little things

Biggest achievement so far today is that when my neighbor came by and rang the doorbell (people rarely come by and ring the doorbell), I remembered to put on pants before opening the door.

like new

I haven't been this excited about the possibilities at work for a while. It's like falling in love all over again.

in addition

Secretly trying to learn how to ride a bike wasn't the only thing I did today. I also did these things:

1. Finished two books, bringing my total for July to 20 books, and my total for 2011 to 89. I'm hoping to finish another one tomorrow.
2. Made a snack for Boyfriend before I went out to run my errands.
3. Went to Target, picked up a prescription and more Advil, and bought my niece's birthday presents. I never know what to get that girl, but it's a pile of pink, purple, and sequins, so I think she'll like some of it, at least.
4. Went to the library and found a ton of stuff, including some audiobooks for my officemate and a DVD for Boyfriend and me to watch.
5. Picked up supplies at Whole Foods.
6. Made dinner.
7. Cleaned the kitchen.

I feel so virtuous and productive.

achievement unlocked

I think I may have (mostly) learned how to ride a bike again today, for the second time. Yes, it is possible to forget how to ride a bike, and the last time I tried, which was probably about eighteen years ago, it did not go well. Today, I snuck over to the office, made sure no one was around to watch, and then used one of the office bikes to try it out in the deserted parking lot. I did some coasting with my feet a couple of inches off the ground, to learn the balance thing again, and I even did some cautious pedaling. The steering thing proved to be elusive, though. I'll have to go back and work on that one.

Hi, I'm Angela, I'm 32 years old, and I forgot how to ride a bike. But I'm a few steps into the program to fix that, just in time for all the biking I'm going to have to start doing at work, now that I have so many meetings in another building.

coming up

I signed up to take a robot car for a test drive (or more accurately, to have a robot car take me for a test drive) in a couple of weeks!

about last night

Last night, I met up with a friend whom I hadn't seen since 2006, and we went out for Korean BBQ, and spent four hours catching up and reminiscing about our old hijinks in Zurich, Paris, and Rome.

perfect day

It's gorgeous out, a few of us walked across campus to have pork belly for lunch, and on the way back, we stopped to look at the surfing tank that the company rented for a beach party.

founder

Just had my first meeting with one of the founders (and 50 other people) -- does this mean that I've unlocked a new level at work? On a side note, this was the first engineering meeting I've gone to. There were only a couple of other women in the room. Weird.

omen

It's a good sign when the first thing a client does upon meeting you is to give you schwag that's actually in your size.

yes

yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes. mine.

weekend update

Saturday, I stayed in, talked on the phone with friends (and we found out that calls initiated through Google Talk time out after two hours), read, and napped all day until it was time for Boyfriend and me to go watch the last Harry Potter movie. There were no audible children in the audience, and no one sitting in the seats in front of us, which was a minor miracle. I had an Icee and Milk Duds while enjoying my minor miracle.

Today, I drove up to the city, and my sister and I went for a spa day: massage, facial, body scrub, and Japanese baths. We worked up ravenous appetites at the spa, and rewarded ourselves with large bowls of ramen. Now, it's time to finish off a couple of books and desperately hang on to the last few hours of the weekend.

fist pump

Good things come to those who wait (after wanting and chasing after those things with obsessive intensity).

bottles

Boyfriend picked up two surprises for me today: a bottle of Montepulciano wine, which my friends and I often drank in Zurich, and a bottle of elderflower syrup, another beverage that reminds me of my Zurich days.

bagel

I kind of forgot about bagels for a while, until Boyfriend picked some up this morning.

recipe

Take a burger, swap a donut in for the top bun. Eat it for lunch while sitting outside on a sunny Friday.

rock star

Wow, I just submitted a CV for one of my law school classmates -- I know her in passing, but not that well. She made partner at a big firm in six years! In M&A! During some of the crappiest economic downturns ever! I had no idea about any of that. What a rock star. Despite all of that (especially despite the M&A part), she's actually a really nice, cool person.

keep it secret

Sometimes the stuff the engineers at work are working on is so cool that it almost hurts not to be allowed to tell people about it.

oops

That was a bit of a non-blogging time warp. Time for bullet points!

• Google+ launched pretty well, and lots of my friends seem to want to try it.
• We had dinner with a friend on Thursday, and we realized that we hadn't seen him in almost a year (before that, we had seen him once or twice a month). We were so shocked that we immediately made plans to make pizza in two weeks.
• Met up for a drink with my freshman year roommate, whom I hadn't seen for several years (and the last time we saw each other was a coincidental airport meeting).
• Boyfriend and I had dinner with my sister and brother-in-law, and two of their friends. The restaurant was really good, and it was fun to see them.
• BBQ with work friends yesterday, with gorgeous weather and great food.
• My dog has decided that the summer intern is one of his select few trusted people, and begged the intern to let him sit on his lap as soon as the intern showed up this morning. I love when my dog makes friends; he's such a grumpy old man.

hi ho

Back to work tomorrow. The good thing about a long weekend that gives you Monday and Tuesday off is that you can ease back into work with a short work week.

nine

The long weekend has allowed me to step up my game and catch up on my reading -- nine books so far this month, and the month is only five days old. That brings the 2011 tally to 78 so far.

crying game

Boyfriend and I met up with one of my college friends and his wife for dinner last night. I hadn't seen them since 2005, but we spent a few hours reminiscing about the trips we'd taken in the Australian outback and to Egypt, repeatedly laughing until we cried.

luau

Today at work, there was a luau, with Polynesian dancers, an Elvis impersonator, and a BBQ pit in which they roasted eight whole pigs.

Then, my sister, niece, and cousin came in for lunch. After lunch, my officemate and I pranked one of our coworkers.

Perfect Friday.

4 for the 4th

Four day weekend!

Going to hang out with some of Boyfriend's friends tonight. Tomorrow night, dinner in the city with a good friend from college and his wife (whom I haven't seen since 2005, when we went to London and Egypt, then hung out in Switzerland). And all weekend, lots of reading...