Going back to Lucerne...

"Going back" because it happened over a month ago, and also because I had been there before...

Around the time of my distant-but-most-recent post I went to meet the spouses for coffee at Manora, the cafeteria in one of the department stores on Bahnhofstrasse. That was when I made a friend from the States, who blew me away by coming out on this cold day with her 11 day old baby! We were chatting and figured out that we were in the same neighborhood and decided to try to have dinner sometime. The very next morning she emailed me saying they had a babysitter (for their older two kids) lined up and could we go out that night! So that was how we ended up going out on a Friday night for some surprisingly good Italian food just a block and a half down from our apartment. Turns out her husband and CF had sort of known each other back in California before they moved to Switzerland. We had a nice time talking to them about their time living in Zürich and their advice to us was travel, travel, travel. "On the weekend you'll think it's time to sit back and relax, no! Get your butt to the train station early, Friday if possible and GO!" We shared some stories of our trip to Fribourg and Gruyeres and assured him that we had lots of trips planned. They were impressed with what we had planned! We were all booked to go to Oktoberfest in Munich, so the subject turned to beer. And that led to me going out with the two guys (mom had to go home when the babysitter was due to leave) to two interesting pubs. CF's pick was a place that makes their own beer. It was up the hill from us, closer to the University, and while the beer didn't blow me away it was at least more interesting than the Swiss brews I'd sampled before this. Then MM took us back down the hill to the Bonny Prince Pub. It's a long, skinny, smoky place boasting a jukebox full of heavy metal tunes and more Scottish beers than you've ever heard of. We were here to try Old Engine Oil. Dark and licoricey, I think it surprised MM that I liked it so much. Eventually we all stumbled back up our hill, and as I went to sleep I wondered what this late night would do to our weekend plans... wait, what were our plans again?

Oh, that's right... I wanted to take CF to Lucerne. You might recall I took a day trip here last fall but I thought CF should see it. When I visited alone it was a cold, misty and downright moody day. I thought it suited the setting, especially for viewing the Lion Monument, Löwendenkmal, which was the most moving part of my day. This time the sun was shining, the sky was blue, there was a wedding getting out of the church, the market looked splendid (okay fine, they were packing up around the time we got there, the late night led to a later train than planned)... and about a million other people had also decided it was a good day to visit Lucerne! Ugh. The streets were packed so wandering through the Medieval old town didn't have the same appeal. So we wandered over to the old city wall. You know, the one I climbed last year and was then scared out of my mind while trying to climb down? Well somehow I found myself up that stupid wall again, AND climbed that tower I avoided last time. Yes, the view was very nice, but I was practically shaking by the time I had slowly descended back down all those stupid stairs!

We had a nice lunch at a great place called Wirtshaus Taube. The main dish I ordered actually reminded me a lot of my lunch in the same city a year earlier. I remember being pleased with the appearance of vegetables at the time but then when we decided to come here for the year I remember thinking that if that tiny serving of starchy veggies was worth getting happy over that I was in for disaster. It certainly has been easier to eat healthy in this country while mainly shopping and cooking for myself. After lunch we took a nice stroll by the Lake; we saw plenty of boats out on the water, men playing bocce ball, locals encountering friends out enjoying a lovely Saturday. Lucerne is quite the living, breathing city, and I could barely tell last year. This visit was very different than the last! Eventually I made CF go up to the Lion Monument with me. The pond in front of it was drained for some repair work, gobs of people (most of them one large tour group) swarmed around the park... and I had already blown it and told him how this work of art had moved me to tears before so there were expectations in place. It just wasn't the same! (However, armed with my new telephoto lens I got some better shots of the haunting lion.)

I was mildly frustrated with the decision to come to Lucerne. It's close to Zürich so it will make a good day trip when we have visitors, but I myself would like to leave it misty and moody in my memories from last year. At the same time this is when I told myself that a lot of stuff is going to happen this year, and it can't all be perfect. I decided to be a little more mindful of planning weekends in the future but that this one was all right for now.

We wandered a bit longer, crossed the lovely wooden bridges and even did a little watch pricing for a friend. Eventually we called it a day and decided to catch a train home. We had to scramble a bit to find seats, and accidentally ended up in seats that were reserved for riders boarding in Bern. We rode a little ways not quite sure of what to do. Across the aisle from us two Spanish speaking girls were counting to ten in English for their father, over, and over, and over again. I think this was karma seeing how CF loves to count in languages he's learning and I'm sure he's inflicted native speakers with this annoyance at one point or another. Passengers started to prepare to exit as we approached Bern. We quickly swiped some forward-facing, un-reserved seats and the rest of the trip home was rather uneventful.

At this point I can't seem to remember what we did the next day. It was Sunday so everything around the city would have been pretty much closed. Hmmm. Well, anyway, I hope we rested up while we could, it was the last weekend day we would spend in Zürich for quite some time!

The Journey "Home."

Can I really have been here so many days already?

My last hours spent in the States weren't great. I found myself slightly under prepared and scrambling to get packed. The short time I slept the night before I left was with my suitcase opened on the bed next to me as I hadn't quite got it packed right. I figured I'd head into my flight a bit weary but that would help me get some sleep. I was feeling a bit lonely and nervous as I arrived at the airport, but I perked up a bit when I was reminded at the check-in counter that I could try out their lounge since I was flying business class. The Red Carpet Club wasn't as impressive as I would have hoped, but it was MUCH better than waiting at the gate. I chatted online with a few people and that made me feel a little less alone. I heard the first boarding call for my flight and decided to just go for it. I felt weird, very spoiled, as I boarded without waiting in line. My seat was rear-facing, but I had selected it as one of the last options on an aisle. Not nearly as comfy as I would have expected a business class seat to be! But the amount of space that I had to myself and the fact that the seat went all the way flat made me extremely happy. Thank you, thank you, CF for thinking to put me there.

I spent a good chunk of the flight with my feet up, watching movies and drinking plenty of water. All right, I'll admit to one vodka tonic before dinner and port with dessert. Turns out I love a good port, by the way. I decided to try to catch up on that sleep I so badly needed, but it wouldn't quite happen for me. The flight crew kept bustling by, I wondered if the aisle seat was such a good idea. Oh well, I was extremely comfortable and if no deep sleep came I at least got some good rest. We did hit some turbulence that night, and I am happy to report it bothered me very little. I think I was comfortable enough to stay relaxed. While laying flat in my rear-facing seat I was basically flying head first. I had headphones and a sleep mask on and decided to "pretend" to be sound asleep. Pretend to who, you ask? Ummm, I guess myself!

We landed in Frankfurt a bit early so I had most of three hours to wait for my half-hour flight to Zürich. I managed to find the lounge there and put their espresso machine to work. It was morning now and it was time to stay awake. Eventually it was time to board my second flight, this one was staffed with pretty German blondes and the passengers were mainly businessmen in suits. A rather odd place to find myself! The flight was so short, I was amazed they found time to serve a snack. They pretty much collected our trays as the plane landed. I was in the third row so I was off the plane quickly. A quick peek was taken at my passport, I don't think they even looked at my visa which makes me elligable for temporary residency. I suppose since you don't need a visa to visit they didn't care. I called CF and told him I was in Swizterland, and after about 5 minutes the luggage carousel started to turn. My two suitcases were magically some of the first ones off the plane, I popped them onto a luggage cart and wheeled my way outside to get a taxi. One was waiting right outside the door and he knew our street (it is a large one) so off we went! I was at my front door so quickly that CF hadn't even made it home from the office yet. I found a seat and waited not-so-patiently.

Finally I saw him walking up and jumped up to give him a hug. He showed me inside and I pieced back together the vague memories I had of the building from our visit here last year. Who would have thought I'd be moving in less than a year later? I got a shower and then we had a snack, just as he had promised: fresh croissants and Nutella. I was home.

(A different kind of) Ladies who lunch.

I spent a lovely day in San Francisco yesterday. I met up with three wonderful ladies for lunch at MarketBar at the Ferry Building. Well, there were four of us eventually, poor NR trekked down from Sacramento and had a bit of parking trouble before switching to BART. I indulged in a fantastic BLT and pomme frites, which will be my inspiration to keep going when I want to quit before my 30 minutes of running are up later today. Or maybe it will be the Miette cupcake I had with NR after our other two lunching ladies had to go back to work. We grabbed some coffee, having both slept in and not managed to have any before lunch and headed out back to enjoy the view. Here's a photo I found of someone having a similar experience, I've admired those cupcakes for so long, I'm pretty excited to have had one. The cake is bittersweet chocolate and the frosting is marshmallowy meringue goodness. Have I ever mentioned that although I prefer dark chocolate and hate overly sweet things, for some reason I have a soft spot (perhaps literally) for marshmallow? After undoing all the good several miles of running had done in the past couple days, we headed further into the city and managed to do just a small bit of shopping. We wound up having a drink at Zazil in the Shopping Centre and just enjoyed getting to chat in person. Something I don't get to do with certain friends nearly enough. I'm really relishing time spent like this right now. I'm so grateful for a summer full of good times with good friends.

I have to say, I know some pretty amazing women. I'm not going to discuss their personal lives on my blog, but all three of my friends at lunch yesterday have incredibly cool stuff going on in their lives right now. We met online while planning weddings but real and valuable friendships were born. Another thing I am very grateful for.

Preparations for heading to Zurich continue to go well. We keep thinking we're procrastinating or misbehaving when we run off to Davis for the night (like we did last week, pretty much just to see two friends' bands play), go on another stock-up shopping spree or take the time to watch way too many episodes of No Reservations. But really, we've done a good job planning and everything is going smoothly... so far, knock on wood. After slinking back home in the early afternoon on Saturday ("Gotta get up early and head home, sorry we can't stay longer, mom!" Sheesh!) we got to sorting out what was going into our shipping container. We had to decide what was too heavy to get to Switzerland any other way, and what could we stand to do without for most of two months. Once I started making that division in my wardrobe, it was basically all over. Reality is setting in, this is happening soon! We got through a good deal of our stuff on Saturday so Sunday became yet another shopping day. Most of the loot we brought home came from REI, I now own hiking shoes, and the rain shell I've avoided buying on the past two trips to Europe because "I'll never wear it at home." Oh, how life can change. CF is too good to me and offered to pay and not let me see how much we spent. He knows me so well! We finished our sorting easily Sunday evening and were totally ready for them when they showed up on Monday morning.

They brought the whole damn twenty-foot shipping container to our house! It filled the street! Not. Subtle. To make matters worse the postman pulled up and started asking loudly if the house was vacant, or were we moving. Not. Helping. I think the container was at least half empty when they finished. And we probably could have done without half of what we sent! We're taking a bunch of our kitchen stuff, but they are leaving most of theirs. I took more books than I've probably read in the past ten years, how many do I really think I'm going to read this year? Oh well, at least I didn't have to decide right now. So that's on it's way. The air freight will go shortly after CF does. And we'll both be packing up two suitcases, at least. Eventually we'll get everything there. Including me. I'll be there in less than a month! Eek!

The Countdown Begins!

Yesterday was the two month mark, I have a ticket booked for Zurich on September 2. We've done a lot of preparation already, but there is still an amazing amount of work to be done. I'm so grateful to be unemployed right now so I can work on all this stuff now instead of scrambling at the last minute. I have also been spending lots of time with friends and I'm having a blast. It will make it all the harder to say goodbye in 8 weeks, but lots of great memories have been forming.

I had finally decided to stay behind in the states after CF heads to Switzerland on August 16. My sister had been planning on visiting with her family at the beginning of September since before all this Europe adventure stuff came along and I wanted to be here for them. Plus the first couple weeks are going to be crazy as CF gets settled in at work and takes over for HK before he heads to Sydney. Originally my sister had asked me about our brother's birthday weekend... but somewhere along the way I had started to think we had discussed Labor Day weekend. You see, the two are usually the same. CF was itching to get airfare booked so I decided I would leave the day after Labor Day itself. He did the sweetest thing for me. Remember how I am super scared of flying? Well, at least of turbulence? The biggest drawback for me to fly to Europe after him was the thought of riding out a storm alone. I should mention, part of me deciding to stay behind two weeks was me wanting to do something that scares me. Just to see what will happen. Well, even if I'm scared to tears I will be crying much more comfortably because CF went and booked me a business class ticket. I am actually looking forward to the experience now because of that!

Ah, but here is where the "whoops!" comes in. My sister and her family were coming to stay with me because her husband bought tickets to all three concerts Dave Matthews Band is doing in Berkeley that weekend. That weekend that is my brother's birthday... NOT Labor Day weekend. I'm booked to fly out a couple of days before they will be arriving. This was so frustrating! I felt ridiculous for going and buying a ticket without confirming the plan with anyone, CF was already a little bit antsy about being alone in Europe so long and he did not want me showing up any later than already planned, but I didn't want to leave my sister hanging and miss out on a visit, and besides if I wasn't going to be here for their visit than the whole point of me staying behind was lost. ARRRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!

Well, I've calmed down a bit now and remembered that with "opportunities of a lifetime" you have to make compromises. Moving my ticket would cost a good chunk of extra money, plus CF started suggesting that I couldn't live without him for longer than 2.5 weeks (I think he means he can't live without me, but whatever). So right now the plan is to leave that plane ticket alone and I'll go down to San Diego and visit the Life Breaking In crew after CF departs for Europe. The plan isn't perfect, but I think it will do. And yes, DS, I will give you a key and you can use the house for your Berkeley weekend. How funny to think it will be occupied so soon after I leave!

This weekend CF is actually heading over to Zurich for a week to start getting things ready. I'll be heading up to the North Bay for Mr. PZ's birthday party and then I'll drive to Davis for a little more time in my hometown, for what could be the last time for quite some time. Also in upcoming plans, a visit from my parents and grandparents (we're hoping to get out to Half Moon Bay for a visit to Sam's Chowder House), dinner at Chez Panisse with CF's side of the family (the upstairs cafe this time which did indeed look much more inviting than the downstairs restaurant turned out to be, we should have listened to the advice), CF's finally taking his scuba lessons (the last weekend of this will include a trip to Monterey so I'm going along so we can visit expecting mommy and daddy SL and BL, and also DH and family), then we're having a big going away bash for ourselves... like we needed an excuse to plan one last party before we go! So it's going to be crazy times from here on out. Hope we can keep our heads on straight.

Besides all these fabulous plans we also have to continue with our efforts to make our lives more transportable. We're in the middle of switching to an online bank and we've taken out a credit card with no foreign transaction fee and a good conversion rate. I've renewed my driver's license most of a year early as it would have expired while we were gone. My reward for being so proactive was having to take half the written test with no warning! Turns out the test is much more ridiculous than I remember and includes such passive aggressive notes as:

"Q: Driving slowly in front of traffic in the far left (fast) lane on any freeway... A: Can frustrate other drivers and make them angry."

I got 100% on the test, got to take a new photo so at least it will look more like my current self, and I got to give them a whole new lie about my weight (what it current says used to be a lie because I weighed more but for quite some time now I've weighed a good deal less than what it says).

I was about to send my passport in for early renewal as well, had new pictures taken and everything, but CF is applying for our visa/s today and doesn't know if they will be attaching something into my current book or not. I'm hoping not so I can use my new photos and get a passport that actually says my current last name, not just as an amendment on the very last page. So much paper work! Photos here, signatures there... again, so glad to have the availability to be doing this now instead of scrambling for the time and cutting it close just before we go.

I spent most of yesterday updating accounts with credit cards and other billers. Giving everyone the credit card number we'd like them to bill from now on, giving our PO box mailing address (a swell service CF signed us up for that will scan the outside of envelopes we received and make that available to us online and then we can tell them if we'd like them to open it and scan the contents for us or not, fancy!), and updating our telephone number to the only one we have right now that will be staying with us: our Skype phone number! Our cellphones and home phone will soon be getting canceled. This number we can answer on a computer or forward to our new mobiles or home line. It's a US number too so it's cheaper for friends to call us this way.

If you have a web cam and microphone though I'd like to suggest signing up for a free Skype account and we'll get connected. Video conferencing is here and now, folks! My parents marveled as CF and I sat on the couch and had a chat... with him on our couch at home and me on my parents' couch in Davis a couple weeks ago. The world is getting smaller and smaller!

So anyway, as you can see we're getting through it all but there is a lot to be done before we take off. I remain excited but the whole thing seems much more real now and the responsibility of it all, all the organization and what not, is a pretty big burden. But I'm not complaining... it's just part of taking an opportunity of a lifetime!

My own worst enemy...

Am I the only one who immediately thought of scrumptious sweets from Paris when seeing this book cover? Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Recently while struggling through one of my assignments for writing class (Who knew I would struggle for content? I though I had such great stories to tell!) I found myself reading through posts from earlier in the year and saw my New Year's resolution: "Be good to yourself." How are we doing on this?

Things were going great until recently. I made it through the two month running program, managed to get brave enough to quit my job and was then rewarded with the opportunity of a lifetime: a year living in Europe. Then the appendicitis got me and I went through a rough patch.

I joked recently when talking at work about quitting and going to Europe for a year that I don't deal with change very well so I like to get it all over with at once. Kind of like the year that I quit my steady job, moved out of my hometown, traveled internationally for the first time and got married (I went to the doctor and told them everything that happened said I was worried that I was depressed, they replied, "I'm impressed you're still standing after doing all that!"). I guess I needed to get a little bit more in this round so, like I said, appendicitis struck and I found myself suddenly unable to do the two things I'd been spending most of my time on: working and working out. I went from an extremely social work setting, I interacted with probably hundreds of people a day, to being stuck at home not wanting to move for a good chunk of a week. At first I was a little bit outraged, I was robbed of my closure! But I'm looking for lessons and signs in life right now. What can I take from the way things played out? The message I hear is, "Get over yourself and move on." I had decided to work a full month after giving notice only to have my body cut it down to the standard two-weeks. It was time to go. I had these grand ideas of somehow passing on some sort of wisdom in the store, but the truth was it probably wasn't going to make a big difference, get over yourself and move on. So my ego had some healing to do along with my body.

At first the plan to go to Europe was exhilarating. Then I was distracted for a while by the quick changes in my present situation. By the time my attention came back around to what the year has in store for us the month of May was pretty much over. After a fantastic camping trip (yes, that's right, I had a good time but hey, it included martini glasses filled with pink cocktails and I got to shower in the middle of it), Ms. D departed for her summer in Alaska. I was sad to see her go, I won't see her again in person until November. The day she actually left I was struck down with thoughts of what it's going to be like to have to say goodbye and leave three months from now. I freaked out, I cried, it was all finally sinking in. I'm scared out of my mind. I still know it's the opportunity of a lifetime. Moving five years ago broke me down for a while, but I came out of it stronger and better. This will likely to do the same and could crush me harder than ever, but will the rewards be that much greater?

I wallowed it in for a few days and then somehow woke up last Saturday knowing that it was time to pick myself up and dust myself off. CF was on the same page with me. We have been tightening down on the diet habits, each of us determined to head to Europe as fit as possible. Some women would be horrified if they got within 15 pounds of their husband's weight, but they'd probably still be lighter. I am the heavier of the two, but I have never in the long fifteen years been so close to his weight. Of course the moment he started paying attention to what he was eating the pounds started falling off of him right and left (men!), I've got my work cut out for me trying to keep up. I eased back into exercise with an hour walk up our hill and then managed to get a little running done at the gym. Tomorrow I have my first appointment with LT since the morning she basically diagnosed my appendicitis and told me to call the doctor. I expect to her to kick my butt back into shape in no time.

Congratulations, if you've made it to this point in the post then you get to help answer an embarrassing, tough question I was asked recently. The life coaching sessions, which I originally purchased to help me find career goals, have become more about being an authentic, complete individual. I agreed to a semi-cheesy visualization exercise that involved visiting myself twenty years from now and led to some surprisingly clear revelations. It was just before Memorial Day so I had friendships on the brain, but before she even asked who else was around when I visited my twenty-years-from-now self I knew certain friends were there. It felt really nice. But then I hit a snag, "What do they call her? If there was a nickname you can hear if she walks back into the room?" "Ugh, knowing my friends it's something about Fabulous." Why ugh? I don't know. I put the word in my own darn subtitle and yet it makes me cringe. I try to laugh it off. I start to wonder what it means... am I superficial, vain, prissy, delusional, shallow? I think it's mostly said as a compliment but I often feel somehow scoffed at or chided and it leaves me wanting to yell, "There's more to me than just that!" But I know there's good stuff behind the label as well. Funny thing is, this is something that's really come out of the last several years. No one called me Fabulous when I was pushing 300 pounds. I know it's related to my self-confidence increasing, and yet it's ahead of where I am now. I don't have the confidence to carry this label with pride yet. So I need help in figuring out what it all means, can I let go of the silly side of it and embrace the truly fabulous? Any advice would be much appreciated. No rush though, I've got twenty years to learn how to "own" it.

Falling behind again...

This always happens. I keep meaning to post about certain things and then they all back up on me. Last week we had a lovely anniversary. I meant to post some distant memories of meeting CF half a lifetime ago. I also meant to tell you about the days we spent hiding from real life. Kind of fun to just escape to the nearest city. On Easter, after scanning all those photos, we decided to fly to Southern California for my grandfather's birthday party after all. I've known about it for months, little did I know it was going to be a huge affair so I'm glad we were able to get on board at the last minute. It was nice to see family, and I got a bonus visit with the niece, who I will see again in just a few weeks when we celebrate her first birthday. Speaking of first birthdays and anniversaries, it's about that time at work. What a long, strange and wild ride it's been. I'm not really sure where it's going but I'm a patient woman. I've had several friends visit me at work recently so I can help them with wedding related design projects, so I'm quite busy with those right now. It's a lot of work but a lot of fun. We're still trying to get our bathroom remodel/rebuild project going. But as you can see, our attention has been taken elsewhere.

So there's a lot going on. And I keep meaning to write about it all. But this will have to do for now.

Just business...

This is one of my new musical discoveries, Jesca Hoop, isn't she fun?

Those of you who know me, which I think is most everyone reading, know that I look for personal connections with just about everyone I meet. Lately this has come back to haunt me in several ways.

Soon after our store opened I helped a nice gal who seemed about my age and enjoyed the store very much. As I was ringing up her purchase I noticed the shopping bag she was carrying had the logo of a store across the street at the mall that I had just had a really pleasant visit to. I asked what she had bought and she told me she was the manager! And we've basically carried on something of a friendship ever since. A week ago (a Friday evening) she came in and coyly told me she and her fellow were there to look at wedding invitations! How exciting! It was so nice to work with someone I was really happy for. It turns out her wedding is quite soon and I was concerned about the turn around time on letterpressed cards for her. But she insisted that everyone already knew about the wedding, they knew who was coming, it was merely a formality because she wanted them. I encouraged her to get her order finalized by Sunday evening, a few nights later, so it would get processed as soon as possible (this would be the next time the invitations department would even be open). I spent at least an hour with her, and went on my lunch break quite a bit later than scheduled, but we settled on a design and I sent her off to work on text before Sunday. She signed off on the terms and conditions, I rung her up, she asked for a hug before leaving (!) and we went on our merry ways. Sunday she emailed in text, and I sent in her order so it was processed first thing Monday morning.

And then she called the store shortly after I left on Monday. She wanted to cancel her order because she had decided that it was too expensive. When informed that this was no longer a possibility she threw me under the bus and apparently accused me of rushing her into it. I was really upset to hear this. I thought I was helping a friend get what she wanted in time for her big day. And instead it looks like our little friendship has fallen apart. I had been considering making a purchase from her store and now I feel uncomfortable with the idea of seeing her there.

Another example: I got a Christmas card from the gal who has been doing my brow waxes. I was very brow-phobic till I went to her, she works at my old hair salon in Palo Alto. It's been a bit of a pain to drive all the way down there just to drive all the way back and hide out at home while I wait for the redness to go away. And she's also expensive. But I liked the awesome work she did and I liked that she remembered so much about me every time I saw her, which was only for about fifteen minutes, every other month! The personal connection really held me. Well, like I said, she sent me a card, so I sent her one of our New Year's cards. A couple days ago I called the salon and made an appointment for the following morning. A couple hours later I got a call on my cellphone (the number I had given the salon for appointment confirmations) from a number I didn't know. She was calling me for a personal favor, did I mind coming in later for my appointment? I was her only scheduled morning appointment and her boyfriend was leaving for the airport and she really wanted to be able to take him. I told her I couldn't come in later because I had to go to work, but that of course we could reschedule!

This is the part where it gets really sticky. I decided to try this more local small-business place, two sisters that run a teeny-tiny "brow bar" with great flare. It's more inexpensive so I could afford to go in more frequently and highly reviewed on Yelp. I went yesterday and I loved it. So now I don't know what to do in the future. It was our personal connection that made her know it was okay to call me... I feel bad leaving her right after that. It isn't like I actually had a problem with her request! And I will miss her (though I loved the sisters too). It's just bad timing. Gah!

And then there's one of my rather expensive habits (the others being travel and chiropractic, though that's covered by insurance now): personal training at the gym. Earlier today I used up my last session with LT and I have to see how many sessions I can buy to get me through the year. I don't want to spend more than I have budgeted, it's her job to get me to buy sessions... it's awkward on a friendship. And we really are friends. I'm checking out my options, training less with her and learning to do more on my own (which I hate, chatting with her distracts me from noticing the weird looks from the meatheads up in the weight room), asking someone I've met through spin class who has become a trainer how much her sessions cost and maybe mixing her in a bit... I don't know how it's going to turn out. But it's personal connection and money butting heads again.

And it's making me tired.

Work forced to wait too...

So after a morning that really should have told me to just go back to bed I got on the road heading to work. The drive was so scary! I think the fastest I went on the best part of the road was about 60, but only for a minute or two. Around the halfway point I got a call from the store, thank goodness I had thought to put on my hands-free device! The power was off and the two of them were just sitting in the dark, they had made one sale and one other customer had come in, but all the restaurants around us were closed and they were hungry. So I pulled off the freeway to try the In-N-Out drive through but the line was beyond insane, I settled on Safeway near work. The rest of the drive was even scarier and I was talking to CF, he told me to not drive if I was scared and I asked what he would have me do, pull over and wait for the storm to clear up in three days? I kept on trucking and made it to Safeway, a lot of the street signals were out, looks like San Jose got hit hard! I looked at the hot soup, but got distracted looking for one my vegan (by choice) slash gluten-free (by necessity) manager could eat and ended up buying a refrigerated container of soup, which did us little good at a store with no power! But the apples, nuts, and veggies I brought were a welcome sight at the store. M and J were just sitting behind the counter. We called the coworker who would have been driving in from Santa Cruz, turns out she had been trying to call the store but the phones weren't working, she couldn't make it through the hills and had turned around and gone home, thank goodness! We sat there for about two hours before we finally got word to pack up and go home, thank goodness, again! The drive home wasn't nearly as bad as the way there, but the storm sounds like it's still going strong.

What a craptastic day! I am going to do my best to make the most of the extra time and get some work done around the house so I can enjoy a movie tomorrow. At least something good might come out of this!

Resolutions forced to wait...

This morning sucks.

We woke up to pouring rain, street gutters that resemble rapids, our garbage washed out all over the street (CF got it all rounded up just before the truck came), I broke a glass that I had on my nightstand all over the floor right by the bed, I can't keep up with the chaos so I ran out of time to work on an important project, I was supposed to get most of tomorrow home catching up with paying late bills and finally finishing going through October's mail but now it looks like that might not happen (we'll see), my job constantly has my stomach in knots, CF's plan for today keeps on changing so I don't know if I'm stranding him without a car or what (his car's emergency brake is maybe broken)... and to top it all off I would do anything not to have to drive to San Jose in the storm, and also home late tonight.

Waaaaaah.

If only all the answers came to me so quickly!

I know I was a big talker Sunday night, eventually the three consecutive days of closing the store at 10pm got the best of me and I came home incredibly cranky. I wish I could stay in bed all day! But there is so much to do and I have to head to the gym in an hour or LT will have my head.

Yesterday morning I woke up late but had just enough time to shower and get dressed before our Christmas tree was delivered. I went and picked it out the day before and paid an extra $10 to have it brought to our house. And of course instead of using the few hours I had before going to work to get something responsible done like putting away the laundry or catching up with the Quicken, I decorated the tree! I got it almost entirely decorated before I had to head down to San Jose for work. I have to admit, I am getting tired of the drive and the amount of gas I'm going through makes me feel awful. Things were crazy at the store when I arrived, but you know I got everything whipped into shape in no time at all! This was our busiest evening so far this week, at least it wasn't boring!

I had a little blast from the past moment... a basketball player from my days at UC Davis came in with his girlfriend/wife (not sure which). I had actually seen him there before but thought we were getting a little bit old for (said with sorority sister voice) "Did you go to Davis?" This time I decided to talk to them. He confirmed that he was indeed who I thought he was and then I told him I was in the band and had gone to Louisville. (I doubt anyone reading this doesn't know but: Davis played the DII national championship in '98 and a group of us paid for our own travel to get there and slept on a dorm lounge floor all week so we could play and cheer at the games. Davis ended up winning the whole darn thing. One of my memories of the evening that followed was this guy throwing flaming paper airplanes out a hotel room window as the band and team partied together.) He got a big smile on his face and the girl with him exclaimed, "You were in the band-uh?" She looked very familiar too, I don't know if it's from Davis or if she's been in the store without him. You never know with my memory. I didn't get to talk to them too much as business picked up in the store but we kept exchanging smiles. I felt like a big goober, band nerd and shop girl... aren't I impressive?

I had two straggling customers at 10pm, I need to remind my coworkers to check in with people and let them know when we're closing soon. People are so oblivious to what time it is, they don't really mean to be keeping us, but at the same time they probably wouldn't hurry anyway. I did my best to stay polite but I was beyond ready to go home. I The first night I was done at 10:05, second night 10:15, last night I was finally there till 10:30. I was probably speeding on the way home, I just wanted to be there already. CF called me and caught me just in time, he had taken the shuttle to work and needed a ride home (he left his car at the shuttle stop in San Carlos). We ended up staying up late watching TV, finishing decorating the tree and having some midnight cranky-mood-reducing junk food. Thanks CF, I can always count on you to cheer me up!

Today is my one day off this week when I will actually be home. I have so much to do! But here's a few things for entertainment purposes:

Footage of the Spring Awakening kids singing during the strike last month:



Then, while clicking around YouTube, I ran into footage from my favorite show from my first trip to NYC this year, the Company revival. The show closed back in July, but PBS filmed the last two performances. I started to wonder if that footage would ever see the light of day on Great Performances. And oddly enough it was a matter of hours before I got my answer! Playbill.com posted an article that says Company airs on February 20!!! Woot! Since it will air soon enough and you're all going to watch it (please tell me they release these things on DVD!), instead of posting a badly shot bootleg video from the show I thought I'd point out this footage of the star, Raúl Esparza, singing a song from quite a different show. You might recognize him from a few supporting appearances on my favorite new television show, Pushing Daisies. I just love that show! And I hope his character comes back!

Tiffany's Not Included

My first holiday season in retail is proving to be manageable and actually rather boring. Today was the first day of holiday hours, Sunday are usually noon to 6pm but we were open from 10 to 10, and basically will be till Christmas Eve. I knew I'd be out late last night (at the DP's holiday party, one of my favorite annual events) so I asked to come in as late as possible today. I got exactly what I asked for (it's true what they say about being careful) and had the honor of closing at 10pm tonight. Thank goodness I didn't have to be there till 2, that was just about the time that I managed to come back to life from last night's festivities. Business was decent but it wasn't all that busy. Between 8 and 9 we made $83.07, and between 9 and 10 we made $83.79. And when I say between 9 and 10, I really mean between 9 and 9:24 because there was no one in the store after that. My two lovely coworkers got the store cleaned and straightened and I let them go home early. I got the drawers counted and most of the closing tasks done and ready for that clock to hit 10. I think I clocked out at 10:05. I have the pleasure of closing at 10pm the next two nights as well. I hope it's a little more exciting than tonight. CF actually went to work today too, and being the nice guy that he is, he drove me to work so I didn't have to deal with holiday mall parking. How's that for service? We came home, ate some ice cream (some of the delicious Bi-Rite Creamery loot I brought home after my haircut in San Francisco on Thursday), watched the Something Wicked This Way Comes episode of Ugly Betty (yes, I am still very much behind on all the television that aired while we were traveling, and also yes, I did love the Wicked footage), and now we're hitting the hay.

Ms. D is coming over in the morning and we're going to walk up my neighborhood hill. I actually am crazy enough that I pondered getting up for 5:30am spin with my favorite teacher since I haven't seen him since before the trip, but I am closing so I really would have had to come home and go back to sleep in order to make it through the day. So instead I will hike our crazy diagonal streets and D has agreed to come with me. What fun to have her around so much lately! Last Wednesday she came over and kept me company while I made Baby's First Christmas cards for my sister, then we went to a matinee showing of Enchanted (I loved the good, cheesy fun, but she found McDreamy to be its only redeeming quality), had a very successful mall run, then we came home and watched 3 DVD's while I finished the cards and CF cooked us dinner. Not a bad life! The three of us had a good time getting dressed up for the party last night. We were as chic and as French as we could manage. We'll all be together again this weekend for another holiday get together. We keep making jokes that we'll be sick of each other soon. But I really just don't see that happening.

I've been back to the gym a whopping two times since returning. Both times have left me quite sore. I returned from Europe around the same weight I was at the beginning of the trip, but apparently somewhat leaner/smaller (the dress I wore to CF's company holiday party used to be snug and now is lose enough that I had to be careful to keep things "in place" during the evening), and getting the muscles lifting what they did a month and a half ago is proving to be a challenge. The day I went back to the gym I brought a Swiss dark chocolate bar and a Belgian bar filled with a cognac creme to my dear friends the trainers. O, a 7 foot tall, buff as can be, black man squealed like a little girl when he saw the sweets. L, my favorite grumpy Italian, played it cool but later called my cellphone and informed me that she didn't care how I did it, if I had more at the house or if I had to go back to Europe, but that I had to bring her more cognac filled chocolate. Uh oh. I guess I have to go back to Belgium! It's nice to have friends at the gym, they keep it fun.

This week I've got to get back on track with going to the gym, getting the house cleaned up and Christmas-ified, and actually buying some Christmas presents and not just the wrapping paper. Today wasn't such a good jump start on that plan, since the whole day was eaten up by hangover and working, but I did my best. What can I say? I tried to do better than I did last year, and I did manage that. There's always next year to try for even better!

Kindred spirits

Things are hectic right now. Thank goodness for two days off! I am going to be making some wonderful "Baby's First Christmas" cards for my sister, they're her birthday gift, and her birthday was in July. But at last they're finally happening. I'm about to push "print" as soon as I finish my coffee. Every time I think about Christmas I start to panic and it gets a little harder to breathe. Hopefully I can put some time into planning today. We're hosting my family here on the day of, which I am so excited about. But the past couple years I have become an awful gift shopper. I just don't seem to make it happen anymore, the ideas just aren't coming to me. Maybe I will brainstorm a bit on gift options and make a post about it later. So if I can make these cards, plan some Christmas gifts, and get myself ready for holiday party madness in the next two day, I will be a happy girl. Speaking of holiday parties, every year I seem to find half of an outfit to wear to one particular party, and then I spend the week before scrambling trying to complete the outfit. This is such a waste of my stress right now!

So I promise to write more soon, but for now I will just share one of my recent favorite Gap photos. Oh, did I mention I just love Gap marketing? Patrick Wilson dancing in his khakis earlier this year almost killed me I loved it so much. But here is Amy Poehler and husband, Will Arnett sharing some warmth. I just love them, his television show, Arrested Development, was just about the funniest thing ever. So no one watched it, their loss. And Amy is hilarious on SNL, and was featured in my favorite sketch of recent years (RICK!). I just love how funny and cute they are together. Not that we're nearly as funny or cute, but I do think we might be able to claim "kindred spirits," what do you think?