first class

I secretly never wanted the twelve hour flight to end.

puff

My lightweight down jacket from Uniqlo arrived just in the nick of time.

fixit

I fixed the flash for my underwater camera housing all by myself, with a toothbrush and some vinegar. And some advice from an engineer.

that moment

When you turn your out of office auto responder on and tell your phone to stop syncing with the work server.

dibs

After getting through this day, I decided that I get to sit closer to the space heater than Henry does for the evening, which makes up for the fact that we're actually getting temperatures down in the 30's at night this week.

rough day

It was a rough day, so it's probably important to note that there were some highlights: toffee chocolate chip cookies, a friend meeting Henry for the first time and saying he might be "too cute," Henry humping another office dog with complete abandon, eating leftovers from my mom for dinner.

socialites

This was a more active weekend than usual, which isn't hard, given my tendencies towards weekend sloth. Tons of errands yesterday, then a coworker's housewarming, then a couple people came by the house afterwards to hang out and have some wine.  Brunch with friends from out of town today. Not as restful as the usual routine, but lots of fun.

so special

I feel so special. I got a preview copy of Daniel Suarez's next book in the mail, it's coming out in February! Hoping to bring him back to Google to give another talk, he's a really good guy who writes bestselling techno thrillers.

like butter

Boiled artichoke, melted butter. Yum.

once a year

Thanksgiving means my brother-in-law's prime rib and my sister's bourbon sweet potato souffle. So good, even reheated.

aroo

Every evening around 6, a bunch of neighborhood dogs have an all-out howl-fest for about one minute, and then they stop.

greetings

It's pretty much impossible to go a week without meeting another neighbor or getting invited to dinner or drinks at someone's house. Today it was our neighbors across the street, an older gay couple who also offered to bring in our mail during vacation. Is this what it was like in the 1950s, but with updated political views?

short weeks

I took a long weekend last week, and thus weekend is Thanksgiving, which means only two full work weeks to go until we go to Palau!

wfh

Working from home once a week is kind of awesome. Never did it much before, because it seemed silly, given how close I lived to work, but now that my commute is a bit longer, I'm making it a thing, and loving it.

new direction

Last weekend (not this past weekend), I met up with a college friend to hear the Stanford Chamber Chorale sing a concert under the direction of our college conductor, who was a key figure in our college experience. He even remembered my last name, after all these years.

bribery

My team totally gave me some gummy candy that they had been holding back for a couple months to apologize for the amount of work they've been piling on for a big launch last week, and I'm OK with that.

separation anxiety

And then today, I reunited with Henry after our first separation in the five months since we adopted each other.

vegas baby vegas

Spent this past weekend with my sister and cousin in Vegas. We gambled a whole dollar, did some light shopping and heavy eating, and watched a show.

room service

Is there anything quite like sleeping in, and waking from a light doze because your boyfriend is bringing you a buttered toasted bagel and coffee?

hi neighbor

Next door neighbor rang the doorbell today, and I braced myself for some kind of complaint about contractor noise and prepared to apologize for whatever we'd done wrong. She just wanted to invite us over for drinks to get to know each other, which ended up lasting for over two hours.

dog god

The new house is on the chilly side, so Henry has started devoutly worshipping the space heater in the living room.

maintenance

Finally got in for a facial (after a year-long gap) and a pedicure (after a 2.5 month gap). Hoping to get a haircut before crossing the six month mark.

lightly

Finally figured out that the "light loop" on Henry's jacket is to clip on a safety light, so I got one for Henry and one for Jersey (on sale), and a headlamp for me (also on sale) for our dark winter walks. I also unpacked some night lights (and my boyfriend-notifying doorbell). Slow and steady...

it just works

Our new router doesn't have to be rebooted multiple times per day.

old is new

Today's happy moment: unpacking Henry's toys and watching him get all excited about toys he hasn't played with in weeks.

see clearly

I went to the eye doctor to get new contacts in preparation for our upcoming dive trip, and found out that I will only pay a minimal co-pay for the exam, fitting, and a year's worth of contacts because my prescription is so bad that they're a medical necessity and insurance covers even the part that most people have to pay out of pocket, even with insurance.

fan mail

Yesterday at lunch, Henry made friends with a little boy, who blew him some enthusiastic kisses before I told his mom that Henry is fine with kids and that they could meet each other up close. Dad said that at bedtime, his son asked for a picture of Henry. Henry has a fan club!

type aa

My manager told me today that the only expectations I'm not meeting are my own, and that I shouldn't try so hard to get everything done perfectly and on time, and that some stuff will drop. On one hand, it was good to know that I'm not quite as bad as I think I am, but on the other hand, I don't really know how to do less.

coming soon

Maybe it's time for a little bit of self indulgence? Ordered the Hyperbole and a Half book, as well as a Chromecast. Watched some of my favorite YouTube videos. Put in an order for Google Shopping Express to deliver some staples to the house so we won't have to schlep things up the stairs. Hopefully this will make up for the ongoing plumbing and dryer repair drama, as well as our suspicion that there are furry critters living in the walls.

corner

I think I may have turned a corner. We're in the new house and gradually checking off the things we need to do here, including a scary visit from an emergency plumber who then required backup. All of the interviewing I've been doing has resulted in one offer, which will make my life a lot easier when the person shows up. Three of my deals closed in the last couple days. There is some hope that this underwater tunnel of darkness ends.

not catching up

Work and moving logistics got busy. Both are still busy, but we made it into the new house yesterday after two miracle saves by a last-minute donation pickup and some insanely skilled movers who accomplished what three other moving companies said was impossible, the new house is lovely, the neighbors are friendly (we met more in one day than I've met in years), we ate lobster rolls at a nearby place for our first meal, the cell reception is amazing, today was our fifth anniversary, I saw four deer, the cable guy is getting us set up in the morning, our old house is clean and we're handing it back to the landlord tomorrow.

catching up

Caught up with friends after a bit of a hiatus (yay) and found out that Margaret Atwood has a new book (also yay).

seen today

You know what's cool? Hummingbirds.

this week

No matter how rough this week seems, there are at least two groups of people we can watch on TV who have it worse: the federal government, and the girls on Teen Mom 3.

lawyercat

One good thing about being in a lawyer couple is that we don't just have to take it when someone tries to screw us over. I never thought my job experience would be useful outside of paying the bills.

brown lining

The bad news is that Henry peed in his crate this morning, didn't really want to eat anything for breakfast or dinner, acted strangely at work, and had horrific gas and diarrhea today.

The good news is that once he let loose with the gas and diarrhea, his behavior went back to normal, his appetite and bladder control returned, probably because there was room for things other than poop and farts. I guess that rawhide binge the other night had terrible consequences that are hopefully done.

Poop solves everything.

wait there's more

One gummy straggler... You know my team is nice if they treat their lawyer this well.

reading

Strangely enough, despite drowning in work and house stuff, I'm having my most productive reading month since February. Not sure how that works, but the spreadsheet doesn't lie. Icing on the cake is that two books this month were star-worthy (I only give stars to the top 15% of the books I read).

and finally

One last installment from a visiting professor. How great is my team? Definitely a pick-me-up as I (not so) slowly drown at work. A coworker gets back from paternity leave on Monday, so I'm hoping things will start getting better once he's back.

continued

This time, the gummy store owner and my Dev Rel team combined forces to send me some gummy love.

then this happened

One of my engineers brought me gummy candy from my favorite store in Zurich.

not all bad

Last week had some highlights. Boyfriend brought me chocolate from a place I like in Harvard Square.

tgif

The best thing about a rough week is when it ends. Whew.

keeper

Boyfriend knows that I might manage to starve to death when I'm not at work and he's not at home, so when he goes out of town for a couple days, he gets extra food for me to eat, some of which is pictured here. Note that he cooked the burger patties and cut up the mangoes, because he knows that when I get desperately hungry, I get too weak and impatient to do things like use a knife or turn on the grill.

that feeling

When your dog poops on his final walk of the day, meaning that you can go back to the house and change into pajamas until the next day. And also, it's Friday.

it's official

I own half of a small piece of California, and half of a house. Craziest impulse purchase ever, but I think it's going to be fun.

cronuts

One of my coworkers owns a donut shop, and is playing around with a recipe for cronuts. I got to my desk this morning to this little surprise (without a bite taken out yet)!

purge

Time to do another purge of my belongings. A couple hours of sorting today has already yielded a giant bag of clothes and a stack of books. Next weekend, it's time to tackle the bathroom cabinets and the boxes in the garage, and after that, the storage closets and the guest room. I don't really like doing it, but the growing piles of stuff to donate, recycle, or throw away are encouraging.

timing is everything

After some waffling, I decided to take Henry on one last walk, and we happened to catch the perfect moment, with a double rainbow on the left (and it hasn't rained at all) and sunset on the right.

laughing all the way

Things that made me laugh today: Henry circling the speakers, trying to find the birds that he thought were trapped inside; a dream I had in which Boyfriend took it upon himself to buy me a bra, and ended up picking one that looked like a tube top with the brand name Dressy Bressy; mishearing something Boyfriend said as "tuckle," and googling it; old music videos by the Hooters.

jerk

I wanted a snack, but none of our usual snack food looked interesting, and then I remembered that at lunch yesterday, our friends gave us a few packets of their friend's fancy beef jerky. Score.

almost done

Spent almost an hour signing things yesterday. It should be official on Tuesday or Wednesday.

three day weekend

After going through a whirlwind month of juggling work, house stuff, and Henry, I definitely don't understand how people fit anything significant into their lives other than work. Yay for a long weekend!

first shipment received

First installment of my birthday present to Boyfriend received, and everything about it, down to the packaging, is awesome. Can't wait for the next batch to arrive.

ready for review

1,780 old photos, scanned from negatives, ready for review!

action packed weekend

Three visitors, Korean food, Vietnamese food, wine, gummy candy, gossip, brunch, shopping, pedicures, bubble tea, sushi, and a quick Google tour!

tomorrow

Two amazing college friends get in town tomorrow! Can't wait to hang out and catch up, go out for some meals, recount all the old stories, and pretend that we're just as young and fun as we ever were.

contingency plan

Contingencies lifted. This plan is moving along.

attorney client relationships

Yesterday, I checked my physical mailbox at work, and found two candy bars that one of my former clients (from when I worked on Google News) had sent my way out of the blue. He remembered I have a penchant for them, and sent them just for fun. I later met up for dinner with another former client (from when I worked on Google Collections) and we reminisced over bowls of ramen.

working phone

Exciting feature that we've never seen in a house before: has T-Mobile reception!

beef

Went out for a group birthday dinner on Saturday to eat some very special steak (Snake River Farms rib cap). Yum.

christmas in august

Brought all of my nephew's and nieces' birthday presents to them in one batch on Saturday. Yes, they were all late, but it was kind of like having Christmas in August.

burgers on demand

We have buns, grilled burger patties, sliced cheese, cooked bacon, sliced pickles, sliced tomatoes, and washed lettuce left over from last night. This means that I can have a homemade bacon cheeseburger within the minutes of deciding that I want one, without ever leaving the house.

100

I think we might have around 100 people coming to our house for donut burgers on Friday.

dogress report

Henry is house trained (no accidents in a month, although I still crate him at night or even he's home alone, just in case, mostly because I think he'd chew things). He's OK with cars now, still wary of buses and trucks. Getting better around strange dogs, and getting better at commands. He's such a friendly, curious puppy, it's hard to get him to focus, but when he does, he learns well. I have no complaints.

high definition

New TiVo is hi def, and I never really saw the point of high def till now.

progress report

I've been getting progress reports on Boyfriend's birthday present. I think it's going to be amazing.

dink

Double income, no kids is an amazing life if you're not a kid person. So many possibilities, so few obligations.

mine

I just my final car payment last week. The Prius is finally 100% mine.

omg

They picked us! Drinking port to celebrate.

cray

We might be about to do something really crazy this week.

cake

We may have had some birthday cake at work yesterday.

up and running

New TiVo is up and running. God, it feels good to have dual tuners, no commercials, and the TiVo UI again. It only took two trips to Comcast and lots of patient TiVo customer support to get it working. At least I had taken the day off for my birthday, and had the time to do it. Also squeezed in an allergy shot, filled up on gas, had a successful doggie play date, and had the first BLT of this year's tomato season. Not a typical birthday, but a good one nonetheless.

my little bichon

Henry's DNA test came back, and he's apparently 50% miniature pinscher (totally makes sense), and 25/25 bichon frise and English springer spaniel (what?). Now whenever he's crazy, I blame it on the bichon.

for me

Boyfriend got me a new TiVo and a print of Dr. Seuss's Sneetches for my birthday. Almost five years in, and he knows what I like.

dining out

Started my birthday weekend early last night with a dinner at Baume with Boyfriend.

figgy pizza

Boyfriend made pizza, and I tossed some fig and burrata salad from work on top. I went straight from low blood sugar crisis to total food coma in record time.

farting hippo puppet

Got this early birthday surprise in the mail from my college roommate. Sheer randomness + surprise package + old friend = complete awesomeness.

random ear pop

Didn't even know my ear needed to pop.

couch potato

After a late night last night, I dragged myself and my dog to class, where he did much better than last week, then we came home and napped on the couch for more than two hours.

you've got mail

On the way home from seeing The Postal Service with a friend from work. Their songs are just as good now as they were when they came out ten years ago.

high five

Henry gave a high five on command to someone other than me today! Also, I ordered a bunch of fun stuff for him to take advantage of a Petsmart sale, including a collar and leash with his info embroidered on  them that I'm disproportionately excited about.

negativity

Finally sent in all of my negatives for scanning (including two mystery rolls of film from ten years ago that I finally got developed, the pictures from which ended up being less exciting than the anticipation). Can't wait to have all of my college and law school pictures online.

little things

Boyfriend pinged me yesterday to tell me he had a little present for me. Yay, I love little presents! It was a skin for my phone, which makes it less slippery and decreases its tendency to hurl itself off of flat surfaces.

mule

A friend who recently moved to Zurich just got in town for work, and brought me five bars of chocolate.

spend to save

Things I spent money on or received in the mail in the last week or so (all of which was on sale or special offer: first class tickets to Tokyo (for our trip to Palau), human DNA test kits, doggie DNA test kits, pillowcases, and a Chromebook for my nephew's 10th birthday present.

missed you

We've gone without TiVo for about nine months now, because Comcast switched to all digital, and it wasn't working with my old analog TiVo. Today, with many forced reboots and stalled updates, I got it to work with one tuner, which is better than none, and still allows me to stubbornly refuse pay for Comcast DVR service or to buy a whole new TiVo.

benefits of belts

I haven't worn a belt since high school, but this week I discovered that wearing a belt means I can wear my comfortable fat jeans without worrying about having them fall off.

good dog

Henry is making great progress on walking nicely, with some help from cheese and a special harness, he is learning how to shake and high five, and he patiently let me file his nails and scrape tartar off his teeth tonight. We start training classes next week, and I have high hopes.

about time

Finally got a new watch battery today, in the course of running a ton of errands.

good guy

This is the kind of guy Boyfriend is: I was craving Thai food today, so he told me to phone in an order. I asked him what he wanted, and he said he didn't want any, he was just going to pick up my order for me.

kismet

On a quick walk before going to the allergist, Henry and I ran into a nice neighbor we had met once before, who was very sad that her dogs had passed away, but was considering getting a new one in the fall. Turns out she got one over the weekend, from the same shelter as Henry, and she's really happy.

We ran into Pepper on our evening walk, so instead of his usual tame walk, Henry got another wild backyard romp.

deja dive

We're dying to go on a long trip without email, and we're dying to go on a dive trip. Looks like we're combining the two to go back to Palau in December, with a brief so in Tokyo?

pepper

Henry and his new friend Pepper (pictured) had a play date tonight, running and wrestling for over an hour. Happy dogs make happy humans.

In other Henry news, house training is making more forward steps than backward ones, we're working on his fear of cars, he loves people and dogs, and he gets me out to meet neighbors, enjoy the magnolias and jasmine, and get some exercise.

one day more

Can't wait for the long weekend, even though we just got back from vacation two weeks ago! I'm going to catch up on sleep and reading, both of which have suffered due to work and dog.

dog days

It has been really hot lately, but in order to work on house training my dog and burn through some of his puppy energy, I've been taking him out for multiple walks a day. Upside: losing weight, watching him see lots of things for the first time, and having him collapse in my lap in full puppy exhaustion afterwards.

new friend

Big day.

slight delays

Wow, things got so busy that I didn't update, but a lot has happened: product launch, sister weekends, catching up with friends in Zurich, where we also bought 46 pounds of gummy candy, vacation in a ridiculous villa in Cyprus, fancy meal in Vienna, wedding in a castle in rural Austria... I should post about all of that in more detail.

In the mean time, I have extremely high hopes for today. We'll see if they pan out.

sister time

Spent last weekend in Monterey with my sister celebrating her most recent milestone at work by eating sushi in the aquarium and spying on the prom in our hotel, and spending next weekend with her in Portland for a birthday trip. It's awesome getting to spend more time with her as her with schedule gets better and her kids get older.

all fixed

My car is all fixed up. We dropped it off before going to the summit, and picked it up right after getting back, and I didn't have to deal with a nasty rental car. If you're going to get your car hit in a parking lot, time it before a trip so that they can fix it while you're gone.

expertise

And one of my other coworkers apparently considers me to be an expert in hardware legal issues. Apparently, this "fake it till you make it" thing is working. Then we all had a laugh about how confusing everything is, and it made me feel better about not knowing all the answers.

really

One of my (straight) female coworkers told me I'm her girl crush. Aww, thanks, I didn't think anyone got crushes on old ladies like me.

summit

There's nothing quite like the Google Legal Summit. Three days in a hotel with a bunch of lawyers doesn't sound like a good time, but if it's the right ones, it totally is.

perspective

So many things went wrong today, but I just didn't care. Compared to losing my dog, having my parked car get hit by a truck, losing my badge, and getting locked out of a massage room just didn't really matter. It's all a matter of perspective.

learning to laugh

Boyfriend is bringing laughter back into my life. Last night, he was protesting my statement that if he were in Star Wars, he would be C3P0, saying that he would prefer to be a Jedi, illustrating his point by using his electric toothbrush (he was brushing his teeth) as a light saber, and commenting that the toothbrush feature was a recent upgrade.

in vino veritas

A good friend dropped by last night with a bottle of wine. It turns out that it was the last bottle of his wedding wine. Boyfriend and I were extremely touched that he shared this tangible memory of his wife with us.

the old days

One of my goofiest co-workers from Legal has switched over to my team, starting today, increasing our team to four lawyers. I see a lot more pranks in our future.

french laundry

Celebrated my sister's birthday today with lunch at the French Laundry. Some of the best food ever to celebrate the best sister ever.

this

My big prank, and the team cape I won because of the big prank.

time's up

The time came even sooner than expected, but I take comfort in two things. First, it happened when I was there, at the end of a day of sunbathing and love, and there was no vet and no needle around. Second, only the greatest love can leave such a hole where my heart should be, leaving my chest and even my palms aching. Everyone should have love like that.

I love you forever, Fiver. You changed my life (I moved to Switzerland and California because of you) and taught me so much. I miss you like crazy.

my people

My boyfriend is the only reason I'm barely getting through this. He skimps on sleep to go to the vet with me, or to check on me and Fiver. He runs errands and makes suggestions for care, he gives me hugs and makes me food. He covers for me at work and makes difficult phone calls that I can't face. He's going to be the one to pick up the pieces when the time comes.

My sister has a crazy life, with three kids and lots of work, but she still drops everything when I need her.

I don't want to lose my dog, but at least I have my people.

love is love

The outpouring of messages and support I've gotten in the past couple days has been incredible. My world is full of love, and as quickly as my heart empties, it fills up again.

my dog

It hasn't been a good couple of days, but I'm lucky that even in the middle of launch, my coworkers recognize that my dog comes first, so I can be home with him every last minute. I'm lucky to love him and lucky to be loved by him. My world and my life have been so much better with him in it, which I keep trying to remember as I prepare myself to face my world and life without him.

thirteen hours

Not much longer until my big idea goes live. We probably spent almost 200 man hours on it, and came in on time and under budget. I'm pretty excited.

second impressions

I admit that I am quick to form first impressions of people and slow to change them. Some of my closest friends are people that I initially thought were either enemy or acquaintance material. I never learn, and am always pleasantly shocked when I end up liking someone that I initially wrote off based on first impressions.

inspiration strikes

That moment when you have the idea for what may be either the most brilliant or the most career-ending prank you've ever thought up. I had that moment today. Only one way to find out which one it is.

working late

After eating dinner at work, I was studying up on some product plans, when Founder came by again for more brainstorming. I suppose this is the mark I'm making. Can I change my job title from Senior Counsel to Senior Prankster?

feeling better

Fiver is much more like his usual self, thanks to some pain killers, muscle relaxants, and special food from the vet. It's good to see him walking around and showing interest in things again. Hopefully his back was just temporarily tweaked, and not permanently hurt.

say my name

Founder came looking for me today and knew my name. He wanted to brainstorm ideas for a prank.

special project

I might get to do something very cool next month.

personal record

I took what may be the worst picture ever taken of me. On Boyfriend's phone. So early in the morning one day that I forgot taking it. It's so bad that it makes me laugh until I cry. Not posting it.

break

A moment of levity in the midst of a big pile of crazy: founder-led group stretches in the middle of a team meeting.

my way

For months, I've been sneaking bites of Boyfriend's peanut butter jelly sandwiches, but yesterday, I decided to make one myself, and I would make it my way. I put a thin layer of peanut butter on both slices (to prevent jelly seepage), toast both slices, add the jelly, and cut the crusts off. Eating a whole sandwich made exactly the way I like it is so satisfying.

winter is going

Daylight Saving Time starts tonight, and the temperatures are supposed to reach the 70s this week.

take me back

I have been reading like crazy for the last few years, and only reading books I'd never read before. This week, I picked up an audio version of a book I loved in high school to listen to in the car, and it's like having an old friend along for the commute each day.

biggest fan

Fiver hasn't been eating much lately, so in a fit of desperation, I gave him some canned dog food mixed in with his kibble. He now stalks and worships me in the hope of getting more.

make it so

So I think my idea for our project is actually going to happen. Product manager has been talking through functionality and possible implementation, and I'm kind of excited about it.

Also, Kishi Bashi is still rocking my musical socks off. And he replies to emails.

qotd

Glass is a big conversation starter. Maybe my favorite quote so far was from a woman at the show last night who said "You look like the future!"

features

I love being able to test features and suggest new ones. Just suggested one today that I really hope we do, and got three new things to test, as well.

yesterday was awesome

I took the day off (I've never taken a random day off midweek before, and it was pretty great), went to the spa with my sister, after which we grabbed lunch and did some shopping. Went to dinner with Boyfriend and a coworker, then her boyfriend joined us to see Kishi Bashi in concert. Best show I've been to in a long time, his music is fun, and his live show is even better. We were in the front row, I got a shout out from the opener for wearing Glass, and we got to meet both of them after the show (and yes, I got a picture with him and I made a comment about how I had bought all of his music online, so I couldn't get him to sign anything, unless he could sign the internet, and he made a silly comment that he would sign my internet, if you know what I mean, and it was a fun fan moment). If only I hadn't had work today, we would have hung out afterwards.

spy vs. spy

Some of the security stuff that we do makes me feel like a secret agent, except that I don't carry a gun or get in car chases.

pdx

Portland was full of delicious food and friendly people. Definitely would go back.

new phone

So shiny and new...

thursday afternoon live

Product demos are cool, but I especially love product demos that go hilariously off the rails.

all systems go

We hit another big milestone in our launch plans in the middle of the night last night, by opening up our product site (including an application process for people to apply to become early users).

Also, I found out last night that tickets for The Postal Service (who were probably my favorite band about 9 years ago) were going on pre-sale this morning, and I just picked up a pair. It's apparently a good week for buying concert tickets.

crying

Until last night, it had been quite some time since I had laughed until I cried. Thank you, YouTube, for the squeaky frog.

plans

We're going to Portland next weekend (so far, plans include a bookstore, a donut place, two brunches, and two dinners)! 

Also, while poking around to find things to do in Portland when we're not eating, I noticed that Kishi Bashi is playing while we're there, but the show is sold out. Turns out he's playing a few nights later in Santa Cruz, so I got tickets to that show, instead. It'll be a bit late to be out on a work night, but it will be good to see some live music.

sun-day

I'm not the only one who looks forward to the end of rainy season. Fiver can sunbathe for hours on end.

sprung

The trees are starting to bloom, and there are more birds singing outside our bedroom. I even went without a jacket yesterday. I think spring might be here.

thinking ahead

These came for me today. June, come faster!

almost over

Is winter on its way out? Daylight Saving Time starts in less than four weeks, and the weather forecast for this week is sunny every day, with temperatures breaking 70 on Friday. Could spring be coming? Please please please...

that feeling

That feeling when your nose stops running, even without the help of Sudafed.

savor

Sometimes when I read a book that is really well written, I take lots of breaks, to make it last longer.

forgotten treasure

I was thinking about jaffa cakes yesterday, and wishing they were more widely available in the US. Then, as I was looking for a charger I haven't seen in a while, I came across a box of jaffa cakes from our trip to Scotland. They're rather stale, but I'm still eating them.

villa

The villa we're staying in in Cyprus is ridiculous. Look at it.

hearsay

Overheard (over-read?) on Google+:

"IANAG [I am not a Googler] but by virtue of where I live, I meet a lot of them and don't ask what they do besides a job title, if that. Just the other day I was recounting the SuperBowl party I went to and I mentioned off-hand "and there was a lawyer there named Angela something and she was wearing Glass".

My friend said, "That was Angela blahblahblah, she's pretty high up on blah." To which I responded, "Sweet. She was really chill." and carried on with my story."

Heh, I'm curious who it was that identified me, amused that they thought I am "pretty high up" on anything, and glad that this guy thought I was "really chill," despite the fact that I often feel extremely awkward around strangers and have been crazy stressed about work lately.

customer service

Two notes:

My dentist is amazing. She is super friendly. My dog can come to her office. When I cracked a filling over the weekend, I was able to reach her on her cell and she even called me the next day to check on me. She squeezed me in without an appointment today to take a look.

If you show up to the spa early for your steam room/hot tub rental, and your room isn't being used, sometimes they just give you the extra time for free.

sanity intact

Just when I thought things were getting unmanageable at work (there may have been a few secret tears alone in the office on Friday night), I had room to breathe today, because I got so much done yesterday that people have to review and comment before I can do more. So a day of relative respite, with time to see my sister, time to catch up with people in Legal, time to go to dinner with a few people, and still get home before 8. Things are about to get crazy again, so I'm glad to have had a day to be sane.

new gadget

While I'm waiting for my new phone, I have a new Chromebook to play with. Shockingly, it's small enough to fit in my shoulder bag, so I totally got some work done when we were up in the city watching the Super Bowl yesterday.

nexus 4

It's finally available again, and it's even available as a corporate device, so I've ordered one and am looking forward to some shininess.

come together

What a roller coaster. Work has been extremely busy, and things were looking frantic but positive on Thursday, then frantic and bad on Friday, then today, things have started to come together again. Never a dull moment these days. I think the technical term for how much I've been getting done is a "crap load." So, on the plus side, I'm learning a ton and getting a lot done, and I may have gotten my voice back, after losing it to heartburn for a while. Also, I may have inadvertently restarted my weight loss program.

moar

More gummies, hand-delivered by a friend over the weekend!

messenger

Got to deliver very happy news to a coworker today, which I pretended was thing to be bad news, just to get a rise out of her. The prank, the reveal, and her excitement totally made my day.

A4R-X1

We're FCC certified! This was my first big issue that I faced when joining my team at work, and it has been an adventure in learning how regulatory compliance works (it's complicated, and there can be twists and turns up until the very last minute). It amazes me that everything we do ends up getting dissected in every tech blog, even when there's almost no actual story to cover. There was even a news segment of a reporter standing outside our office with nothing to report. Apparently, no news is still big news.

sliding door

Every night, Boyfriend lets his dog out the sliding door to pee, and when the dog comes back in, both of our dogs get treats. Gotta love Pavlov, because my dog gets worked up into a spinning, squealing frenzy when Boyfriend opens the sliding door (and starts getting excited during the events that lead up to it, such as turning off the TV, saying "sliding door time," and standing up).

apple

This is an excellent apple.

nice pipes

I was worried about my bagpipe lesson today, because we had a long hiatus since the last lesson, I haven't had much time to practice in the last week, and I barely scrambled out of work in time to make it to the lesson... And then I totally kicked butt: the teacher said I did one section perfectly, and he could tell I'd been practicing.

more stress relief

Another great way to relieve stress is to make it to Friday, then go out with a bunch of girls from work, eat Korean barbeque, drink bad liquor, and spend three hours singing bad karaoke with tambourines.

stress relief

Sometimes the best stress relief is to throw yourself really hard into a long day at work, tackling the most stressful stuff head on and forcing some progress, rather than remaining paralyzed by sheer terror.

refresh

Time for a new computer at work. I've had this one for over 2.5 years, so I'm looking forward to getting a newer, faster, smaller one tomorrow.

out damn splinter

Finally dug a splinter out of my thumb a mere eleven days after I got it.

old friend

Hello, salt water taffy, I forgot you existed!

one day more

Our cleaning lady is coming tomorrow, after an end-of-year hiatus so long that the accumulated hair, fur, and dust balls were forming up into midget yetis. Can't wait to come home to the smell of freshly mopped floors tomorrow.

a bit slow

Lowering my reading goal this year to 100 instead of 150 takes the pressure out of it, and I can enjoy reading without feeling like I'm scrambling to keep pace. I'm reading at more of a 120 book pace, and it feels so relaxed.

healthier choice

Baked Cheetos are actually pretty good.

sleep tight

To help me in my quest to learn how to sleep properly, Boyfriend installed these super-opaque curtains in our bedroom today.

i have a dream

That I'll take some random three day weekends this year, because a three day weekend somehow feels disproportionately longer than a two day weekend.

try something new

It's so easy to fall into a routine when work is busy. I wear the same few sets of clothes, drive on the same streets, watch the same TV shows, talk to the same people, and even eat the same foods, day after day. Sometimes, doing something new can make everything else seem less repetitive, even if that something new is as small as trying a hole in the wall Korean restaurant (which we did last night) or making a peanut butter and pickle sandwich (as suggested by the New York Times a few months ago, and not as bad as it sounds).

booking

We booked some of our plane tickets today for a summer trip to go see friends in Zurich, spend some down time in Cyprus, and go to a wedding in Vienna. We'll be going with my favorite travel buddy ever (20+ countries and we're not only still talking to each other, we still want to travel together), and we've somehow also convinced a couple other friends to come, too. If only it were June already...

tgif

All-day privacy training yesterday somehow turned into late night karaoke with out-of-town coworkers at the oddest dive bar ever.

shark socks

hot/cold

It has been freezing lately. It has actually gotten below freezing at night, which is shocking for California. Boyfriend requested a heated mattress pad, and I got one for him. We only turn on his side, because I don't like heated beds, so he's happy, and I sneak my cold feet over to his side to warm up my toes.

fire extinguisher

I think the biggest work fire drill of recent weeks may have resolved itself this morning through careful reading and math?

free

My health insurance provider changed this year. I thought the coverage was staying the same, which is very good but when I went to go pick up a prescription today, it was free, which is even better.

bonk

They put up a new glass wall in my building at work last week. It had been a while since Fiver and I had walked there, so he had never seen the wall before. And his eyesight isn't what it once was. He totally ran into it at full speed and bounced off. He was unfazed, but I was very amused.

loofahhhh

Sister time is even better with a hot tub, steam room, and vigorous use of a loofah.

endless

If you would have told me three years and 400 books ago that I would still have a rolling "to read" list of over 70 books, I would have asked you if that could really be possible. I'm so glad it is, and that the world is full of an endless stream of interesting, silly, beautiful, awful, fun, depressing, and amazing books.

welcome back

Welcome back from winter break, TV! And an especially warm welcome to The Biggest Loser, with Jillian as a trainer again. It wasn't the same without her.

package

I love getting packages. Especially when they aren't just things that I ordered for myself.

perchance to dream

We just swapped the master and guest mattresses, because the master mattress has probably had about seven years of full time use, and the guest mattress has probably had about a month of actual use. Can't wait to start sleeping on a much firmer bed.

overnight stay

We had two different out of town friends visiting the city this weekend, scheduled for dinners on Friday and Saturday, so we decided to stay overnight, to minimize driving. It also meant we were able to stay out late on Friday and see other friends and hit some museums on Saturday. It was awesome catching up with so many people in less than 30 hours, and it almost felt like a weekend trip.

personal librarian

I woke up this morning and realized that it's Wednesday, which is the day the mobile library comes to work. I hadn't finalized my resolutions yet, but I knew that learning how to sleep better would be one of them. I sent a quick email to the guy who runs the mobile library, just in case he still had time to maybe put a sleep-related book on for me, but no worries if not.

He responded immediately and when I went to pick up my book, he had set aside six books on sleep disorders. So awesome.

first

First post of the new year!

Two things:

- I actually exceeded my reading goal and made it to 151 books for the year.

- If there is a greater simple pleasure than putting your ice cold feet on your boyfriend's warm belly, and experiencing the simultaneous pleasures of thawing your feet out and watching your boyfriend writhe in agony, I can't think of it.