paid vacation: day 26 - 28

Wicked was awesome!!! it was fun, hilarious and well done. and it was a matinee, so the crowd was small. there was one gal there alone who must be artsy - at intermission and right afterwards, she called a friend and LOUDLY proclaimed how great the show was, how her knees wouldn't stop shaking and she just COULDN'T believe the twists at the end. i was entertained.

wednesday night was spent gallivanting around The Mission...eventually to The House of Prime Rib for dinner. i guess that place has been around for a while and i was craving red meat...it was delicious and a fun experience.

yesterday i dilly-dallied around home and hung out with the dog. i spent the afternoon at a coffee shop in Los Gatos to get out and decided i look forward to working from coffee shops as a consultant. it's just more fun. last night was our last practice of the season, so i got the girls some red velvet bundt cakes they'd earned (from Nothing but Bundt, or something like that).

today is another sunny day in San Jose - i'm riding my bicycle all over, enjoying lunch, frozen yogurt and some errands. tonight is motorcycle school - i'm not so excited about spending my last friday night unemployed in school, but i'm sure it'll be worth it. woot!

my time is drawing to a close...but i've done pretty ok finding fun things to do...

paid vacation: day 22 - 25

fortune cookie: You will be rewarded for your hard work this past month.

hahahahahahahahaha

anyway, 'twas a great weekend in SF! friday i walked around Noe Valley and the Mission with boyfriend's sister all afternoon...then we all met up for dinner/drinks friday night. the afternoon brought perfect weather - we sat in the sun and enjoyed a couple tasty beverages.

saturday we hit up a Ro-Sham-Bo tournament in the afternoon. it was a fundraiser for the boys/girls' club of _____. brilliant, i say! i lost in the first round...twice (they let us buy back in), but it was fun to participate and watch. saturday night boyfriend & i volunteered at the SF Beer Fest. a dude in his condo complex had emailed out, asking for help because his son's preschool throws this beer fest - and i am so glad we decided to go for it. we ended up pouring a couple delicious beers, and became very popular as the rest of the booths shut down and we kept pourin'. what are they gonna do? fire us? needless to say, it was a complete blast.

i forgot to mention that we'd decided to venture out on our bikes on saturday - we cruised a big chunk of SF, going against traffic on accident, cutting cars off, almost getting hit...but biking as safely as possible. SF is hilly, man...my legs got a workout.

sunday was the most perfect day of my paid vacation in SF - absolutely gorgeous. we found a bar with a patio and hung out before thinking about monday (no big deal for me, but...). oh! the bar was named "Nap's," which happens to be my dad's nickname. random fun fact for ya.

yesterday i hung out in SF again - ended up at Fort Funston with boyfriend's dog to watch some waves and run around a bit. we also brewed our second batch of beer...here's hopin'!

today was crappy and rainy, so i turned it into errand/organization day. i have a receipt file, paperwork complete and the internet installed at home.

the fun is still coming! tomorrow afternoon i'm hitting a matinee showing of Wicked in SF with another unemployed friend - the tickets were half price! and next tuesday & wednesday i'll be getting some beach time in down south - JetBlue had a $9 flight to Long Beach and back, so we're taking advantage of the midweek special. $40 flights round trip!!! now, does anyone have a suggestion on where to stay/what to do in Long Beach for a day?

i love not working.

paid vacation: day 20-21

i'm losing track of what day it is, but i think that's a good thing...and i think today is day 21.

yesterday i hiked Mission Peak for the first time, and it was awesome. pretty dang strenuous, so i'm quite sore today...but it was beautiful and a good workout and fun for the dog. he got to run free and chase squirrels like crazy.

that was the excitement of the day - otherwise, i coached and played some awesome volleyball last night. well, i kinda sucked when i played 'cause my legs were DONE, but it was fun, no less.

today i'm chillin' in SF, potentially going for a bike ride around Angel Island. we'll see what happens when i get off this computer...

happy friday! (i figured out what day it is)

paid vacation: day 13 - 19

time flies when you're having fun! (and i want it to slow down, 'cause work does not sound fun)

friday was a fun day of randomness, ending up in the City for some entertainment.

saturday morning i went straight to Reno to coach for the next three days. this tournament is always a good time with the girls, parents and coaches. we played the best we've played in a while and ended up in 23rd place out of 120 teams (right where we started).

monday night i got back home, and spent most of tuesday resting. the highlight of this post is that i hit the Anchor Brewery Tour on tuesday morning with a couple great peeps. there's a 6-week waiting list to get in on this tour, so i was excited to hear there had been cancellations when i called to get in. the tour was pretty cool, i learned a little about brewing beer and tasted some goodness. we grabbed lunch after and i headed to my couch for the afternoon.

i need to start brewing beer. i have all this time on my hands...but when i'm home, i just want to lay on my couch. somehow, i'll find motivation this evening...i have a competition to win!

paid vacation: day 11-12

woohoo, i live in an awesome area! yesterday i hit the gym, ran some errands and had a meeting all afternoon...but the weather was amazing and i had a great day. last night we went out and ended up buyin' a couple awesome bikes. i'm hopin' to commute with it a bit...and maybe get some exercise.

this morning i got up and headed to santa cruz for a beautiful run along the ocean...and then looked at the waves for a bit and grabbed lunch with brandy, a great friend.

now i'm sitting on my couch with my computer and a beer, watching a great movie. no worries, the door is open and beautiful weather is coming in...

i love not working.

paid vacation: day 5-10

i am blessed. beyond belief.

friday we headed towards Tahoe...after swinging through the City to grab some delicious pizza dinner. got up saturday morning for some good skiing/boarding at Kirkwood, and on the way back to South Tahoe ran into a little adventure. the vehicle overheated..leaving us stranded with no cell phone reception. fortunately, a highway patrol came by after about 30 minutes and called a tow truck...the tow truck brought us to town and dropped us off at a maintenance shop...which had the part, but couldn't fix the truck until monday. as an unemployed person, i found this awesome. i was stuck in tahoe for an extra day...and snow was predicted. sunday we hung out in South Tahoe, shopping at outlets, eating and resting....it was fantastic. monday we gambled with Jim, the dealer...and he let us win quite a bit...and then we grabbed the Jeep and headed home...with a pit stop at Sierra for some awesome powder...like 18" of powder. the drive home was a little sketchy, with a quick spinout in heavy slushy snow. what's a trip without adventure, after all?

today i was back home - did some laundry, cleaned up, got a run in, had lunch...and then hit the San Jose Museum of Art. i'm tryin' to do things i normally wouldn't have the opportunity to do...and it's interesting. i'm not much of a museum person, but it was worth a shot.

i <3 not working.

paid vacation: day 2-4

time flies when you're having fun! (and not on your computer)

tuesday was an awesome day lounging and shopping in SF with a great friend. i'm not supposed to shop, but i did...couldn't resist. and we sat and people watched for a while...and ate some delicious snacks. i also convinced becki to road trip with me on tuesday...which led to an exciting day 3 & 4...

we headed south to LA around noon on wednesday - it was a beautiful day for a drive (or the beach, but let's pretend driving in good weather is fun). we checked into our hotel and arrived at the ballpark to watch the Twins beat up on the Angels at exactly 7:05. the stadium is fantastic, night was pleasant and i had a delicious stadium dog.

thursday we woke up to get to Unique Nail. read the reviews, it's legit. if you're ever in the LA area, i highly recommend you go get your nails done. i posted some pics on facebook, but my nails are crazy awesome. we then drove over to Venice Beach, grabbed some lunch and hit the road again. it was a long day of driving, but totally worth it...

today i'm picking up after myself...and heading to Tahoe! there may be a stop in SF for the zipline, though...i'll let you know when i'm back online, updating my blog.

goooood times! i like not working.

paid vacation: day 1

pretty perfect start to this month of not working...i'm definitely trying to figure out how to occupy myself and prevent boredom...it's a challenge and will be interesting. i'm not good at sitting around with nothin' to do and very few peeps to hang with.

i want to document this time off somehow...probably with this blog...'cause i'm not doing anything really big, but i don't wanna look back at it and feel like i wasted a free month off. i want to experience and do things - like spending a day in SF. maybe i'll take some pictures.

i spent the day in SF - walked boyfriend's dog, went for a run through golden gate park (it POURED rain on us), did some window shopping, got the dog washed, did some shopping shopping, ate some ice cream, did more shopping.

i'm going to have to stop spending money...i am getting paid for this month, but haven't ever had much spending money as it is.

now the Twins are on ESPN2 and that sure makes me happy. i was thinking about leaving this couch...but that's no longer possible.

a month off. a month with very few plans and no set schedule. do you have suggestions for hobbies or things i should do?