Ok, I know that the blogging has been more miss than hit lately. That will change once I get back to normalcy in Texas, I promise. I have tons of story from the road from CA to TX, but I have to do a quick update on the honeymoon.
The best part about moving back to Texas prior to taking the honeymoon is that the puppies did not have to go back to the boarding place (and we weren't having to pay $50/day). They are staying with my parents and their dog, Duchess, who my puppies enjoy hanging out with. The worst part is that the flight from Dallas to Honolulu is like 8 hours (plus the 30 minute delay on the ground in Dallas).
After the incredibly long 8 hour flight, we finally landed in beautiful Hawaii. I was curious about cell phone abilities here, so while we were waiting the million hours for our checked bags I fired both cell phones up. I had one new message on my personal one, so since we were still waiting for luggage I checked it. This is what my lone voicemail said...
"Hi, this is Angela from Plano Animal Clinic. We have Doogie here, and she is doing fine. We scanned her microchip and will call the alternate numbers."
Um, WHAT?! So I immediately call my mom, no answer. Call my brother, no answer. Call my dad, no answer. Call their house, no answer. Think for a moment about who I most want to hear the story from, so I can continue calling them repetitively until I get the story. I call my brother again. Thankfully, he answers.
The full story is that the maids were doing my parents' house yesterday. My mom, brother, sister-in-law and niece left the house before they arrived. All dogs were fine. When they returned home, no Doogie. My mom calls the maids, no answer. My mom searched the neighborhood forever until they got the call from the animal clinic. The maids finally call back and admit that Doogie escaped when they got there. They looked for her for awhile but couldn't find her. THEY NEVER EVEN CALLED MY MOM TO TELL HER! Speaking of lack of communication, my mom wasn't even going to tell me about all of this. I can understand not wanting to ruin my honeymoon, but it would have been nice to have had TWO voicemails on my phone when I landed!
I guess some guy had found poor Doogie wandering around near a major intersection and was able to capture her (Doogie is quite feisty). He was kind enough to take her to his vet, where they scanned the life-saving microchip and got the ball rolling.
Three important lessons here:
(1) everyone take a moment to love on your pets!
(2) microchips are worth the cost - I can't even imagine the state we would be in if Doogie didn't have one
(3) communication is important!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Part 1 of Unlimited on Drive from Redwood City to McKinney
The first post I do in this series is going to have to be an apology, and I do this first intentionally because I want this out there. I feel really bad. I have to apologize to all of my Phoenix friends for not seeing them while I was passing through.
The plan looked great on paper. Drive from Redwood City to Phoenix on Sunday. 12 hours of driving, very do-able. We were planning on leaving at about 5am and getting into Phoenix around 6pm worst case. Having some time to unwind and get a good night's sleep. It did not exactly work out that way.
Saturday was a very busy day. I even got up at like 7am, but there was just so much to do. Had to take boxes to UPS, had to drop my car off for oil change, had to pick up the husband's truck from car maintenance, had to pick up Uhaul, had to empty out apartment into either (1) car/truck/uhaul (2) trash (3) John's apartment (4) ABBA Andrea's apartment. That night the husband went out to dinner with his boys, and I went to dinner with my girls. Oh, and to Target and to the gas station. We were up packing and cleaning until around 1am, so the thought of waking up at 4 to hit the road was ugly. 5am wasn't much prettier, but I did get up then. We did not leave the apartment until around 7:15. Still, we should've been in Phoenix by 8pm, worst case.
I should've known it was not going to go well when we hit TREMENDOUS fog just after getting off the 101. I had to go 40 mph for quite a ways due to complete lack of visibility and sweaty palms. But even that would've been ok. Unfortunately, worst case did not include a 3 hour delay on I-5 north of LA. Unbeknownst to me, due to all of my activity on Saturday, there was a terrible explosion in the tunnel on I-5, causing them to shut down the whole highway for several days. There was this friendly little sign on I-5 that read "Left 2 Lanes Closed Ahead", so I of course got right. Not sure how 2 lanes = the whole 4/5/6 lane highway, but they narrowed everything down to a detour at the next exit. It took us 2 hours to go from one exit to the next exit where the detour was. Then it was another hour through the 5.5 mile detour trek. The only exciting part was that we saw some women getting handcuffed. Not really sure how you get yourself arrested in a 3 hour traffic delay, but it was fun. The worst part was when a guy peddling lazily along on his bicycle passed me. I don't think I ever caught up to him.
Long story trying to get condensed, we stopped Sunday night in Indio and had another 4 hours to drive to get to Phoenix Monday morning. We didn't get into town until around 11:30am Monday and then proceeded to lounge on the patio for the afternoon. I seriously could not drag myself out of the chair due to absolute exhaustion. I slept in until 11am on Tuesday morning, and yet was still exhausted.
Bottom line... I'm so sorry, Phoenix people! I really had the best of intentions to meet up with a lot of people. I did learn one very valuable lesson in all of this.... I HATE MOVING!!!!!!!!
The plan looked great on paper. Drive from Redwood City to Phoenix on Sunday. 12 hours of driving, very do-able. We were planning on leaving at about 5am and getting into Phoenix around 6pm worst case. Having some time to unwind and get a good night's sleep. It did not exactly work out that way.
Saturday was a very busy day. I even got up at like 7am, but there was just so much to do. Had to take boxes to UPS, had to drop my car off for oil change, had to pick up the husband's truck from car maintenance, had to pick up Uhaul, had to empty out apartment into either (1) car/truck/uhaul (2) trash (3) John's apartment (4) ABBA Andrea's apartment. That night the husband went out to dinner with his boys, and I went to dinner with my girls. Oh, and to Target and to the gas station. We were up packing and cleaning until around 1am, so the thought of waking up at 4 to hit the road was ugly. 5am wasn't much prettier, but I did get up then. We did not leave the apartment until around 7:15. Still, we should've been in Phoenix by 8pm, worst case.
I should've known it was not going to go well when we hit TREMENDOUS fog just after getting off the 101. I had to go 40 mph for quite a ways due to complete lack of visibility and sweaty palms. But even that would've been ok. Unfortunately, worst case did not include a 3 hour delay on I-5 north of LA. Unbeknownst to me, due to all of my activity on Saturday, there was a terrible explosion in the tunnel on I-5, causing them to shut down the whole highway for several days. There was this friendly little sign on I-5 that read "Left 2 Lanes Closed Ahead", so I of course got right. Not sure how 2 lanes = the whole 4/5/6 lane highway, but they narrowed everything down to a detour at the next exit. It took us 2 hours to go from one exit to the next exit where the detour was. Then it was another hour through the 5.5 mile detour trek. The only exciting part was that we saw some women getting handcuffed. Not really sure how you get yourself arrested in a 3 hour traffic delay, but it was fun. The worst part was when a guy peddling lazily along on his bicycle passed me. I don't think I ever caught up to him.
Long story trying to get condensed, we stopped Sunday night in Indio and had another 4 hours to drive to get to Phoenix Monday morning. We didn't get into town until around 11:30am Monday and then proceeded to lounge on the patio for the afternoon. I seriously could not drag myself out of the chair due to absolute exhaustion. I slept in until 11am on Tuesday morning, and yet was still exhausted.
Bottom line... I'm so sorry, Phoenix people! I really had the best of intentions to meet up with a lot of people. I did learn one very valuable lesson in all of this.... I HATE MOVING!!!!!!!!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Finally Made it Home
After about 1,900 miles and 35 hours on the road (plus a few short nights in questionable motels), the Queen has returned to her castle. The trip inspired many future blog topics, but I am so exhausted today that this is going to be a short one.
There was one recurring thought that ran through my head during the drive. It had nothing to do with how many more miles it was until the next resting spot/food spot/gas station. It was not making mental notes on all the things I needed to do when I got to Dallas (and only had 4 days here before leaving for Hawaii). It was not even really thoughts about friends left behind and family coming ahead. The one recurring thought I had throughout the trip was....
Can I put a divorce on my moving expense report?
Of course that is somewhat joking. The husband and I (and the dogs, for that matter) had many great moments throughout the trip. But I really do not recommend driving 1900 miles, spending 35+ hours on the road, getting 4 hours of sleep/night and putting tons of energy into packing up boxes and cars with your spouse. Especially if they have a bad back and you are the type of person that wants to make significant progress.
Bottom line... I knew that the trip to Hawaii would be a great de-stressor after all the stress of moving. And I actually now really appreciate that we waited 2.5 years after our wedding to take our honeymoon. It is really the perfect timing. And we're flying, not driving ;)
There was one recurring thought that ran through my head during the drive. It had nothing to do with how many more miles it was until the next resting spot/food spot/gas station. It was not making mental notes on all the things I needed to do when I got to Dallas (and only had 4 days here before leaving for Hawaii). It was not even really thoughts about friends left behind and family coming ahead. The one recurring thought I had throughout the trip was....
Can I put a divorce on my moving expense report?
Of course that is somewhat joking. The husband and I (and the dogs, for that matter) had many great moments throughout the trip. But I really do not recommend driving 1900 miles, spending 35+ hours on the road, getting 4 hours of sleep/night and putting tons of energy into packing up boxes and cars with your spouse. Especially if they have a bad back and you are the type of person that wants to make significant progress.
Bottom line... I knew that the trip to Hawaii would be a great de-stressor after all the stress of moving. And I actually now really appreciate that we waited 2.5 years after our wedding to take our honeymoon. It is really the perfect timing. And we're flying, not driving ;)
Friday, October 12, 2007
My Husband, The Hottie
Last November on our trip to LA, the husband was stoked at the opportunity to work out on Muscle Beach. I am very partial to Venice Beach myself, so it was a fun time. I took lots of pictures of the workout area and of him working out... for hours... while the dogs and I watched. 
This past trip, we of course had to return for a workout at Muscle Beach. This time, I found it more interesting to take pictures of all the people taking pictures of my husband. I will note that this phenomena happened both visits, I was just more aware of it this time.
Last year, a group of girls went up to him and asked to take pictures. That was pretty funny because as a husband with his wife watching, he
had no clue what to do. That cracked me up. This year, there were 4-5 groups of people that took pictures. The two below... (1) is right at the start. Note the crowd watching and the one lady taking a picture of him. You can kinda see him working out on the bench, directly under her camera lens. (2) is a group of guys that run a fitness company in Europe. They asked the husband to pose with one of their promo towels. That was funny!
This past trip, we of course had to return for a workout at Muscle Beach. This time, I found it more interesting to take pictures of all the people taking pictures of my husband. I will note that this phenomena happened both visits, I was just more aware of it this time.
Last year, a group of girls went up to him and asked to take pictures. That was pretty funny because as a husband with his wife watching, he
had no clue what to do. That cracked me up. This year, there were 4-5 groups of people that took pictures. The two below... (1) is right at the start. Note the crowd watching and the one lady taking a picture of him. You can kinda see him working out on the bench, directly under her camera lens. (2) is a group of guys that run a fitness company in Europe. They asked the husband to pose with one of their promo towels. That was funny!
Many Days Without Blogging
Just returned from a 6 day road trip from mid to SoCal. It was a really nice time because I was actually able to shed the stress I've been feeling about moving. Unfortunately, the stress came back once I re-entered the apartment and saw the half-filled boxes. My li'l puppy, Princess, also gets stressed out when she sees moving boxes. I had to hand feed her breakfast Saturday morning after we spent most of Friday evening packing. Poor thing. We keep trying to tell her that we are going HOME, which is a great thing. She'll understand eventually.
Anyways, today's blog is a collection of phrases that Carmen (my Garmin GPS) spit out at us while we were driving around Cali for a grand total of about 13 hours.
Anyways, today's blog is a collection of phrases that Carmen (my Garmin GPS) spit out at us while we were driving around Cali for a grand total of about 13 hours.
- "In 0.8 miles, turn East" she got confused when I deleted out her SF maps, and could not give "left/right" directions :( that was a rough start to the trip
- "Make a U-turn..." she says as I am driving down I-5
- "Turn right..." she says while driving south on Highway 1. Turning right at that point would've meant careening off the side of the cliff into the ocean. I asked the husband to ignore Carmen, just this once.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Recap of Napa
Wow, what a nice vacation. I actually got so caught up on sleep, I was not overly tired when I woke up this morning after only 4 hours of very restless sleep. Red wine is sure soothing to the soul :)
We got up to Napa around 5:30pm on Tuesday. I was a bit hungry, but our dinner reservation wasn't until 8:30, so we headed down to the hotel's wine bar to have some wine and appetizers. The husband being the talkative type, we had an extensive conversation with the bar tender and also this random guy down there who happened to be from Tucson. Wine was good, my salad was great, garlic fries not so much.
Next we headed off to our dinner reservation at Bouchon. It is one of Thomas Keller's restaurants, who happens to be one of the husband's most favorite chefs. We tried and tried to get into the French Laundry while we were out here, but our plans just kept changing. I had mixed feelings on Bouchon. For our appetizer we had this FABULOUS smoked and fresh salmon mousse. It was preserved in a jar under caramelized butter that they broke the seal on table side. It was served with these delicious little croutons. Honestly, it is one of the best foods I have ever had, which is saying a LOT. For dinner I had the trout, which I was disappointed in. The haricot verts were not prepared well at all. I must be spoiled because the husband makes the best vegetables ever. Seriously, you could think you don't like a certain veggie, but you will if he makes it for you. Dessert was profiteroles, which were very nice. Service was a little not on the good side, and we ended up getting overcharged $40 on our wine.
Later on in the evening, we headed over to the bar down the street to shoot some stick. I claim to have won because I hit the 8 ball in first. Of course, I had 2 other balls still on the table, but the bar was closing down, so I just jumped ahead :)
The next morning, we hopped out of bed at 9:30 in order to make the all you can eat breakfast that ended at 10. The waffles were fabulous, as were the eggs, cinnamon rolls, fruit, bagels... you get the picture :) Then we hopped back in bed for naptime. LOL, told you I caught up on sleep!
I arose from the dead around noon, and we headed off to the BV winery. It is my very favorite wine, and they did not disappoint. We did several tastings, and then happily saw that they had cases on major sale. We headed downstairs to purchase one. While down there, we also added a wine opener, wine stopper, wine pourer and 2 wine glasses to our purchase. Did I mention we signed up for the wine club, too? It was a very successful trip to BV - both for them and for us!
Afterwards, we headed to the restaurant next door because there were fabulous smells coming out. It was not too shabby, and the wine there was great, too. We capped off the night by popping open one of our bottles of wine, pouring it from our new pourer into our new wineglasses and toasting to a nice, relaxing time in Napa and watching the Bourne Ultimatum.
Drove back home yesterday around 1pm, then I turned right back around and headed up to Sacramento to have dinner with my old team up there. It was a hellish drive up there, but we had a great time, and it was really nice to see them. I am so lucky to have worked with so many great people!
Alright, off to lunch now with one of my most fabulous co-workers - ABBA Andrea!
We got up to Napa around 5:30pm on Tuesday. I was a bit hungry, but our dinner reservation wasn't until 8:30, so we headed down to the hotel's wine bar to have some wine and appetizers. The husband being the talkative type, we had an extensive conversation with the bar tender and also this random guy down there who happened to be from Tucson. Wine was good, my salad was great, garlic fries not so much.
Next we headed off to our dinner reservation at Bouchon. It is one of Thomas Keller's restaurants, who happens to be one of the husband's most favorite chefs. We tried and tried to get into the French Laundry while we were out here, but our plans just kept changing. I had mixed feelings on Bouchon. For our appetizer we had this FABULOUS smoked and fresh salmon mousse. It was preserved in a jar under caramelized butter that they broke the seal on table side. It was served with these delicious little croutons. Honestly, it is one of the best foods I have ever had, which is saying a LOT. For dinner I had the trout, which I was disappointed in. The haricot verts were not prepared well at all. I must be spoiled because the husband makes the best vegetables ever. Seriously, you could think you don't like a certain veggie, but you will if he makes it for you. Dessert was profiteroles, which were very nice. Service was a little not on the good side, and we ended up getting overcharged $40 on our wine.
Later on in the evening, we headed over to the bar down the street to shoot some stick. I claim to have won because I hit the 8 ball in first. Of course, I had 2 other balls still on the table, but the bar was closing down, so I just jumped ahead :)
The next morning, we hopped out of bed at 9:30 in order to make the all you can eat breakfast that ended at 10. The waffles were fabulous, as were the eggs, cinnamon rolls, fruit, bagels... you get the picture :) Then we hopped back in bed for naptime. LOL, told you I caught up on sleep!
I arose from the dead around noon, and we headed off to the BV winery. It is my very favorite wine, and they did not disappoint. We did several tastings, and then happily saw that they had cases on major sale. We headed downstairs to purchase one. While down there, we also added a wine opener, wine stopper, wine pourer and 2 wine glasses to our purchase. Did I mention we signed up for the wine club, too? It was a very successful trip to BV - both for them and for us!
Afterwards, we headed to the restaurant next door because there were fabulous smells coming out. It was not too shabby, and the wine there was great, too. We capped off the night by popping open one of our bottles of wine, pouring it from our new pourer into our new wineglasses and toasting to a nice, relaxing time in Napa and watching the Bourne Ultimatum.
Drove back home yesterday around 1pm, then I turned right back around and headed up to Sacramento to have dinner with my old team up there. It was a hellish drive up there, but we had a great time, and it was really nice to see them. I am so lucky to have worked with so many great people!
Alright, off to lunch now with one of my most fabulous co-workers - ABBA Andrea!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
The Biggest Loser
Wow, screw the TV show. The biggest loser was revealed to me when I checked my Gmail account this morning. This message is brought to you by our good friend Anonymous. Now, I know that "Anonymous" is credited with many thought provoking/memorable quotes and also some very eloquent poems. This Anonymous certainly does not live up to the name.
"Oh, no! No blogging for the week?!? That would be a shame. I'm going to miss looking up your blog and making fun of all the NOT INTERESTING postings. Blogs should be for people that actually have stuff going on in their lives. But I guess on the other hand my friends and I are getting amusement out of making fun of you."
This comment was made at 3:29 in the morning. I have a brief rebuttal, after which I will be completely ignoring Anonymous from here on out. I won't even delete comments posted by Anonymous because they won't exist to me. I happen to be an expert at making someone's existence in my life obsolete.
Dear Anonymous,
I will start this off by saying how sorry I feel for you. To have such an unfulfilling life that you are reading the blog of someone that you don't even know at 3:30 in the morning, that is lame. And worse yet, that you read aforementioned blog in order to make fun of the writer for being "not interesting" and then critiquing what blogs should be about. Uh, sorry, I did not realize that you were such an expert. Does that mean that you have a blog? Or are you also too "not interesting" to have anything meaningful to talk about? I actually do happen to feel that my blog has meaning, just maybe not to you. I started this blog as a way to continue to share my day-to-day life with friends that I have had to somewhat leave behind when I moved westward. Sharing the "not interesting" parts of ones life is actually what I have found to bind friends together and keep friendships strong when distance separates you. Also, my friends and faithful reader share my sense of humor and sarcastic nature, which comes through here. You obviously do not get the humor, which is fine, but why continue reading?! What I find truly pathetic is that someone continuously reads a "not interesting" blog. And at least I have balls enough to put my name out there. How lame to hide behind "Anonymous" to the other readers.
You, Anonymous, are the one that deserves to be made fun of. However, I will be taking the high road on that. Do you know why? Because I would not stoop to the level of dogging on a co-worker. I happen to believe in the fundamental values of our company and find it heart-breaking that someone thinks so little of themself that they need to belittle one of their team members. Oh, what, do you think that we don't know who you are? I am embarrassed that our company has taken in someone like you, but maybe you will actually learn to have some values in the process. One can hope. Not sure what other purpose you have in life.
But for me, now, you have no purpose. You now no longer exist to me. I did not invite you to my blog, and you are an unwanted guest. I'm sure you are used to that, though. Doubt many people want your negativity around them. Best of luck to you.
"Oh, no! No blogging for the week?!? That would be a shame. I'm going to miss looking up your blog and making fun of all the NOT INTERESTING postings. Blogs should be for people that actually have stuff going on in their lives. But I guess on the other hand my friends and I are getting amusement out of making fun of you."
This comment was made at 3:29 in the morning. I have a brief rebuttal, after which I will be completely ignoring Anonymous from here on out. I won't even delete comments posted by Anonymous because they won't exist to me. I happen to be an expert at making someone's existence in my life obsolete.
Dear Anonymous,
I will start this off by saying how sorry I feel for you. To have such an unfulfilling life that you are reading the blog of someone that you don't even know at 3:30 in the morning, that is lame. And worse yet, that you read aforementioned blog in order to make fun of the writer for being "not interesting" and then critiquing what blogs should be about. Uh, sorry, I did not realize that you were such an expert. Does that mean that you have a blog? Or are you also too "not interesting" to have anything meaningful to talk about? I actually do happen to feel that my blog has meaning, just maybe not to you. I started this blog as a way to continue to share my day-to-day life with friends that I have had to somewhat leave behind when I moved westward. Sharing the "not interesting" parts of ones life is actually what I have found to bind friends together and keep friendships strong when distance separates you. Also, my friends and faithful reader share my sense of humor and sarcastic nature, which comes through here. You obviously do not get the humor, which is fine, but why continue reading?! What I find truly pathetic is that someone continuously reads a "not interesting" blog. And at least I have balls enough to put my name out there. How lame to hide behind "Anonymous" to the other readers.
You, Anonymous, are the one that deserves to be made fun of. However, I will be taking the high road on that. Do you know why? Because I would not stoop to the level of dogging on a co-worker. I happen to believe in the fundamental values of our company and find it heart-breaking that someone thinks so little of themself that they need to belittle one of their team members. Oh, what, do you think that we don't know who you are? I am embarrassed that our company has taken in someone like you, but maybe you will actually learn to have some values in the process. One can hope. Not sure what other purpose you have in life.
But for me, now, you have no purpose. You now no longer exist to me. I did not invite you to my blog, and you are an unwanted guest. I'm sure you are used to that, though. Doubt many people want your negativity around them. Best of luck to you.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Rough Week for Blogging
I had an epiphany this weekend. Yesterday was the last Sunday I will be spending in my apartment. I have plans for this weekend, and the following weekend we will be leaving very early in the morning to drive to Phoenix. YIKES! On a positive note, we accumulated some boxes yesterday, so I actually now have 1 of the tools needed to pack. Note to self: need to get tape.
First, though, I get to head to Napa for 3 days of wine tasting and good eating. Can't wait. In my dreams of this trip, there is no internet access. We shall see if there is the opportunity for Queen B updates. If not, then just read this for each day's blog:
Slept in late.... that was sure nice. Red wine sure does make me sleepy in the morning. Luckily, though, I had such a nice dinner that I am not hungover. Let's see... which winery to start with today? I guess that will be the big decision to make over French Toast (or waffle, or pancakes) this morning.
First, though, I get to head to Napa for 3 days of wine tasting and good eating. Can't wait. In my dreams of this trip, there is no internet access. We shall see if there is the opportunity for Queen B updates. If not, then just read this for each day's blog:
Slept in late.... that was sure nice. Red wine sure does make me sleepy in the morning. Luckily, though, I had such a nice dinner that I am not hungover. Let's see... which winery to start with today? I guess that will be the big decision to make over French Toast (or waffle, or pancakes) this morning.
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