier person. As I've said, since the fires my daily diet has consisted of whatever easy food I can grab and stuff in my mouth and my daily exercise has gone by the wayside. My resolution is to get back in the habit of exercising (5am!), eating healthy, taking a daily multi-vitamin (prenatal vitamins make my hair so shiny), brushing my teeth before bed (I'm not so good on this), and moisturizing every bit of my body after taking a shower (no wrinkles yet and I'd like to keep it that way).

To motivate myself even further, Dave and I have a small bet to see who can lose the most weight in ten weeks. Since Dave quit smoking a year ago, he has gained 20 pounds and has lacked the motivation to begin exercising. I've also gained weight since our wedding (10 pounds during our Honeymoon and then 15 pounds since the fires). I would really like to get back to my wedding weight before I continue to gain even more and things get out of control. In 10 weeks we plan on going to Lake Las Vegas and if I win Dave will pay for a day at the spa. I love messages and facials more then everything but sex and sushi so I am VERY excited to win.

I plan on blogging my progress once a week to keep myself motivated and accountable. Today was Day 1 of the challenge and I became winded after jogging for 40 minutes around the country club golf course. I am starving and sweaty and already realizing that getting back in shape is going to be a much bigger challenge then I had bargained.

A healthier looking me at our rehearsel dinner.

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 ...