Picture this...
Scene: Morning of the wife's 30th birthday. The hubby and wife are outside getting ready to leave for work. He leans down and kisses her, starts to straighten then he stops. He gets a weird look on his face...
Husband: "You have a grey hair."
Wife: (very seriously) "Are you f@*%ing with me?"
Husband: (starts laughing) "I'm totally serious."
Wife: (slightly panicked) "I don't believe you, pull it out"
Husband then pulls out the offending hair and hands it to the wife. She looks stunned. The husband starts to laugh.
Husband: "I think it's funny that today of all days you have a grey hair."
Wife: (looks at the husband with tears in her eyes) "I can't believe I have a grey hair!"
Husband: "I guess it would've been better to not tell you and let you find it yourself."
End Scene
What a great birthday surprise...
Yeah, I've never been one who cared about how many birthdays I've had. There must have been a nice convergence of events for me to react quite the way I did. At least everyone I mentioned it to, found it funny and I did too, but not until the weekend...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Last Weekend
Last weekend, I went up to my parent's place for a visit. I always love going up there, Emmy gets to run around and play with the Bens (yes, there are two). It turns out that all of the Lilacs were in full bloom. Lilacs are my favorite flowering shrub/tree. They smell awesome and have great color. I decided to wander around and take pictures.
Unfortunately, the lighting caused the colors of the lilacs and some others to be completely wrong in the photos. I wasn't sure how to fix it, but here are some of my favorites.
Wild Strawberry blossoms, I used to eat the strawberries when I was a kid!
A bleeding heart, another favorite. So much so I bought one to plant here.
This is a great example of the color issues with the lilacs. This one was actually a dark purple, so it's weird to see the color the camera came out of.
These are just cute.
The rest of the pictures are here if you are curious. These are all outdoor pictures, but I always think it's really pretty up there. If weren't for all the bugs (I'm such a city girl these days) it would be even better.
Unfortunately, the lighting caused the colors of the lilacs and some others to be completely wrong in the photos. I wasn't sure how to fix it, but here are some of my favorites.
Wild Strawberry blossoms, I used to eat the strawberries when I was a kid!
A bleeding heart, another favorite. So much so I bought one to plant here.
This is a great example of the color issues with the lilacs. This one was actually a dark purple, so it's weird to see the color the camera came out of.
These are just cute.
The rest of the pictures are here if you are curious. These are all outdoor pictures, but I always think it's really pretty up there. If weren't for all the bugs (I'm such a city girl these days) it would be even better.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Cruisin'
This post may actually be shorter than I originally thought. It's two weeks past the cruise and the memories fade fast. The full set of my pictures are here, other pictures are here and here.
Recently, a group of friends (Greg, Jessie, Sandie, Drew, Forrest and Amanda), the husband and I took a cruise to Bermuda. We sailed out of New York on the Norwegian Dawn, of Norwegian Cruise Lines. As with all vacations there was, the good, the bad and the ugly, but mostly good!
Departure Day
The group split up before the arrival time, have were already in NY visiting friends and the other half drove up Sunday morning. From all the NY horror storries, we were worried about traffic problems and the weather took that day to nice and gross (rainy, rainy, foggy). We padded out our drive time, to ensure we arrived by the boarding start time of 12.
The drive up was surprisingly painless! There was very little traffic and fairly sane drivers on the road. Our boat happened to be one pier over from the Intrepid Museum, so we got to snap a few cool pictures of the airplanes and such. Boarding was actually even less painful than the drive! We walked into the pier area, left our luggage, and waited in line for someone to give us our key cards and make sure we didn't have H1N1 FLU (aka Swine Flu). They then gave us a group boarding number and once our number was called we walked on to the ship!
Luckily, just as we came on, one of the waitstaff was returning with more glasses of champagne. The only free alcohol on the trip, your darn right I drank the whole thing (and I don't like champagne). The other half of our group had not arrived with us, so we looked from the boat to the pier and what do we see through the windows? The rest of the group! They were in line to check in, which made everyone less stressed since we were all there.
After a while we went up on board and waited in the rain and crappy weather until we passed The Statue of Liberty. This is the first time I've been that close.
Cruise Proper
After getting out of NY the days at sea are a little bit of a blur. There were bad comedians, movies on bad screens, good games of Fluxx, exercising, drinking, eating and lots and lots of going up and downstairs or elevators.
The water in the middle of the ocean is pretty cool. It's a really deep blue, with light blue spots indicating shallower water. At one point I recall the Captain saying the depth was 13, 648 feet (give or take due to my memory). However, the sees were very rough. If anyone was going to get sea sick, that was the time. You'd be walking along the right side of the hallway and the next thing you know you're on the left side because of a swell. Our room was on Deck 5 and the waves were splashing our windows and I heard rumor of waves up to Deck 12 in the front of the boat.
The best part of the days at sea were the drinking days! Specifically, we did a Mojito Tasting, a Sangria and Tapas tasting and Margarita Madness. The mojito business was very interesting, we learned how to make different types of mojitos and a little bit of the history of them and the ingredients. I'm still a fan of the original. The sangria was awesome, I prefered their white, though in general I prefer read. We got to taste olives (yuck), champiñones (mushrooms with garlic) and tortilla (a Spanish omelet, kind of like a frittata). Margarita Madness was just fun.
The worst part was the disappointing food. I had expectations of good food, because what else do you do on a ship? Eat? The second disappointing thing was the service. It was difficult to communicate as very few spoke English with any proficiency. You could visibly see servers getting annoyed when you asked questions or make requests.
Land Legs
The time in port was pretty cool. First day we went on an Aquarium, Caves and Highlight tour. Due to time constraints we didn't get to spend much time at the sites. Though our bus driver did spend copious amounts of time describing Bermudian burial methods, which I could've done without. I probably wouldn't do this type of excursion again.
The other excursions were Kayaking and Snorkeling, both of which I thought were awesome. The tour group Fantasea Bermuda ran both tours and they were pretty darn fun. Kayaking we took a boat out to a beach where we picked up the kayaks, and happened to see an Upside Down Jellyfish. We paddled around to another beach where we hung out for a bit. It was very tiring, but good! The boat trip back was awesome. They pulled up to another one of their tour boats and the newbie jumped across to the other boat, as a joke. We pulled away and left him! It was funny.
The next day we found out that the Catamaran for the snorkeling trip was the one they left the newbie on. It was a good time snorkeling around the chilly waters. I saw a box fish, which was very cool. A few other fish were in the mix and lots of coral and sea slugs. That boat ride was awesome too, if a little chilly on the way back.
Every where I went in Bermuda, it felt like we were on a boat that was moving. I guess that is what they call land sickness (I also dealt with it for about a week after we got home!). We randomly found this restaurant that looked like a total dive. We were all tired and hungry (and cranky). So we just went in, with low expectations. It was actually pretty good!
The best time was had at the Frog and Onion Pub in King's Wharf (Heritage Wharf). Good food, good atmosphere, good drinks and good friends.
Home Again
Once we landed in NY again, the group split. We took a leisurely ride back home and tried to relax before going to work on Monday.
Impressions
My overall impression is that we would probably try another cruise, but NOT Norweigan Cruiselines. I also think it's not the vacation choice the hubby and I would do with just the two of us. Friend cruises are definitely a good time, as long as everyone has the right amount of down time.
Recently, a group of friends (Greg, Jessie, Sandie, Drew, Forrest and Amanda), the husband and I took a cruise to Bermuda. We sailed out of New York on the Norwegian Dawn, of Norwegian Cruise Lines. As with all vacations there was, the good, the bad and the ugly, but mostly good!
Departure Day
The group split up before the arrival time, have were already in NY visiting friends and the other half drove up Sunday morning. From all the NY horror storries, we were worried about traffic problems and the weather took that day to nice and gross (rainy, rainy, foggy). We padded out our drive time, to ensure we arrived by the boarding start time of 12.
The drive up was surprisingly painless! There was very little traffic and fairly sane drivers on the road. Our boat happened to be one pier over from the Intrepid Museum, so we got to snap a few cool pictures of the airplanes and such. Boarding was actually even less painful than the drive! We walked into the pier area, left our luggage, and waited in line for someone to give us our key cards and make sure we didn't have H1N1 FLU (aka Swine Flu). They then gave us a group boarding number and once our number was called we walked on to the ship!
Luckily, just as we came on, one of the waitstaff was returning with more glasses of champagne. The only free alcohol on the trip, your darn right I drank the whole thing (and I don't like champagne). The other half of our group had not arrived with us, so we looked from the boat to the pier and what do we see through the windows? The rest of the group! They were in line to check in, which made everyone less stressed since we were all there.
After a while we went up on board and waited in the rain and crappy weather until we passed The Statue of Liberty. This is the first time I've been that close.
Cruise Proper
After getting out of NY the days at sea are a little bit of a blur. There were bad comedians, movies on bad screens, good games of Fluxx, exercising, drinking, eating and lots and lots of going up and downstairs or elevators.
The water in the middle of the ocean is pretty cool. It's a really deep blue, with light blue spots indicating shallower water. At one point I recall the Captain saying the depth was 13, 648 feet (give or take due to my memory). However, the sees were very rough. If anyone was going to get sea sick, that was the time. You'd be walking along the right side of the hallway and the next thing you know you're on the left side because of a swell. Our room was on Deck 5 and the waves were splashing our windows and I heard rumor of waves up to Deck 12 in the front of the boat.
The best part of the days at sea were the drinking days! Specifically, we did a Mojito Tasting, a Sangria and Tapas tasting and Margarita Madness. The mojito business was very interesting, we learned how to make different types of mojitos and a little bit of the history of them and the ingredients. I'm still a fan of the original. The sangria was awesome, I prefered their white, though in general I prefer read. We got to taste olives (yuck), champiñones (mushrooms with garlic) and tortilla (a Spanish omelet, kind of like a frittata). Margarita Madness was just fun.
The worst part was the disappointing food. I had expectations of good food, because what else do you do on a ship? Eat? The second disappointing thing was the service. It was difficult to communicate as very few spoke English with any proficiency. You could visibly see servers getting annoyed when you asked questions or make requests.
Land Legs
The time in port was pretty cool. First day we went on an Aquarium, Caves and Highlight tour. Due to time constraints we didn't get to spend much time at the sites. Though our bus driver did spend copious amounts of time describing Bermudian burial methods, which I could've done without. I probably wouldn't do this type of excursion again.
The other excursions were Kayaking and Snorkeling, both of which I thought were awesome. The tour group Fantasea Bermuda ran both tours and they were pretty darn fun. Kayaking we took a boat out to a beach where we picked up the kayaks, and happened to see an Upside Down Jellyfish. We paddled around to another beach where we hung out for a bit. It was very tiring, but good! The boat trip back was awesome. They pulled up to another one of their tour boats and the newbie jumped across to the other boat, as a joke. We pulled away and left him! It was funny.
The next day we found out that the Catamaran for the snorkeling trip was the one they left the newbie on. It was a good time snorkeling around the chilly waters. I saw a box fish, which was very cool. A few other fish were in the mix and lots of coral and sea slugs. That boat ride was awesome too, if a little chilly on the way back.
Every where I went in Bermuda, it felt like we were on a boat that was moving. I guess that is what they call land sickness (I also dealt with it for about a week after we got home!). We randomly found this restaurant that looked like a total dive. We were all tired and hungry (and cranky). So we just went in, with low expectations. It was actually pretty good!
The best time was had at the Frog and Onion Pub in King's Wharf (Heritage Wharf). Good food, good atmosphere, good drinks and good friends.
Home Again
Once we landed in NY again, the group split. We took a leisurely ride back home and tried to relax before going to work on Monday.
Impressions
My overall impression is that we would probably try another cruise, but NOT Norweigan Cruiselines. I also think it's not the vacation choice the hubby and I would do with just the two of us. Friend cruises are definitely a good time, as long as everyone has the right amount of down time.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Running Attempt Number X
Since I completed the Marine Corp Marathon (going on 4 years ago now), I've had many and repeated failed attempts to pick up a running program again. I've started and stopped more times than I want to count. My goal now is to start running, regularly, and not stop. I want to pick up a running regiment that includes 3 days of running a week, and stick with it.
I really enjoy running, despite all those times I've stopped. I just have an inertia problem (the resting bit, not the motion part).
This weekend I heard two people discussing the Couch Potato to 5k program. I've been reading Binkle's blog for a bit, she has a lot of good information on running, and she had used the program successfully. The discussion was between her and another friend who had started it. I thought, "What a good time to be a sheep."
Today I started that program. It's been a long time since I ran (though recently I have somewhat regularly been using our stationary bike), so it was uncomfortable. Not enough to make me want to quit though.
My absolute favorite distance, among those I've run, is 10-milers. I believe they are the perfect distance for an event. During my training for the marathon, I did the Army 10-miler (that year it turned out to be the 11-miler, but that's besides the point) and felt fantastic. I would be ecstatic to get back to that point.
Some day I may strive for another marathon, but I can't think that way now. Baby steps first, then we'll see what happens.
This morning I sit on the deck with a bowl of oatmeal with strawberries. There's a ton of pollen on the table, but don't worry I cleaned the half that I'm eating from. Pollen is sticky stuff, I think that I can only get part of the mess off. This state has a terrible pollen problem, when your car goes from black to yellow, you know anyone will have allergies.
I really enjoy running, despite all those times I've stopped. I just have an inertia problem (the resting bit, not the motion part).
This weekend I heard two people discussing the Couch Potato to 5k program. I've been reading Binkle's blog for a bit, she has a lot of good information on running, and she had used the program successfully. The discussion was between her and another friend who had started it. I thought, "What a good time to be a sheep."
Today I started that program. It's been a long time since I ran (though recently I have somewhat regularly been using our stationary bike), so it was uncomfortable. Not enough to make me want to quit though.
My absolute favorite distance, among those I've run, is 10-milers. I believe they are the perfect distance for an event. During my training for the marathon, I did the Army 10-miler (that year it turned out to be the 11-miler, but that's besides the point) and felt fantastic. I would be ecstatic to get back to that point.
Some day I may strive for another marathon, but I can't think that way now. Baby steps first, then we'll see what happens.
This morning I sit on the deck with a bowl of oatmeal with strawberries. There's a ton of pollen on the table, but don't worry I cleaned the half that I'm eating from. Pollen is sticky stuff, I think that I can only get part of the mess off. This state has a terrible pollen problem, when your car goes from black to yellow, you know anyone will have allergies.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Monkey Off My Back
So being the slowest knitter EVER! Most projects take me a long time. I have a few projects on the needles and I knit on them intermittently. Most of my knitting is for me, as there's not a ton of people who request things.
So, it is with great pleasure that I announce the completion of The Monkey Socks! *applause applause applause*
Ok, maybe not as exciting for you as they are for me. According to the previous year's resolution, I started these puppies in April (yes, that's April 2008). The date I recorded completion, 3/31/2009. See, I told you I was slow.
These were for my mom, I say were for a very specific needles. I followed the pattern and did the exact number of repeats between sock one and two (I know, I counted a ton of times). I triumphantly held up the finished socks! Only to find out one was BIGGER than the other. Holy crap, who knew?! I had read about this mysterious gauge problem before, but thought that it could never happen to me. Boy was I wrong.
So, one sock bigger, might not have been so bad except that both socks were way too big for my mom! She has smaller feet than mine. Bonus though, the small one fit me great, the big one, was, well, big.
This has prompted me to learn how to knit two socks at once, toe-up. This may help improve my sock knitting. Though, I guess, not having a year in between start and finish might do the trick also....
In other news....
Last night, while running errands, I dropped into the local Dressbarn (saying that is weird because where I grew up, the only things local were cows). I pop in there once in a while, because they have my size and slightly dressier stuff. Usually I find, maybe one thing. This time, they had a ton of stuff! I ended up buying a bunch of tops. Some of these will translate to the cruise, all of them will translate to work!
These are a step up from my button down collar shirts. Don't get me wrong I like those too, but these are great.
So, it is with great pleasure that I announce the completion of The Monkey Socks! *applause applause applause*
Ok, maybe not as exciting for you as they are for me. According to the previous year's resolution, I started these puppies in April (yes, that's April 2008). The date I recorded completion, 3/31/2009. See, I told you I was slow.
These were for my mom, I say were for a very specific needles. I followed the pattern and did the exact number of repeats between sock one and two (I know, I counted a ton of times). I triumphantly held up the finished socks! Only to find out one was BIGGER than the other. Holy crap, who knew?! I had read about this mysterious gauge problem before, but thought that it could never happen to me. Boy was I wrong.
So, one sock bigger, might not have been so bad except that both socks were way too big for my mom! She has smaller feet than mine. Bonus though, the small one fit me great, the big one, was, well, big.
This has prompted me to learn how to knit two socks at once, toe-up. This may help improve my sock knitting. Though, I guess, not having a year in between start and finish might do the trick also....
In other news....
Last night, while running errands, I dropped into the local Dressbarn (saying that is weird because where I grew up, the only things local were cows). I pop in there once in a while, because they have my size and slightly dressier stuff. Usually I find, maybe one thing. This time, they had a ton of stuff! I ended up buying a bunch of tops. Some of these will translate to the cruise, all of them will translate to work!
These are a step up from my button down collar shirts. Don't get me wrong I like those too, but these are great.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
And We're....Done!
I have had a week that felt like it lasted a month. I don't really know why, it was pretty good and kind of fun. I've just been walking around looking at things here like it's been a really long time. Kind of weird.
Onto my week! Sunday, I left and headed to San Jose, CA. The whole week before this trip I kept humming, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" by Dion Warwick. It was actually kind of cold the first day. Unfortunately, my mom got a little lost trying to find the hotel.
Monday thru Thursday I attended the Embedded Systems Conference. This conference was really interesting! Yeah, yeah, I'm a manager now, but I remember some of my EE background. I can do technical. I'm in a dilemma at the moment. Not sure where to go with my job. Technical, stay in managerial? I don't know. That's probably a blog for another time. Though if anyone wants to tell me what to do next. I might just try that. I learned lots at the conference and think I'd recommend it to others.
After the conference mom and I went to Carmel/Monterey area. The drive down was nice, we saw a lot of Artichokes and Strawberry fields. A lot of agriculture in that part of CA. It was really pretty there. We drove the 17-mile drive and saw seals and birds and ocean and really expensive houses and all sorts of nice things. This is one of my favorite pictures.
We then decided to take a "quick jaunt" up to the Redwood Forest area. Unfortunately, I misread the GPS and it took over an hour to get up there. It was impressively uphill and very windy roads. Always good when it takes over 30 min to go 10 miles. We finally arrived at the Big Basin Redwoods State Park and asked where we could find the big ones. Unfortunately, the forest was closed (yeah, I didn't know that was possible). I assume there was a lot of rain or something and they were cleaning the trails. Though I did get to see this example of a large Redwood.
Check out when this started...
and ended....
After that, we were beat! We drove back to the hotel and slept. The next day we took the train to San Francisco. It was sunny and warm and I got a nice sunburn. I went to San Francisco back in college and it has changed a lot. I was surprised at how different it was from my memory. Though, it was still nice. The cab ride back to the train station took us through the hilly areas and such. I guess we got our $12 worth!
I just love the arrow!
Sunday was a relaxing day, we hung around San Jose and went to The Tech. This museum was a museum about technology. It had lots of cool experiments. I was even able to experience a simulated earthquake. First, it was a 6 something that occurred in California and then an 8.3, I think that was in Japan. My facts could be wrong.... Definitely they would've thrown me off my feet!
Anywho, please take a look at the pictures to see what we did! They are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/smilingkid/California#
Onto my week! Sunday, I left and headed to San Jose, CA. The whole week before this trip I kept humming, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" by Dion Warwick. It was actually kind of cold the first day. Unfortunately, my mom got a little lost trying to find the hotel.
Monday thru Thursday I attended the Embedded Systems Conference. This conference was really interesting! Yeah, yeah, I'm a manager now, but I remember some of my EE background. I can do technical. I'm in a dilemma at the moment. Not sure where to go with my job. Technical, stay in managerial? I don't know. That's probably a blog for another time. Though if anyone wants to tell me what to do next. I might just try that. I learned lots at the conference and think I'd recommend it to others.
After the conference mom and I went to Carmel/Monterey area. The drive down was nice, we saw a lot of Artichokes and Strawberry fields. A lot of agriculture in that part of CA. It was really pretty there. We drove the 17-mile drive and saw seals and birds and ocean and really expensive houses and all sorts of nice things. This is one of my favorite pictures.
We then decided to take a "quick jaunt" up to the Redwood Forest area. Unfortunately, I misread the GPS and it took over an hour to get up there. It was impressively uphill and very windy roads. Always good when it takes over 30 min to go 10 miles. We finally arrived at the Big Basin Redwoods State Park and asked where we could find the big ones. Unfortunately, the forest was closed (yeah, I didn't know that was possible). I assume there was a lot of rain or something and they were cleaning the trails. Though I did get to see this example of a large Redwood.
Check out when this started...
and ended....
After that, we were beat! We drove back to the hotel and slept. The next day we took the train to San Francisco. It was sunny and warm and I got a nice sunburn. I went to San Francisco back in college and it has changed a lot. I was surprised at how different it was from my memory. Though, it was still nice. The cab ride back to the train station took us through the hilly areas and such. I guess we got our $12 worth!
I just love the arrow!
Sunday was a relaxing day, we hung around San Jose and went to The Tech. This museum was a museum about technology. It had lots of cool experiments. I was even able to experience a simulated earthquake. First, it was a 6 something that occurred in California and then an 8.3, I think that was in Japan. My facts could be wrong.... Definitely they would've thrown me off my feet!
Anywho, please take a look at the pictures to see what we did! They are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/smilingkid/California#
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
More than I can chew?
So, maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew. I stopped by the library to pick up some books I had on hold. Perhaps there are too many...
The Princess Bride - William Goldman
Velocity - Dean Koontz
Eat This Not That - David Zinczenko
I Can Make You Thin - Paul McKenna
In addition, I have already checked out...
Alice In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Knitting Noro - Jane Ellison
PLUS the number of knitting projects I have on the needles and trying to get the socks done for my mom.
What do you think? Too much?
The Princess Bride - William Goldman
Velocity - Dean Koontz
Eat This Not That - David Zinczenko
I Can Make You Thin - Paul McKenna
In addition, I have already checked out...
Alice In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Knitting Noro - Jane Ellison
PLUS the number of knitting projects I have on the needles and trying to get the socks done for my mom.
What do you think? Too much?
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