Category Archives: Friends

Jugglin’

Geez, I was so good about blogging daily for a month, and then once NaBloPoMo ended, I really slacked off quickly, eh? Well, in my defense, shit’s been cray!

It’s now been just over a week since Remy’s latest brush with death. She is continuing on the anti-inflammatory med meloxicam + the pain reliever tramadol, but yesterday, after we called the doctor to say that Remy was still not steady enough to be left alone, the doctor added a second pain reliever, gabipentin. Today Remy is doing so much better! She even came to my bedside to wake me up. Her hind left leg is still weaker than the others, but we made it to the park and back without me having to carry her part way. She is also back to her old curious self. This morning, when I didn’t see her in the living room or in the bedroom, I started to panic, but she was in the kitchen scrounging around for crumbs. Silly dog.

Yeah, after the vet told me last week to continue exercising her to prevent muscle atrophy, I’ve had Remy on a program. I find her to be quite driven by treats, so even when she was still really weak , I just threw mini-treats all over the living room and kitchen to force her to get up and exercise to go after the tasties. Haha, I’m always making the pups work for food! Remy is kinda “special needs” right now, but I hope we’ll have a decent plan in place by the time we head back east. Fingers crossed.

Work-wise, I did a ton of follow-up calls last week for the ranch. I think I’m getting some bites even! Tomorrow, the program director for the YMCA is visiting the ranch to meet with us: he’s interested in booking two weeks of summer camps for kids. I’ve been preparing some materials and such. Gotta bring out the big guns, you know? I’m hoping to get a couple of city clients and the YMCA under my belt before year end. We’ll see.

The weekend was pretty good. On Saturday, John finished sanding my Adirondack chair for the backyard. Now I can paint it and have both painted chairs reunited. Saturday night, J & J came down with their friend M, and all of us when to the SJ Improv– always a sure bet for hearty laughs. On Sunday, I got back in the saddle. I am having issues again with my torso being too stiff. Fucking A. I had so many weeks of good riding, and now I’m back to being a robot sitting on a horse. Ugh. The horses are looking great though. I think they are brushing them more, and now that it’s winter, the coats are thicker and softer. Chip was so velvety and beautiful. The staff are also cleaning up the ranch a bit– they do small steps every day, and sure enough, after a couple weeks, you can see substantial differences! After riding, I met up with my bud B, and we hit the mall. Super, super packed. She circled around for 20 minutes before finding parking!! It was a successful trip: I scored a black/white striped top and black skinny jeans, which I’d been seeking for months.

John and I also found a couple of new food joints in our area. We tried a new Asian shaved snow place by the train station. Pretty tasty but too cold for winter. Then last night we found a Neapolitan pizza place. Super yummy with delicious spaghetti carbonara and cannoli too!

This week is looking pretty busy. My Coursera marketing class wraps. Also, I have that meeting tomorrow. Then, I need to re-visit corpo targets for the ranch. I also want to start getting my apps out for jobs. Need to just start churning stuff out. Remy patrol continues. Yup, all hands on deck now for the 2013 homestretch.

Progress

When Remy got up this morning, she really had a tough time. Her left hind leg just kept giving out, such that every time she would walk, the whole lower half of her body would just start to curl and tuck to the left. It was not good. After showing progress the day before, this seemed like a bad sign. But I proceeded as discussed with the vet: Remy had taken Meloxicam for three days, and now it was time to introduce the Tramadol. I fed her and then gave her the meds. By late morning, she was still hobbling, but shit, she got herself up, and somehow we managed to walk to the park!! Woohoo. When we got there, she was super tuckered, so we copped a squat and just enjoyed the sunshine for 20 minutes. Then we headed home. She still sniffs the park grasses– she seemed to enjoy herself. By evening, she looked better– still weak but moving, which is such a relief. We’re not out of the woods yet, but I’m hopeful. My little Bembo is so fucking tough!

In the afternoon, I left the house to drop off Adamo at the UPS store. The store happened to be across the street from Target, so of course, that necessitated a pit stop. I just scored some basics. Shit there can be so cheap when on sale!!

A few of my friends got sick over Thanksgiving, and that was enough to get me to the clinic for a flu shot. Omg, sitting in that waiting room surrounded by screaming kids, my throat suddenly felt scratchy. Ugh. Afterwards, I made another stop at the office. I know, I was just there yesterday, but it’s right next door to my doctor’s office. Plus, I had to drop off some mail for M. Well, an hour later, I was still stuck there catching up with people… I really like the people there, but sometimes I just feel kinda like I’m disrupting their work zone… plus, it feels a little weird to have left but then to be there regularly for fun, right??

For dinner, I tried a new Skinnytaste recipe: curry chicken. After having tried a number of their more savory, sauce-like dishes, John and I have concluded that we need to go elsewhere for those heartier dishes. These last few ones I have cooked are just too damn soupy and bland. Note to self.

I’m still following up with ranch contacts. Goddamn, I hope people start registering for shit. Come on, peeps!! Get those kids in horse camps and lessons already!!

Ok well I have my twelfth info interview tomorrow with a lady who now works at Duke, of all places. Small world, right? I also tidied the house up a bit tonight. We decided to host a party next Saturday, so I gotta start clearing my clutter. I swear to god, the work just never ends. I’m pooped. That said, I’m looking forward to tomorrow when Remy will be back to her old self. Maybe. 🙂

Catching Up with My Peeps

I went to the office today to meet some former co-workers for lunch. It’s always a weird feeling being back at the office. I feel like I’m running out of ways to respond when people ask me what I’m doing. I feel like I have to justify my non-working status. Then, when I stand in the lobby by the mail cabinet, I have to catch myself several times, because my body like automatically wants to open the drawer and check for any mail! Same thing with the sign-in sheet. Argh, stop it! I don’t work there anymore!!!

Lunch with my friends was good. We tried a new Himalayan restaurant in the area. Both friends recently bought houses, so we checked out one of their places. She had just finished remodeling. That house shit is amazing. You know me: I love the before and after transformation.

Remy is doing better today. She is able to get herself up, but the walking is still really challenging. I’m so thankful to be home most of the day, so I can monitor her and open the side door whenever she needs to go to the bathroom. Tomorrow, I plan to introduce the tramadol pain killer to the melloxicam anti-inflammatory, and then I’m really crossing my fingers for the synergistic effect by the weekend. My Remy is the toughest cookie ever.

In the evening, T came over for dinner. I served a sampling of all my dishes from the last few days. I called it “leftover tapas.” I think she was impressed. Haha. We went for a walk… damn Fitbit. Everyone’s fallen off of the program. I have no fucking idea how I managed to clock like 13k steps a day when I was working. Nowadays, I’m lucky if I clock a couple thousand. How quickly things change. Speaking of which, I was looking in the mirror yesterday, and goddamn my arms are flabby. Fucking A. You let up for a few months and bam, shit slides. So now I have a little dumbell on my desk. I’m trying to do that slow weight-lifting thing to combat the muscular atrophy. Yes, it’s my lazy woman’s version of exercise!

On tap for tomorrow? Remy patrol. More hustlin’: ranch follow-ups and info interview research. I have my twelfth info interview scheduled for Thursday.

A Day at a Time

I didn’t sleep well again last night… I know, what’s new, right? John stayed out in the living room with the pups, and then he fell asleep. He’s such a deep sleeper, that hubby. In the middle of the night, I heard Martin scratching his bed like crazy, trying to fluff it up. From the bedroom, I didn’t know it was him, but I knew I had to check just in case he or Remy was stuck and panicking. Yeah, it was just Martin being particular about his pillow. Later, I heard Remy whimpering. Did John hear any of this? Nope.

In the morning, Remy was doing a tad bit better. She was actually getting herself up, but goddamn, her walking/movement looks uncomfortable. She’s not able to use the doggie door now either, so she cries by the door. Poor thing. She made it outside to pee, but inside John found two turds in the living room.

I put down additional carpeting, but today she just wanted to stay in the living room. The house looks like a mess right now with all the random carpeting, but oh well. What can I do?

I guess, honestly speaking, I’m a little disappointed by her progress today. She IS better, but I dunno: when I read that stuff online, people were like witnessing miracles. In the end, I suppose the facts are the facts: She is almost 16. There were some really old dogs mentioned online, but most were still a few years younger… Like Marty’s age. Huge difference. I’d say, for the most part, Remy was smooth sailing and it really has been the last year and a half or two years where she’s declined substantially.

So we’re going to see how she does tomorrow and then re-evaluate. I hope that we’ll find a drug combo that works for while we’re away. I hate to leave her like this.

In other news today, I did more marketing classes on Coursera. I also did some online shopping/browsing. There were tons of Cyber Monday deals out there, especially for travel, but eh, I couldn’t settle on any dates. The clothing deals seemed only so-so, not spectacular. But the news is reporting promising holiday sales figures so far…

This weekend I received an email from a coworker. He was just wishing me a nice holiday. I replied last night that Remy wasn’t doing so well. Then this morning, I got a text message from someone else at work. She had heard from the first person that Remy was having trouble. It was nice of her to check in. I’m still a bit in my “I do all the initiating” funk regarding friendships, so it’s nice to know what someone is thinking about me without being prompted/harassed. I’m going to see her tomorrow for lunch.

Well I think I’m hitting the sack early today. I’m feeling kinda drained. Just a few more days left for NaBloPoMo!! Yippee!

Turkey Day Prep

Since I’m all domestic and shit now, I appointed myself in charge of the Thanksgiving meal. Usually, we always host a big party, but things are kinda different this year, so I was just going to cook for the two of us. Turns out, John’s sister will be in town also, so she and her beau will be joining. I have now made three trips to the grocery store. Every time, the places have been mobbed. Goddamn, I’d forgotten how big a holiday this is!! Two days beforehand, I received Sam Sifton’s Thanksgiving book in the mail– John’s not-so-subtle hint/reminder to not fuck up the biggest meal of the year. No pressure, right? Actually, since I was planning for a small group and I was the head honcho in charge, I set the expectations low from the get go. I’m still cooking up a lot, but whatever, some stuff I got started on today, like the cranberry sauce, a banana Nutella bread, and roasted butternut squash. It doesn’t ALL have to be made the day of, you know? So on the menu: butterflied roast turkey, gravy, bread stuffing, butternut/spinach salad, green beans (his sister to provide), and sweet potato marshmallow casserole. I’m feeling very full just listing all of this out! Well at least I’m feeling a bit more comfortable in the kitchen these days. My sense of taste is improving as well: pretty much, I just add double or triple my instinctive amount of salt. Haha.

In other news, my new laptop arrived yesterday, and today I finished setting everything up. The old Adamo is getting shipped to SquareTrade for repair and then I plan to sell it. Always hustlin’.

I had dinner last night with my buds T and M. Same old bullshit drama going on at work. Blows my mind the level and longevity of that bullshit. Drives me bonkers. Otherwise it was good to catch up, although clearly, I haven’t been in the best of moods lately. In fact, after I got home, I couldn’t sleep later and then I had a meltdown with John. All the old worries about work and figuring out my life resurfaced. I know I just have to keep doing what I’ve been doing. Something will come up. Just get back on that damn wagon!

Speaking of which, I need to finish this week’s marketing classes and then figure out my ranch pitches next week for the city parks and recs. And I need to get back to that barre studio to finish out my Groupon. Ugh, but maybe sweating it out will do me some good.

Running on Empty

I know. These last several posts, I’ve only obsessed about how exhausted I’ve been from hustling so hard. Today’s post isn’t about me. Refreshingly. It’s about my friends who are parents to young children. Yes, multiple ones all under 5 years of age. You see, I had lunch the other day with a friend who popped her second kid four months ago. Prior to our meet up, she dropped me a line out of the blue, and I could just tell that she was maxed out. The sense I get is that parenthood, at least in the beginning, isolates people. Their entire social life shuts down, and life boils down to basic survival. I know, it sounds like hyperbole, but this is a theme that just keeps coming up. Massive sleep deprivation and back to basics level of functionality. Friends, fun, entertainment, a night out, a rock concert? Gone. Done. Sure, it’s a trade off– for just a “season” but dayum, these people are running on empty.

When I went over to my friend’s house earlier this week, she looked fine, but when I sat down and talked with her, I could see her absolute frustration. Baby no. 2 was not a good sleeper. He had acid reflux, and she was getting up every two hours. She said every night, at the end of the day, she just longed to sit there alone to not think of anything. She says it’s just a short period where she doesn’t have to think of the next thing to do… it’s almost like a time of pause to mentally rest. And then the night begins (with the wakeups), and everything repeats the next day. I’ve heard a few people now describe this…

She was telling me how hard all of this is. Last weekend, the family went to visit a relative. When they arrived at the apartment complex, the older kid suddenly decided to throw an earth-shattering tantrum right outside in the parking lot. She described 20 minutes of complete chaos, of uncontrolled screaming, and she was simply beside herself on why he was doing this. The neighbors all came outside to see what was going on… there were no words to even explain.

Today, a FB friend posted this piece about parenting: I suppose the answer is to cut yourself a break or two, try to preserve a sense of self, maintain a program of self care and marriage care. Sounds so complicated, especially if you’re just surviving day to day. And what if you don’t have access to childcare that you trust? I don’t know what the real solution is here. I just feel like my parent friends need to get out more often. They sound pretty beaten down.

Btw, this was an interesting read on relationships/marriage, also discovered via FB. I dunno about Tip #12… sounds a bit animalistic to me, but the other advice sound pretty solid.

Cutting it Close

Holy crap. I have a half hour to crank out this blog post. Shit, I dunno what happens to all the hours of my day, but it does seem that every night, I am sitting up in bed writing my day’s post for this goddamn NaBloPoMo. Ugh. And John. Dude keeps nagging me throughout the night… as if I’d forgotten what I’d signed myself up for. Jesus, back off already! I’m very good with meeting deadlines.

So anyhow, today was go go go. I was back at the ranch for another business meeting. I rode a new horse today: Princessa. She was little– short and very round. Very different from my usual horses. To be honest, I spent the whole time so focused on talking and discussing biz development, I wasn’t even paying attention to my riding. I probably rode her like a total newbie. For one thing, I kept letting her get too close to S’s horse and then when I wanted to steer her a certain way on the trail, she just ignored me and did what she wanted. Hmph! The meeting itself went really well. For some reason, S is super impressed with me. Well, I guess I did spend a lot of time on that second brain dump email. He said his biggest challenge now is convincing me to stay on beyond the new year and to really make this a full-time gig. Ah, how I dream about such an arrangement… we’ll see. I gotta get my butt in gear to start pitching and selling. Gotta make that magic happen.

After the ranch, I headed up to my bud M’s house. She’s moving tomorrow. I am always amazed by how methodically she does things. Holy shit, her house was still fucking spotless, and she’s moving tomorrow. All the packed boxes were neatly stacked and labeled. I am an unorganized slob. I need to get my shit together. I just hide everything away. No wonder I can’t find anything. Ugh, I need a damn system! Help!

Yeah, so I was out of the house all day. Then, when I got home, I had to do more tech support for dad, plus review some rental applications, plus update his lappie and phone. Fuck, every time I do an OS update, the PC has to restart but then that cuts off my connection and he’s left the room already. Long story short, I updated his iPhone out of order, and the whole thing got fucked. Then I had to restore it, and ugh, dad is so slow with inputting usernames and data. And then after he input his password, he couldn’t figure out how to advance to the next page. He said there was no return/enter button. Ugh, 15 minutes later, I was so exasperated that I told him to just go to his dental appointment tomorrow, and ask someone there to help him. Seriously. But like daughter, like father. Ten minutes later, I called about something else, and he finally found the next button in the upper right corner. OCD is genetic, I tell ya. Finally, all his shit is updated, and I am beat.

My friend pinned this sign on Pinterest lately that read “Everyday I’m hustling.” Indeed. 10 consecutive daily posts, baby!

IRL

A business contact at my former work used to always write “IRL” in his emails. It took me the longest time to figure out that IRL meant “in real life.” He used it in the context of the virtual world vs. the real world, but now I use it to differentiate my vacationing life vs. my regular life. For instance, I awoke super early this morning to catch a plane back to SFO. Goodbye Long Beach, fantasyland of 80+ degree weather, sunshine, palm trees, sandy beaches, blue skies, long walks and gansta bike rides, and entertaining gal time. Hello SF Bay Area. Back to living IRL, know what I’m saying?

Yeah, so my flight got in very early this morning. Because I like to pack a tight schedule, John’s friend’s wife P2, who happened to be in the Bay Area visiting from Annapolis, picked me up for a morning hike around Crystal Springs reservoir. I had forgotten how active this lady is. Shiit, I was thinking we’d go for 90 minutes tops. Nope, 3+ hours later, my FitBit was practically overheating from all the activity I’d done the last several days. Yup, 16k steps. After the hike, we went to Palo Alto for lunch and then stopped by my fav women’s center, Deborah’s Palm… By the time I got home, FitBit had clocked nearly 22k steps, or almost 10 miles. My feet are ridiculously blistery now. No more walking!! Ugh.

I can’t believe tomorrow is Wednesday. I haven’t sent my second email brain dump yet to S at the ranch. Gotta get on it and hopefully, I will be invited back for the second business meeting on Thursday. I may help my friend M with packing tomorrow. She’s moving house this weekend. Goodness, so much is going on with everyone these days. I’m pooped. Time for bed. Btw, this is my 8th consecutive post. NaBloPoMo is killing me. 22 more days to go. Yikes.
[FAG id=7399]

Product Pushing

My final day in LGB was another busy one. I actually did a lot of work while P studied. We had originally planned to go kayaking, but I dunno, P seemed pretty intense in her study zone, so I just stayed busy emailing my network contacts and in the afternoon, I drafted another brain dump email for the ranch. On Monday, S had emailed me some things to think about, but I had to organize my ideas. I’ll be back there on Thursday for our next business meeting on horseback. Yay.

After I made some progress on those items, I decided to go for a walk to pick up some items at the store. I ran into C & N just as they were getting home, and C wanted to join me. We ended up walking almost 5 miles (for two hours). It was a great workout, with views of the ocean on the right and very nice fancy houses on the left. And C and I had so much to talk about! I think for both of us, we are the cleaner ones in our relationships, so we shared our excitement about organizing and cleaning. Haha. I was pretty thrilled to find another soul who, like me, has trouble sitting still for movies at home. C also has to get up and buzz around during!! See?

When we returned from our walk, P and I went out again and walked along the water to catch the sunset. We kind of missed it (the sun sets so early now!), but the sky was still beautiful. On the way back, we swung by the Rite Aid, and I bought some hair color, inspired by her hair color (which C did for her on Saturday night). We got back, and she applied the chemicals while I tested her on her nursing school material. My hair came out nicely… pretty subtle, but a dark reddish tint. It’s good enough for me.

Interestingly, on my earlier trip to the drugstore with C, I picked up some generic Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I had been scrubbing P’s tub and bathroom vanity for days, and I just couldn’t get them white, so I figured I would try the eraser. You see, months ago, John came home with the super sponges, and I was so blown away by their effectiveness. Seriously, because of Magic Eraser, I zoomed around the house cleaning doors, walls, cabinets, EVERYTHING. That shit got everything white. Well today, the eraser did NOT disappoint. In fact, P was screaming in disbelief, because she had tried everything: Scrubbing Bubbles, bleach, bathroom cleaner…

It’s pretty funny, because every time I see P, I introduce her to some new food or product. Before, it was Clear Care contact lens cleaner. Then it was the nasal saline rinse. Then a few visits ago, I turned her on to Italian nougat. Then Challah bread. This time, I discovered that tasty bottle of Trader Joe’s reserve pinot noir and that pistachio/chocolate/toffee I mentioned. But by far, the biggest winner was the magic eraser! Yup, gotta stay on top of that product research, I tell ya. New shit’s coming out all the damn time, and I’m always game for finding things to improve my life. That reminds me: Nathalie is always giving me the scoop on haircare new products. When I visited her, I tried her Alterna Smooth shampoo/conditioner and Organics Leave-In conditioner… that stuff made my hair uber soft and amazing. I will need to order on Amazon.

Addicted to Sunshine

For realz, Southern California is exacerbating my already insatiable addiction to sunshine. Every day I’m here, my mind just continues to be blown away: we are into November, and I am outside frolicking in a tank top and yoga pants. Do you sense my incredulousness? It almost hit fucking 80 degrees this afternoon. This shit is too good to be true!!

Shiit. So what does this mean?? Am I secretly a beach bum then rather than a mountain cowgirl? You know I like to put shit into neat little boxes! Dilemmas, dilemmas. I did look pretty bad ass cruisin’ along on my low riding, matte black bike!

OMG, I am tired. I can barely remember what I did today. This daily blogging thing is tough… I need to stop waiting until the end of the day, when my creative juices are totally sapped!

Let’s see. So today, I combed through a bunch of her magazines. Who knew O Mag was so chock full of coaching content? There was an entire section on finding your passion. I think I’ll try it tomorrow to see if I gain any new nuggets.

I spoke with my parents today. They are still recovering from their Asia travels. Incidentally, my mother told me about how she watched an entire Korean soap opera (I downloaded/installed an Asian movies/soaps app to her iPad)– without having any subtitles and without any Mandarin/English audio. I don’t know how that could have held her interest, but she insists she was able to deduce the subject/storyline (regarding reincarnation) enough to enjoy watching. I know, totally bizarro, right? I also updated them on the job hunt, info interviews… Dad surprised me by saying there was no rush, and that I should just find what I like. Huh? Did he get kidnapped by aliens? Very uncharaceristic.

Btw, I def have to give credit to my buddy G. P is hooked on Meditation Oasis. We do it in the morning, and also for study breaks. Mary Maddux rocks! As for me, still no major breakthroughs, but I enjoy practicing every day. I know one day soon the magic will happen for me.

Oh, I hit the Trader Joe’s this afternoon. I turned P on to some new products to get: they carry challah bread (woot, woot!) and I found some super tasty chocolate almond pistachio bark. Yummy. Also, I discovered a delicious bottle of pinot noir that I’m going to search for at my local store back home: TJ’s Reserve from Williamette, Oregon. Smooth and very drinkable.

In the evening, Coursera released this week’s video lectures for my marketing class. Yup, I watched them all today. I’m hard core like that. I will have to watch them again though and take notes simultaneously. I still haven’t figured out how to do that on the iPad where I watch a video and also have the notes page open. Task to figure out later.

Ok, I’m beat. Tomorrow is more studying, some work for me, and then kayaking by the bridge. Gotta soak up the sun here while I can. Workin’ on that tan baby!