negative

I have no idea why the picture of the (red) lobsters in my earlier post came out in negative, but it's kind of funny, so I'm leaving it that way.

e-library

Kindle books are now available through my library! True, there are only about 2,000 books available, and yes, a large number of them are bodice-rippers or self help books, but there are some books that I'm interested in borrowing, and I'm hoping they will expand their selection as time goes on.

more lobster rolls

Boyfriend and I picked up nine pounds of lobsters yesterday and brought them up to my sister's place for dinner last night.

on the air

Oh, TV shows, how I've missed you, welcome back!

yesterday

I was in an all day session on effective presentations yesterday, and while we were sitting there, we watched people set up a miniature Oktoberfest outside our conference room, complete with live band. It was fun listening to them during the meeting and stepping out to see them during a break.

lap it up

So good to have my dog back at work after almost a week-long hiatus. It's easier for me to get work done with him sitting on my lap, for some reason, and he's always just so fricking excited to come in in the morning that it starts the day off right.

pop

Silly pop music in the car makes the drive to work seem like there's less traffic and more sun.

lobster roll

Lobster rolls are amazing. They are even better when you've been craving them for weeks before having one. And they're free. They go up another notch when they're unexpectedly given out for free from a food truck at work. Final touch that makes them the ultimate pleasure? If you had nothing but salad for lunch, then go to a meditation class where the instructor asks you not to eat during the break, and then you secretly wolf down a lobster roll with a healthy pinch of guilty pleasure.

dyac

It has been a while (too long) since I caught up on reading Damn You Auto Correct. Reading it at my desk and trying not to laugh too loudly makes it even funnier, somehow.

breathe

I'll be doing a refresher of the Art of Living course for the next week after work. I took it three years ago after I first moved to California, when I was feeling rather anxious and unsettled, and it was surprisingly effective. I've been a bit stressed and out of sorts lately, so it will be interesting to see if Round Two helps as much as Round One did. In any case, it's always good to spend some time in (forced) reflection and meet some new people.

13

I went on a bit of a buying fast last year, and decided I wouldn't buy any new clothes or shoes. It started off as perhaps a six month experiment, and lasted for thirteen months. It actually felt pretty good not to shop or buy anything new, and to donate some of my old stuff.

It also felt good to place an order online for two new pairs of shoes yesterday (the Chucks that I wear to work almost every day are about to fall apart). They should come next week. I'm not sure if I'll keep them, but it will be fun to look at them and try them on. If I keep them, it means my fast is broken (after a respectable thirteen months), and if I don't, I guess I'll see how much longer I can go. Either way, I've saved a lot of money, and have made the act of buying things less common and more fun.

honey i'm home

I have never seen my dog as happy and amped up as he was when we got back from LA on Sunday. Absence apparently does make the heart grow fonder (that, or a deep hatred of the dog sitter).

top this

My awesome weekend so far, just the right mix of fun and productivity:

• Restaurant booking for my parents' 70th birthday party
• Fondue eating and movie watching with my sister
• Nap taking
• Doggy laundry laundering
• Swimsuit buying
• Menu scanning and emailing to my parents (for their birthday party)
• Dogsitter instruction printing
• Parking spot reserving for our trip to LA this week
• Grocery shopping 
• Parent calling
• Travel planning and ticket booking (can't wait to meet you, Croatia and Montenegro!)
• Library book returning (but no borrowing, because the library was closed for Labor Day, oops)
• Dog supply shopping
• Toenail polishing (shiny!)

Still to come:

• Dog bathing
• Human laundry laundering
• Packing

...and just as Labor Day weekend ends, we fly to LA for three days of Legal Department bonding, then a couple days of extra hanging out, including checking out a restaurant we've been wanting t go to for a while (The Bazaar).

next

My restless soul is more at peace when I have my next trip planned.

the weird sisters

I have the best big sister in the world, and I remember that even more when the stars align in such a way that it's a weekend night, neither one of us has to work or has other plans, and her husband has taken the older kids camping, so that we can just hang out, eat, talk, and Google inappropriate things to get my dad for his birthday.