Snowy Seattle

Snowy Seattle sounds better than Sleeting Seattle, or Rainy Seattle.

But it's all of those things. Rather, it snowed while I slept last night, but today was sleety rainy.


I walked 15 minutes from the hotel to work this morning, and....freeeeezingness (note the snow-covered Qwest field building...ah yes...Qwest). But kind of a brisk change from San Francisco. All I imagined was that I wished on the other end of my walk was a fireplace and a big glass of wine. Not simply a laptop, cellphone, and a gray view from the office window.


Debaucles yesterday with the flight. Wish I could write at the time how ridiculous flying and airports can be, and all the crazy characters you meet along the way. But then after the fact, I am tired of thinking about these people and the silly situations you find yourself in, so I can't expend much energy reviewing all the details of what happened. Just know it was silly, and my co-worker Bill said that if he went through what I did, he would have walked into the meeting and punched someone in the face. :)


Carrie (my boss) and I had a big step in our relationship last night, when I met her family for the first time. Her best friend, dad, step-mom, and of course her hubby and brother who I already know. Big, big step. I think it went well.


At the hotel, my points are finally taking effect....I'm getting the gold star treatment. On the highest floor, got some VIP pass (+1!) to an event there tonight, when a co-worker staying in the same hotel did not get one. Yesssss...I'm feeling special. I'm supposed to have dinner with some co-workers tonight , but in my heart I just want to go back to the hotel, order in, and put in the dvd I brought, watching a movie in my super comfy hotel bed.


OK, that's it for now.

January is running faster than we are.

January is almost over.  Ridiculous.  It's been (so far) a loooong month.  Good, but tiring.

I went last weekend to Cincinnati to visit my friend Kimberly, her husband Christopher, and to meet their little Owen for the first time.

Wow.  Cold!  Leaving 70 degree weather, I donned the fluffiest coat possible and embarked on the cross country journey.

It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend.  Kimberly and I drove down to Lexington, KY (where we went to college) and drove around a bit, had a pint at the old hangout, etc.  Things sure have changed...

This week at work=SUPER busy.  Lots of meetings, my boss flew down from Seattle, taking clients out every night.  Whew.  I'm pooped.  Then Ian and I went to the Castro Thursday night to see Better Off Dead (the director and Monique was there after for an interview).  Good times.  Truly SF.

Just really trying to recoup this weekend from my overboard of being social.  Tomorrow I leave bright and early for Seattle for the week.  Yowsers.  It continues.

Highlights so far this month: 

1. Training at work.  I know.  That sounds weird.  One training I had to speak in front of a crowd / make a pitch while being recorded, then accept feedback and watch my DVD with the instructor.  Painful as that is, it's a great way to better yourself.  She gave loads of communication tips, and I found it really useful...if only I can stop saying "...right?", "um," and stop fidgeting with my hands.

The other training was a personality test--I'm a green / blue.  Our team took a personality profile, and then combined it to learn about each other and the most effective ways of communication.  Also really interesting, and good self-discovery there.

2. Seeing Kim.  Yay.  Chris and Owen, too.  :)  

3. Carrie (my boss) being here.  Good times, although we created a lot of extra work for ourselves.

4. Coming home to Ian.  yay.

Because Ian will likely not post anytime soon, I'll say for him that he went snowboarding in Tahoe, and is running a half-marathon next Sunday.  Good for him!

OK, that's enough.  Not too excited, but again.  I'm down right tired.  And I have to pack for my trip tomorrow.  At this point it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.  I'm conserving energy.

Ah, the New Year!

I've never been a big New Year's fan.  It's what you might call Amateur Night.  Amateur Night for the hundreds of people who don't usually go out, drink, go to parties--it means that a small, local bar you might like to frequent is suddenly 10-deep at the bar, AND you had to pay a cover.

No thank you.  It's all we can do to stay up until midnight.  Next year, Ian and I vow to celebrate the East Coast's new year's (so we can stay up until 9 pm, then call it a night).  Amen.

We have a couple of loose new year's resolutions this year, and I haven't written any resolutions since I was in middle school.  I might have to dig them up, but I remember them to be something like:

1.  Dress cooler.

2.  Be cooler.

3.  Exercise more.

4.  Follow a beauty regiment.

What does that all mean at the age of 12?  Who knows?  But I used to write them.

This year, Ian and I want to stick to our date nights...to put more effort into planning a special evening discovering our city and spending time with each other.  We also want to dedicate a night a week to bettering ourselves: by reading, learning something new, etc.  Just away from the TV.  I personally want to devote more time to keeping connected with my very dear friends from far away.  With each move, I develop a larger circle of people I love, and I am horrible at maintaining those relationships regularly (or at least once in a while reminding them that I care).  So...there you have it.  A loose promise to each other.  And my last loose resolution is to keep in mind some very wise words my Deedahn imparted over Christmas---he really is a role model.  He was talking about our hometown--a small town--and said he couldn't understand why someone didn't want to have anything at all to do with the town.  Because "there were very decent people living there."  And those are words I want to remember more often.  To stop being a tad judgmental, and remember that most people are decent and that they're people.

OK, enough for that.

This past week was a dream.  After spending excellent quality time with all the fam and some friends, it was incredible to just hang out with Ian for a week.  Although we were both "working" at times this week, we were both really slow.  It was almost like we had the whole week to just get things done.  It was great.

We went to see a double feature at the Castro Theatre Saturday--a tribute to Henry Mancini.  It was Breakfast at Tiffany's and A Shot in the Dark.  A great way to spend an afternoon.  We had brunch some days, went shopping, spent a lot of time playing our instruments (Ian bought me an electric piano for new year's, and I have been practicing everyday---kicking my 13-year old self in the piano practicing butt)...and Ian's gotten back into playing guitar.  I know, I know...we're a regular Partridge Family.

So today was back at work, but we did both get to see our good friend Wendy, who was in SF for a day (for work).  

You can tell the holidays are done.  As I walked the 2 1/2 blocks home from the F train tonight, I passed 7 Christmas trees on the sidewalk, awaiting pick-up tomorrow morning.  How sad.  One had a Mountain Dew bottle in it, one still had tinsel.  Ours was sadly not among the sidewalk trees--it had moved up a block on Saturday when we set it out (for the people in the "home" to enjoy, undoubtedly), and today has disappeared.  Hopefully it's happy wherever it is....

And now bye bye to the holidays until next year....*sigh*

We've Landed

Here we are...home sweet home.  It felt oh so good to be back in our own beds Monday night / Tuesday morning.  Yes, our flight arrived at 1:20 am Tuesday morning, our bags were right there on the carousel, and we were cabbing it home.  Give us a few minutes to hunt down our house keys after they've been shuffled around, and we were snug in our own bed.  We both put in a pretty full day at work yesterday, and this chilly morning, I find myself sipping coffee and having a leisurely morning--things are so slow work wise, I'll be working from home the rest of the week!

Our trip home was great--luck seemed to be on our side, starting with even making it home (with all the crazy weather).  Weather overall for us was good, especially on traveling days.  We spent 4-5 days with Ian's family, which was really fantastic.  Just had a really good, relaxing time and a very nice Christmas--meals were good, games were fun, and playing with the puppies was...well...fun.  I also was able to get in a decadent family-style meal at Maggiano's with most of the Hippos (minus Ashley).

We spent the next 4-5 days in Virginia with my Deedahn and Jeff, seeing Mom, Gran, Gran'ma, Chip, and new baby Parker (hope you're feeling better, trace!  We missed you....).  New baby is a doll--he has the squishiest cheeks, which is a recipe for a cute baby.  Also had a night with my girls, Kris and Steph--and Kris brought her little man, Everett.

And lastly, we drove back to Raleigh, spent the night with Steph, Mark, and Riley, which was also just so comfortable and like home to me.  Monday was brunch with Carmen, we played a game, I got a massage, and we met Ian's parents for dinner before flying the friendly skies.

Yowsers.  It was packed.  And Ian and I felt pretty bad when we got home.  Just so much junk food.  We've decided a few things that we've taken for granted since being out here, and then returning back east for awhile.  Here goes:

1.  It's illegal in California to drive while talking, texting, looking at your phone, etc.  So everytime the phone rang when we were driving (or if we needed to text), we made the passenger take care of business.  It's become ingrained that it's "bad" to do all these things while driving.

2.  We become completely wasteful consumers when we go home, because North Carolina and Virginia make is SO hard to recycle.  Sheesh!  Really surprising the difference it makes when things are made easy for you--it hurt to throw things away (like wrapping paper!!!?!?!), but what else are you going to do with it?  Drive it however many miles to a recycling bin?  It's really disconcerting, and it makes me feel bad everytime we go home.  Especially when you see how much "stuff" is gone through over Christmas when family is all around.

3.  Food.  In general.  Not to say there isn't delicious food back home, but man oh man!  Maybe it was just Christmas, or that we were on the road?  We ate more crap than I care to think about.  It was drive-throughs, and Gran's house for dinner (which was a treat, albeit laced with about a pound of Crisco, butter, and sugar), doughnuts, cakes, cookies--all sorts of things that aren't a part of our normal diet.  Maybe that's why I got grossly sick on the last day (and am still trying to push it all out of my system?).  Ian made dinner last night, and we had a grilled pork chop, brown rice, broccoli, and cauliflower, and my body sighed in relief.

4.  Exercise--you have to seek it out there.  I am thankful, thankful for having to walk everywhere here.  Exercising is ingrained in daily living.  There it was moving from couch to couch, from table to table, driving, sitting, laying down.  We went out to play tennis once.  It's not that I couldn't exercise--it's just that here you have to.  There isn't a choice.  And I really missed moving around.  I actually think that if the weather holds out (rainy season is upcoming), I will walk to work in the mornings just to feel a bit better.  Because sitting around and stuffing yourself for 10 days straight=poopiness.  I think if Ian and I move somewhere, we will go on evening walks together.  Because it's a nice pasttime, and a good way to be together.

Last super fun news is that Ian went out yesterday and bought me an electric full-sized piano!  He said he enjoyed watching me play at Deedahn's house, and that I looked really happy doing it.  How exciting.  The great thing about it is that it is electric, so I can plug in headphones and not subject anyone to my crazy banging.  So, it's a fun new toy....and Ian is incredibly thoughtful.  

And so, it's New Year's Eve--not a favorite holiday of mine.  Kind of anti-climactic.  Our good friend Carrie and her new man-friend are coming over.  I think we're going to have Little Star Pizza and possibly play some board games to ring in the new year, which seems just my speed.

Have a safe and happy new year.  We miss our friends and family already, and thank you all so much for your hospitality and great company.

Pictures to follow, once we can upload them.  :)

Merry Christmas

We're out!  Leaving in about 15 minutes to fly back east.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Ah, continue the holiday spirit!

We haven't updated the blog too much in the past week or so.  Not because we're lazy, but we just don't have a lot to say.

The past couple of weeks have been pretty normal (with Christmas cheer thrown in here and there...the shopping, preparing, etc).  A shout out now to my Deedahn for ordering a large shipment from Omaha Steaks that arrived before Thanksgiving.  Ian and I have been cooking a delicious treat every night (pork chops, burgers, franks, steaks, lasagna, sole fillets....the list goes on).  So we've had some good eats at home.

Last night was my company holiday party, and a party it was.  It was our first official Microsoft holiday party, and quite the soiree.  A whole block of a building, with different rooms set to project different parts of the world by way of culinary style and music theme.

  Ian and I got all decked out, got our pictures taken prom-style, drank some top-shelf liquor, wine, and beer (you go, Microsoft!), and mingled a la corporate goodness. 

 It was interesting to be part of such a huuuuge party--I'm never good at predicting how many people attend an event, but I'd say in the low thousands for this one.  Deck the halls!

The rest of this rainy weekend (besides getting stuffed with brunch), the unprecedented happened.  Ian helped me with the Christmas cards!  I even have photos to prove it.  

And he did such a brilliant job, making cute little sketches and saying funny things.  

Much better than I could have done it, and it's so refreshing not to have to decorate (yes, it was do-it-yourself card year), write, and address all 60 Christmas cards.  Because I also have to send all my clients Christmas cards, and man is it a lot!  Anyway, thanks to Ian for being so sweet about it.  Very helpful, thank you.

And now, we have 3 busy days ahead of us (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday), before flying back to the East Coast for the holidays.  Yeehaw!

In the Christmas Spirit

It's been a strange holiday season.  I'm going back and forth between feeling the Christmas spirit, and feeling like it shouldn't be Christmas yet.  Or like it's actually June and I'm pretending it's Christmas (in San Francisco, anyway, the weather is the same in December for the most part as it is in June).

I'm blaming it on the late Thanksgiving.  The fact that we had Thanksgiving, and within a matter of days (not even a week!) we were into December.  Fast forward simply a week in December, and Ian and I are flying home for Christmas in 2 weeks!  How time flies!  I still have Christmas shopping to do!  And we hadn't even decorated....

Until this weekend.

On Wednesday, we walked up to Delancey Street Christmas trees just a few blocks from our house, and picked out this awesome 3-footer.  Our trick is to pick a smaller tree then place it in our front windows on a storage container (the one we actually use to keep our holiday gear).  From the outside, it looks pretty big, but in our living room, he's a little guy.

Here's an observation about buying Christmas trees in a lot.  When I was growing up, I can't really remember a time where we had a real Christmas tree.  For as long as I can remember, we have had the same fake tree (that my Dad still uses, and I "borrowed" for a time when living in Kentucky).  So, I never realized that going to get a live tree would be such an experience.

What happens is straight out of my 2nd grade play, which was called The Littlest Christmas Tree.  Or perhaps thinking about poor Charlie Brown's tree.  Or the fact that my family consistently gives personalities to inanimate objects.  Still.  What happens is that I tend to think like my inner 8-year old self and wonder if the tree's feelings would be hurt if I don't choose it.  Or wonder if they're sad they're not big and fluffy, but kind of scrawny.  If their boughs droop when person after person pass them by, without so much as a glance.

So I find myself whispering my likes to Ian, so the trees can't hear.  How psychotic is that!  Or I'm tempted to find the most "full bough" challenged, the smallest, the crookedest tree and select that one to go home with me.

But I don't.  Within, oh--about 10 seconds, I found our little man.

  

We tagged him, grabbed some mistletoe, and were walking home with him.  Our 2nd annual tradition.

Fast forward until this weekend, and Saturday was the day!  I wrapped presents to help get me in the mood in the afternoon, drinking some wine and keeping some cheesy holiday movies on in the background.  Ian worked on a project and then played xbox live with his friend Cliff, and drank some holiday Maker's Mark.  It wasn't really holiday, but I'm sure it helped him feel the spirit.  Then we made (ok, Ian made) a wonderful dinner of filets, potato croquettes, carrots, and broccoli. We finished off by baking sugar cookies.

The fire was lit, Christmas music was on, eggnog filled my glass.  And so we decorated our little tree, who I will now name Martin.  It feels really nice to see these old ornaments that now tell the story of Ian and I as a family.  

We bring them out, talk about where they came from, how long we've had them...good times.

Oh, it's getting so close to Christmas!  We leave for NC and VA in about a week and a half.  Can't wait!  Time to watch some Christmas favorites....