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?

flibbertigibbet

a new favorite word - flibbertigibbet.
A silly, flighty, or scatterbrained person, especially a pert young woman with such qualities.

i have to keep typing it to actually learn it...and pronounce it...and start using it...

karin introduced me to this word. yay!

g'bye 2009, hey 2010

2009 was pretty insane...some good things, some bad things, some awesome times, some devasting times...i'm glad it's over. let's review my goals from january (CnP from jan '09) -
- learn to use the George Foreman grill
- failure
- run a marathon (july 26th, san francisco)
- done! and i beat oprah. and this kept me sane.
- eat less, work out more
- i ran way more...i ate a little less...we'll call it a success
- spend less, save more
- failure. though i moved back into a cheap rent house.
- learn to play tennis
- somewhat fail. i played tennis at least once...and bought a racket.
- suggestions?
- i did many other things.

2009 was the year for my family. my sister was hit with breast cancer, so i spent a LOT of time in minnesota (relatively speaking). it was awesome, yet devastating. exhausting. wearing. and motivating. she kicks ass...i always knew that, but now it's serious. she's my hero. and my family has grown through all of this.

i'm still contemplating 2010 - i really have no idea what it'll bring. i'm hoping for great memories, some more growin' up and a trip somewhere i haven't been.
- eat at home more (all the time in january to get in the habit)
- save more (eating at home will help a lot)
- try something new everything month

superbowl of fantasy football!

i made it! crazy, eh? ("i heart drew brees" is my team)

goodbye, murray

sorry - i hit publish before i even wrote anything. but we put Murray to sleep tonight and i need to write about it...so soon...soon there will be something posted.

short story - he blew out one knee earlier this year...overused the other one and blew it out this past weekend...we don't have $4k to do surgery on both knees, he's miserable, so we put him to sleep. saddest thing ever. so far, i've cried a bit, but ignored it a lot...writing will help me deal.