A Day in the Life

On a sad note...

2011-10-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

On June 9, 2011, we said goodbye to our sweet baby boy, Nacho. He had been with us for over 16 years, which seems like longer than it feels when you're at the end of it. He was so tired, and I know it was his time, but I miss him every day and can still hear his footsteps in the house from time to time.

I will miss you more than you can ever know. Rest in peace, baby boy.

Wow, um, yeah...

2011-10-29T10:01:00.002-07:00

So clearly I did not make it back after our Russia trip. Nor did I ever report back on 2009's Chinese New Year party. Or last year's for that matter. Since it's been, uh, MORE THAN TWO YEARS since I last updated this blog. I probably should just give it up, but that would be admitting defeat. And frankly, I don't even have an excuse other than sheer laziness.

So let's try again, and let me start by getting my three readers (oh hell, I know - at this point even my three readers are long gone) caught up on the last 2+ years of my life.

In May 2009, Che & I spent eight days in Moscow and St. Petersburg and had a great time:

The next month, we went to Texas for our nephew's HS graduation. This is the same nephew who was born when Che & I were in college, and now he's halfway through with his undergrad at our alma mater. Where does the time go?

In July 2009, we spent a long weekend in Oregon enjoying good friends, good food, and glorious summer weather.

Later that month, we got some exciting news!

About a week after we learned the news, I left my hectic, stressful private practice job for a less hectic, less stressful government job - perfect timing what with baby coming and all. In between, we enjoyed another long weekend with great friends, great food, and glorious summer weather, this time in San Francisco:

The rest of the fall, winter, and early spring was busy spent preparing for baby's arrival, which happened at 5:04 a.m. on March 3, 2010. Welcome to the world, Iris Mariana!!

Since then, well, it's been an exhausting, exciting, exhilarating, exhausting (wait, did I say that already?) whirlwind. I didn't realize how fast time can fly until my daughter was born. Sometimes, it feels like it was just yesterday; other times, those sleepless, struggle-filled early days seem like a lifetime ago.

What I do know is that my "baby girl" is now 20 months old (yeah, I became one of those annoying people who counts time in months), and while still exhausting and challenging, most days are a joy. She's the light of my life that I never knew was missing until she came along.

2009

2009-04-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

Wow. Where the hell has the time gone???

I started to compose who-knows-how-many different blog posts to kick off 2009, and none of them came to fruition. Now here we are coming up on MAY, and I seem to have missed the window to blog about my New Year's resolutions, my Chinese New Year party, another gorgeous bouquet I received from my sweetie at Valentine's Day, my birthday celebration, our Spring Break trip to Philadelphia, or any other multitude of things that have happened in the last four months.

In any event, here we are, three days away from our first big trip of 2009. On Saturday, we leave for Houston and from there, to Moscow. We'll spend two days in St. Petersburg and six in Moscow, and I can't wait. April has been, far and away, the single most stressful month of my life. I am in desperate need of a vacation, and at this point, I don't even care if it's one where I sit in a hotel room for 8 days and do nothing but watch movies or read People. I promise to post a trip report and photos (unless of course we DO end up doing nothing but sitting in a hotel room and watching movies), and I also promise to return to my Chinese New Year party, however belated it ends up being. I missed blogging about it last year and don't want to make that mistake again.

Long time, no post.

2008-12-16T11:02:00.003-07:00

I know, it's been awhile since my last post. Life has been crazy and hectic and busy and insane. And by "life," I mean work. But when work takes up 12+ hours of your day, then it basically becomes life.

And this time of year is busy enough anyway, just on its own. With Thanksgiving so late this year, Christmas has snuck up on me. And here I am, barely a week away from getting on a plane to fly home to Houston for Christmas. I did get a little holiday candy-making done last weekend, but cards have yet to be signed (much less mailed) and I have packages that are not going to mail themselves either. Why can't Christmas be in January this year?

For now, though, I'm enjoying a short visit from my bro who I will see again in a week.

Happy Holidays!

The holidays are upon us.

2008-11-09T21:20:00.002-07:00

I know this because peppermint mochas are back on Starbucks' menu. And I had my first one of the season yesterday. I love this time of year.

I know, my life is sad.

Las Vegas

2008-10-27T15:48:00.008-07:00

I just returned from my first trip to Vegas. It is likely to be my last. I'm apparently one of the few people in the world who doesn't think Vegas is the shiznit. Fortunately, I was accompanied by maybe the only two other people who aren't enamored with the glitz and glam of Sin City and were perfectly happy to shop, eat, and laugh. After all, that was the primary focus of this Girls' Weekend: great shopping, great food, great company.

Sharon & I arrived at almost the exact time Lisa's flight from Oregon arrived, so we met up in baggage claim and then waited in a long-ass taxi line to get to our hotel. We were not staying on the Strip, since that (again) was not the purpose of this trip. And I'm glad. I would have hated being in a hotel that is a tourist attraction and constantly packed with mobs of people streaming through the lobby, casino, restaurants, bars, etc. The only reason to be in a hotel, IMO, is because you're staying there. Hotels are not a destination. They're a place to sleep. But then again, it sounds like I just don't "get" Vegas. And don't get me started on the nastiness of having to walk through smoke-filled casinos just to get to a restaurant. In a hotel I'm not even staying at. UGH.

Anyway, we dropped off our stuff at the Courtyard by Marriott at the Convention Center, then caught a cab to Mandalay Bay, where I had chosen The Burger Bar for dinner. It's actually in Mandalay Place, the "mall" between Mandalay Bay and the Luxor. Great choice. I had an awesome sampler plate of sliders, including a buffalo slider with caramelized onions that turned out to be my favorite. And an amazing strawberry shake. Yum. Afterwards, we walked up the Strip, gawked at the scantily-dressed and drunken people crowding the streets, joked about the people who must think being in Vegas is just like being in Paris, or Venice, or Rome, and eventually caught a cab back to the hotel.

Friday morning we decided to pick up a rental car, after spending more than $50 in three hours on Thursday night for cab fare. It turned out to be money very well spent. We picked up our car at the Riveria, where the nice Hertz woman upgraded us for free and waived the fee for us to return the car to the airport. She seemed surprised and excited for me when I told her it was my first trip to Vegas. Good thing I didn't also mention how much I was hating it there. ;) Then we were off to the Premium Outlets, arriving just before they opened at 10:00 and hitting Starbucks for a caffeine jump start to our power shopping day. Who knew we would be closing the place down 11 hours later at 9:00! For the record, that was not 11 hours of straight shopping. We did take a break for lunch in the food court and a late-afternoon Dairy Queen sweet treat to hold us over until dinner.

Dinner was on the way back to the hotel, an unassuming strip center Thai place called Lotus of Siam that was just off the strip. It turned out to be one of the best Thai meals I've ever had, and that includes the meals we had in Thailand last month. EXCELLENT. The three of us shared a generous cup of tom yum kai soup, a Thai salad, crab fried rice, pad thai, garlic squid, and musaman curry. We cleaned up surprisingly well -- the shopping must have really worked up an appetite. The food was all incredible, the service was a bit on the slow side, but the prices were very reasonable. In fact, we walked out with a total tab of less than what each of us spent the following night at Nobu. For much less food. That was ten times better.

Day One's shopping haul:

Saturday was another bright and early day. First stop, Zappo's shoe outlet. It turned out to be a total bust on shoes, but I found a great purple cocktail dress that I didn't need in the slightest. I reluctantly hung it back on its rack and said I'd come back for it if I was still thinking about it in the afternoon. From there, we headed to lunch and then the Las Vegas Outlet Center for more shopping. I was still thinking about the dress, so we stopped back by Zappo's, then back to the Premium Outlets for returns and more shopping. We rushed back to the hotel to change for dinner, then off to the Hard Rock for our 7:30 dinner reservation at Nobu.

We all wanted sushi, so I did my due diligence to find a great place for dinner. But as with nearly any place, you can ask 20 people for the best sushi place in Vegas, and you'll get 20 different recommendations. I figured we couldn't go wrong with Nobu. Our server tried to guide us to the hot and cold menu items, but we were really just interested in sushi rolls. In his defense, he did warn us that they were good but nothing special and that for the "Nobu experience," we should go with the hot and cold menus. We did order a couple of things off the cold menu, then mostly stuck with sushi rolls. And he was right. They were good, everything was very fresh, but they were nothing particularly special. And especially not for the cost.

Lisa & Sharon at Nobu:

Sushi rolls at Nobu:

We skipped dessert at Nobu and headed to the Fontana Bar at the Bellagio, where we were meeting up with other friends for drinks. We snagged a table on the outdoor patio, where we had a great view of the fountain show every 15 minutes on a gorgeous evening.

Julie & Glenda were ready to shut the bar down, and I was still disappointed from not getting dessert, so we left them at the bar and set off in search of something sweet. We were guided to Jean Phillippe Patisserie at the Bellagio, and I was rewarded with the best chocolate gelato shake I've ever had. It was TO DIE FOR. Sharon's Nutella and banana crepes were pretty damn good too, and I'm not even a fan of crepes. Stuffed and exhausted, we headed back to the hotel and hit the sack.

Chocolate fountain at Jean Phillippe:

Best. Chocolate. Shake. EVER.

Sunday morning was spent trying to cram ten times more stuff than we arrived with back into our suitcases. Lisa was modest with the purchases so she was fine. I did OK, if you count carrying a briefcase onto the plane stuffed with 8 pairs of shoes OK. Sharon's situation was rough. Her suitcase was full, she had my outside luggage pockets filled to the brim, and it was looking like her "carry on" was going to be a triple-lined paper shopping bag overflowing with about 50 pounds of clothes. After a mediocre breakfast/brunch at the Sidewalk Cafe at Bally's, we dropped off Lisa at the airport and bid her a safe flight home. Then Sharon & I headed back to the outlet stores one last time, where she bought an extra suitcase to haul all her crap home. We had a little bit of time to kill in the late afternoon and went back to the Burger Bar for more excellent sliders and shakes. Stuffed and broke, we finally headed home.

Introducing Jeb and Tookie!

2008-10-05T22:34:00.002-07:00

Don't ask about the names. Che came up with them. He said they look "hickish," and I guess Jeb and Tookie are hickish names?? Anyway, given that he wasn't thrilled about them coming home with me, I figured the least I could do was let him name the boogers. I got vetoed on my choices, which were Bunsen and Beaker.

Sara is not a fan so far, and they are not at all fond of Nacho, but I think in time, they will all learn to live peacefully. At least that's my hope.

Don't ask me which is which. Despite all efforts, we have yet to find any distinguishing markings that will allow us to tell them apart.

I hate being sick.

2008-09-24T16:12:00.003-07:00

There is little I hate worse than being sick. It just throws everything in my life out of whack (eating, sleeping, exercising, working, EVERYTHING) and even the smallest of colds can take me weeks to recover from 100%. I don't even know what I have, but everyone (but me) is pretty sure it's not the bird flu, SARS, or the hanta virus. Probably just a cold or a sinus infection. But that on top of mild jet lag on top of trying to return to real life after two and a half weeks of vacation sucks.

The in-laws returned home today. It's nice to get my house back and feel like I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, without disturbing anyone else, but they were a godsend, both while we were gone and before/after our trip (especially with me being sick this week). And I'm sure Nacho and Sara are super sad that they no longer have someone at the house 24/7 to let them out whenever they want to go. Grandma and Grandpa will definitely be asked to return for future long trips, if they can be bribed to come back. They were the best housesitters we've had.

Days 16 and 17: Headed Home

2008-09-22T13:57:00.004-07:00

This was our last day in Hong Kong, but a full one as our flight didn't leave until almost 11:00 p.m. We had planned to go to the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, which we missed the previous day due to the communication gap with our taxi driver, but I wasn't feeling up to it. I think I'm actually sick, and not just with allergies.

Instead, we met Jay & Cheron for dim sum at Tao Yuan Restaurant in the Great Eagle Centre in Wan Chai. Fortunately we had Cheron there to order for us, as the dim sum menu (which was ordered off a menu like sushi, not off of the more traditional dim sum carts) was all in Chinese. We had a delicious sampling of soup, dumplings, vegetables, and sweets, my favorite of which was the chicken soup with dumplings and cabbage. Afterwards, we headed back to Mongkok, where Che & I needed to pick up a new piece of luggage. After spending the morning in the hotel packing up, we realized that two of our three checked pieces would be over the allowed weight limit on Singapore Airlines for our return flight to Hong Kong. Cheron & I went off in search of a bag while Jay & Che hit the Fish Market one last time.

From there, we headed back down to our tailor in Tsim Sha Tsui to pick up our clothes. They fit great! My dress will be perfect for next year's Chinese New Year party. We did a little more last-minute souvenir shopping, then Che & I went back to the hotel to collect our stuff and repack our luggage. From there, it was off to the airport. We took a taxi to the Hong Kong MTR station, where there is an Airport Express line to the airport. However, all of the major airlines have ticket counters at the MTR station, so you can check in for your flights, get your boarding passes, and, best of all, check your luggage in! That way, you can ride the train in comfort to the airport carrying only your carry-on items and not worry about having to transport large suitcases as well. Very convenient.

The flight to San Francisco left just before 11:00 p.m. Hong Kong time on Saturday. With the time change, though, our 12-hour flight would be arriving in San Francisco at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, SF time. We had booked a hotel room at the San Francisco Airport knowing it would be too late to get a direct flight home. We knew we couldn't sleep the whole return flight because we needed to get off the plane and pretty much be ready for bed in order to adjust our sleep schedule as quickly as possible. So we stayed up long enough to eat dinner on the plane and watch a movie, then napped for a few hours, and we were awake for the last 4-5 hours of the flight. By the time we arrived in San Francisco, got our luggage (why is it that baggage claim in every other country is so much faster than in the US?), cleared immigration and customs, caught a shuttle to the airport, checked in to our hotel, showered, and ate room service for dinner, we were pretty much winding down and ready to call it a night. Success on avoiding jet lag!!

Or so we thought. We both woke up Sunday morning at 4:30 a.m., wide awake and ready for the day. So we watched a movie in the room, went downstairs for breakfast as soon as the restaurant opened, then leisurely showered and packed our bags up for the last flight of our trip - home to Phoenix!! We arrived home mid-afternoon on Sunday and were just as excited to see the animals as they were to see us. And then the fatigue hit me. I was ready for a nap by 4:00, but Che talked me out of it for about an hour and we spent the hour showing his parents our trip pictures. By 5:00, I couldn't keep my eyelids open any longer, so at 5:30, I laid down for a nap. I got up at 7:00 thinking I would eat dinner, catch up with my in-laws, and maybe watch a movie, but a half hour later, I was ready for bed for the night. I got a good night's sleep and got up Monday morning bright and early at 6:30 a.m. feeling pretty well rested but officially sick with a cold or sinus infection, not sure which yet. So I'm hoping that the worst of the jet lag is done. Otherwise, it's going to be a very long week.

Day 15: Victoria Peak

2008-09-22T13:33:00.003-07:00

Woke up with a scratchy throat and head/sinus congestion. Either the pollution is finally getting to me or I'm getting sick. Just before lunchtime, we headed out by taxi to the Victoria Peak tram terminal. Victoria Peak is the highest point on Hong Kong Island and is one of the wealthiest residential neighborhoods in Hong Kong. The tram is a funicular railway built in the 1800s that is still in operation today and transports people from the Central District of Hong Kong the 1.4 km up to Victoria Peak, with a few intermediate stops on the way. At the top, there is a shopping mall of sorts with some dining options and, on the top level, a Peak observatory that offers amazing 360-degree views of Hong Kong.

We got off the Tram and had lunch at Tien Yi, a Chinese restaurant located just one level below the observatory. Our table was right next to the window and we had a spectacular view of the city while we enjoyed a prix fixe dim sum lunch. Everything was delicious. Afterwards, we headed up to the observatory and walked around the terrace looking at views of the city from all angles. When we were done, we took the tram back down to Central.

From there, we tried to hop a cab to the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, but we kept getting English-challenged cab drivers, none of which could comprehend our destination (even with me pointing to the location on a map). So we headed back to the hotel instead and got cleaned up. We took the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui and returned to the tailor for a fitting on our custom clothes. Then, I decided I was underdressed to meet our friends Amy & Erik for drinks at a swanky bar later that night, so I went off in search of a new outfit. I settled for a new top and shoes, which drew attention away from the ratty jeans I was wearing better than the t-shirt I had on. We were fairly far north in TST and needed to get back to the waterfront area quickly (not to mention I was wearing new shoes) so we tried to hop a cab and struck out again with the language barrier. Although this time, we had an English-speaking cab driver who clearly understood me when I said "One Peking Road," but kept asking for the address. Um, that IS the address -- ONE PEKING ROAD. He didn't get it, so we ended up high-tailing down there on foot.

Aqua Spirit is located on the top floor of One Peking Building (located at, yes, One Peking Road) and has awesome views of the Hong Kong Island skyline. As it turns out, though, the views were even better from Amy & Erik's apartment nearby. We had some drinks and appetizers, then went off in search of real food. We ended up at a restaurant close to where Amy & Erik live and had delicious and inexpensive late-night noodles. Amy & Erik were kind enough to invite us over for an impromptu visit at their apartment, which was incredible. They live on the 60-some floor of an apartment building in Kowloon, and from their balcony (which is a little high off the ground for me, but I did step outside and look for a bit while clutching the handrail tightly) they have breathtaking views of the Hong Kong Island skyline. It would be so easy to sit in their apartment every night and just be overwhelmed by looking outside the window. Their apartment is large by Hong Kong standards (and US standards in many big cities as well) and just gorgeous. We had a blast hanging out with them and hearing about their lives in Hong Kong as American expats. But we long overstayed our welcome and headed home by taxi after 1:00 a.m.

The tram to Victoria Peak:

Dim sum lunch at Tien Yi:

Views from Victoria Peak:

Che getting fitted for his new suit!

Day 14: Kowloon Markets

2008-09-18T09:18:00.004-07:00

We spent the entire day today in the Kowloon part of Hong Kong, north across the harbor from Hong Kong Island. Our first stop was a custom tailor shop, where Che wanted to have a suit and shirt made. I was just along for the ride but couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a Chinese dress made for myself. The staff was very patient in helping us choose the fabrics and styles we were looking for, then measured us for our new clothes. We go back tomorrow afternoon for a second fitting, then our clothes should be done and ready for us to pick up before we leave on Saturday. We're very excited to see how they turn out!

After the tailor, we met Jay, Cheron, and several of her coworkers for a traditional family-style Cantonese lunch, which was delicious. Cheron returned to work, and three of us set out to explore Kowloon, starting with Mong Kok. One of the interesting things about shopping in Hong Kong is that oftentimes, you will find a single street with hundreds of the same type of store. So if you are looking for something aquarium-related, you would go to the Goldfish Market. If you are looking for plants or flowers, the Flower Market. And for birds? You guessed it, the Bird Market. The same is true for many other types of goods, so it's extremely difficult to do one-stop shopping.

I wanted to take a quick stroll through the Flower Market, which is a street lined with nurseries, gardens, and shops and stalls selling tons of blooms and greenery. The variety of plants and flowers was overwhelming, and the street was so colorful and lively. And there was a huge range from very inexpensive flower stems (huge stems of lilies for only cents) to very expensive (rare and exotic orchids in the thousands of dollars). From there, we headed to the Goldfish Market, an obvious stop for the boys, who are both reef keepers. I tagged along for about two hours, but got bored of fish, corals, lights, and pumps, especially when I realized that they hadn't even made it through half the stores yet. We parted ways, and I headed south to the Jade Market, which was just closing up shop when I arrived. The Jade Market consists of over 400 vendors crammed in a warehouse-type space, each stall full of all things jade - carvings, jewelry, etc. Even with more than half the vendors packed or packing away, I was overwhelmed. I browsed but didn't buy. From there, I just wandered different areas of Kowloon - Yau Ma Tei, the shops along Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui - and eventually made my way down to the MTR station at TST where I met up with Jay, Che, and Cheron.

The four of us walked down to the TST promenade, where Che & I had been a few nights before with Amy & Erik. Between 8:00 and 8:20 every night, the skyscrapers on Hong Kong Island put on a colorful laser light display that is synchronized to music on the Kowloon side. The show was a lot of fun to watch, although it was difficult to capture any decent photographs. Afterwards, we headed back north to the Temple Street Night Market, Hong Kong's largest and most popular night market. Temple Street is closed to traffic after 6:00 p.m., and the street is crammed full of vendor stalls hawking anything and everything you might want to buy and/or eat. We picked up some souvenirs there, grabbed a bite for dinner, and finally made it back to the hotel room after midnight. It was a long day to be on our feet the whole time, and we're thinking massages might be on the agenda for tomorrow. We won't expect to pay Thai prices, though. I think the days of $7 massages are over for us.

Gorgeous rows of blooms at the Flower Market:

Can anyone tell me what these purple/pink flowers are? I thought the ones on the left were peonies. I have no idea about the ones on the right. Either way, I would have loved to have bought some. Each cluster (you can sort of see them arranged in clusters in the picture), at least three large blooms, was only $18 HKD (that's a little over $2 US).

Hong Kong Island's light show:

Day 13: Ocean Park

2008-09-17T08:27:00.003-07:00

Ocean Park is a marine center and amusement park, a Sea World of sorts, on the south side of Hong Kong Island in Aberdeen. Our main interest in going was to see giant pandas. I have only seen them in real life once, on a junior high field trip to Washington D.C., and Che never has. I have been obsessed with pandas and all things pandas since I was a little kid, and seeing the pandas up close and personal at Ocean Park were well worth every penny of the (relatively) steep admission price and what turned out to be the most miserably hot and humid day on record.

The pandas were our first stop at Ocean Park, and I could have spent the entire day there. The park was nearly empty on this Wednesday, and the pandas were all playing and romping about their habitats. Soooooooo cute. One was napping (and sometimes stirring around) right up at the front glass, so we got some great pictures of them in their enclosures and had zero crowds to deal with in the process. I had planned to get a second glimpse of them at the end of the day before leaving the park, but we stayed too late and the exhibit was closed.

We spent the rest of the day sweating our asses off at the park. You can actually see the sweat on my skin in some of the pictures. Gross. Che & Jay rode most of the rides there, we saw a cool jellyfish exhibit, an aviary, a very nice large atoll reef exhibit, a marine mammal (seals and dolphins) show, and some other marine-related attractions and stayed until the park closed. After desperately-needed and greatly-refreshing showers, we met Cheron (who had to go back to work today) for dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Causeway Bay, then walked around a small mall to burn off our gigantic desserts. Interestingly, most stores here are open very late, like midnight. As it turns out (and much to my surprise), Hong Kong people (I haven't figured out yet how to refer to people from Hong Kong - Hong Kongers? Hong Kongites? Hong Kongians?) work very long hours, typically 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Every night that we have been on the subway late, like returning from dinner, the trains have been packed with people leaving work, even at 10:00 p.m. or later. And here I thought I had it bad.

Che & Jay on the Bungee Trampoline:

This is Ying Ying, a three-year old female panda, being playful:

An An, a 20+ year old male panda, came right to the window to greet his visitors.

Sea lions performing at the marine mammal show:

Che's "Chocolate Mountain":

Day 12: Po Lin Monastery, Tian Tan Buddha

2008-09-16T19:56:00.003-07:00

We took a 40-minute MTR ride to Lantau Island, the largest of Hong Kong's 230+ islands (and the one where the international airport is located), to visit the Po Lin Monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha. Upon arrival at Lantau, we followed the signs to the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car, a relatively-new 25-minute aerial ride from the MTR station at Tung Chung to Ngong Ping, where the monastery and the Buddha are located. The only alternative to the cable car is a one-hour bus journey through Lantau. The ride there was spectacular; the ride back was terrifying. There was really no difference between the two, other than my sudden realization that I was suspended by a cable more than 50 meters in the air, but I started to freak out and wish we had opted for the bus trip instead. (And, as it turns out, I learned only afterwards that the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car only reopened in December after a cable car fell from the cable last year - the car was empty at the time, but that was not much reassurance to me. Had I known that at the time, I surely would have opted for the bus.)

Upon arrival, we bought tickets for the Tian Tan Buddha, which came with a vegetarian lunch served cafeteria-style at the monastery. We chose to eat lunch first, then head up to the Buddha. Lunch was quite good. Each table (we were seated at our own table, although it isn't uncommon for strangers to be seated together) received a bowl of eggplant soup, a pot of steamed white rice, and four entrees: vegetarian spring rolls, mushrooms with bok choy, stir-fried tofu with vegetables, and ma po tofu with peas and corn. After lunch, we wandered the monastery grounds. Po Lin Monastery is an active Buddhist monastery founded more than 100 years ago by reclusive Buddhist monks. We only saw a couple of monks while we walked the grounds. Afterwards, we headed up the 260 steps to see the world's largest seated bronze Buddha. Built in 1993, Tian Tan Buddha is 102 feet high and weighs 250 tons. Standing below it, it appears absolutely massive, and there are also great views of the monastery and Lantau Island from the top.

The cable car to Ngong Ping:

View of Lantau Island from the cable car:

Looking towards Tian Tan Buddha from Po Lin Monastery:

Tian Tan Buddha:

Close-up of the Buddha:

Overlooking Po Lin Monastery from the Buddha:

Day 11: Exploring Hong Kong

2008-09-15T08:40:00.003-07:00

After a leisurely brunch with Jay & Cheron, the four of us headed to Hollywood Street and the SoHo area of Hong Kong Island to shop and explore. We parted ways mid-afternoon, and Che & I continued to walk around on our own, eventually wandering back to our hotel in the late afternoon. The subway system (MTR) in Hong Kong is extremely user-friendly and has been easy to navigate. An octopus card makes it even more convenient. For $150 HKD (or approx. $20 US), you get a debit card with a balance of $100 HKD to use on all forms of public transportation (MTR, buses, ferries) and at many convenience stores and restaurants as well. The remaining $50 HKD is a deposit that is refunded to you when you return the card. It allows you to conveniently access the subway and not have to worry about purchasing a ticket for each ride, figuring out the appropriate fare, or carrying exact change for the buses.

We cleaned up and rested for a bit at the hotel, then met up with new friends Amy and her husband Erik for dinner at a fabulous Vietnamese restaurant, Indochine, for delicious food and wonderful company. Afterwards, we took the Star Ferry to Kowloon to walk along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, which affords incredible views of Hong Kong Island's brightly-lit night skyline. There was also a wonderful and huge lantern exhibit on display at the waterfront called WonderWaterWorld, an artistic effort to increase public awareness of environmental protection, in particular marine and wetland creatures.

Che at the Admiralty MTR station adjoining our hotel at Pacific Place:

Full moon at the WonderWaterWorld lantern exhibit on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront:

Sea life at the WonderWaterWorld lantern display:

Pearl in oyster:

View of Hong Kong Island skyline from Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront on Kowloon:

Day 10 Post-Script: Mid-Autumn Festival

2008-09-15T01:15:00.003-07:00

Jay and Cheron called at 9:00 p.m. and asked if we wanted to join them for Mid-Autumn Festival festivities at the beach. Having done hardly anything on our first day in Hong Kong, we felt obliged. We took the bus to Repulse Bay Beach, where thousands of people were gathered to sit on the beach and light candles and lanterns in honor of the full moon that appears around the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. It was also an excuse for lots of young people to get drunk on the beach and set things on fire.

According to the paper the next morning, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival experienced the hottest temperatures in 13 years. As a result, we only stayed long enough to watch our candles burn out, then headed back to the hotel.

Day 10: First Day in Hong Kong

2008-09-14T04:58:00.003-07:00

Today was a rest day. We are both showing signs of getting sick (scratchy throats, achy muscles, general fatigue, etc.) so we decided we were better off just taking it easy today. It's also a holiday here in Hong Kong (the Mid-Autumn Festival) so many shops were closing early. Seemed like a good day to just stay in.

We slept in late, then I wandered off in search of cold and sinus medicine for Che. Our hotel is connected to Pacific Place, a large upscale shopping mall full of high-end boutique stores (Versace, Fendi, Escada, Tiffany, Hermes, etc.) and cafes and restaurants. Fortunately, there is also a Watson's drugstore, where I picked up meds. I then followed the signs that said "Great Foodhall," thinking I could pick up food for lunch and take it back to the hotel room. Great Foodhall, however, was not a food court like I thought it would be. It's actually a fantastic Western-style grocery store complete with a gelato bar, juice bar, deli, and amazing bakery. I picked us both up fresh-squeezed juices chock full of Vitamin C and headed back to the hotel room. By then, Che was up and about, so we headed back to the mall for some lunch.

Pacific Place does not have a standard fast-food food court area like most malls. Everything here is a sit-down restaurant. Che was craving an American breakfast/brunch, so we hit a grill-style restaurant and afterwards he started feeling lousy again. He headed back to the room, and I headed off to the grocery store to get pastries for breakfast and a coffee from Starbucks. When I got back to the room, he was asleep. I was pretty beat too, so I laid down for a nap, and that's been our day - lounging around the hotel room, resting, and watching TV. I've also mapped out an itinerary for the week, so it wasn't a completely wasted day. Plus, we have great views from our hotel room (if you look past the reflection back into the hotel room):

High-end shopping at Pacific Place Mall:

Day 9: Leaving Phuket, Arriving Hong Kong

2008-09-13T22:06:00.003-07:00

It was a long day but not much to write about. We had planned an early morning swim before checkout, but the rain was coming down and the winds were gusty. So we packed up leisurely, then checked out and headed towards Phuket Town for some last-minute souvenir shopping. We picked up some great things at a shop on Rasada Street selling all Thai handmade goods, then grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the airport.

First task was dropping off the rental car. I neglected to mention that earlier in the week, we had a minor casualty with the car when Che backed it into a big cement post and dented and scratched the bumper plus broke the tail light out. Hey, at least it wasn't another car or, worse, a guy on a scooter. Thankfully, we had picked up the insurance (something we never do in the states but would definitely do again when renting a car abroad), so we handed over the keys and all was good.

We had an uneventful flight to Singapore and then to Hong Kong, arriving Hong Kong late Saturday night. We took the subway to Hong Kong Island and then a short cab ride later, we were arriving at the JW Marriott Hotel at just after midnight, just in time for bed.

The nicest subway by far! It was more like riding a passenger train from the airport to Hong Kong Island.

Day 8: Khao Phra Thaeo, Wat Chalong, and Muay Thai Boxing

2008-09-12T17:23:00.005-07:00

Finally, our first sunny day in Phuket! It would turn out to be our only sunny day in Phuket, but it was a gorgeous one. We had another lazy morning swimming at the resort and relaxing in the hot tub and sauna before cleaning up and headed off for the day. First stop was Khao Phra Thaeo, a national park with hiking trails to Ton Sai and Bang Prae Waterfalls. Time didn't allow for the full hike to both waterfalls, but we did hike about 5 km through the forest and along Ton Sai Waterfall. The waterfalls in Phuket are small, not like the tall falls you might see in Hawaii, but feed into long, flowing streams.

After sweating in the forest for a couple of hours, we headed down to the southern part of Phuket to visit Wat Chalong, the largest of the 29 Buddhist monasteries/temples in Phuket. This is an active Buddhist temple and, surprisingly, they invited us inside despite that we were not dressed appropriately. We had only planned to walk the grounds and take pictures from outside, but the temple was closing to visitors and before shutting the doors, the guard motioned for us to come in. Inside, the temple has granite floors and marble staircases as well as detailed and intricate painted woodwork and large colorful murals. There was also a small market on the temple grounds with various food and craft vendors.

Next stop was Phromthep Cape, the southern tip of Phuket Island, to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, our sunset was obscured by clouds despite it being a gorgeous sunny day, but we still had beautiful views of the shoreline from the Cape.

Jay does Muay Thai Boxing, and he really wanted to see some real fights in Thailand, so we headed to Suwit Boxing Stadium to pick up tickets for their weekly Friday night fights. With tickets in hand, we had some time to kill before the fights started at 8:30, so we headed off in search of dinner. Instead, we ended up at a night market selling produce and meats, much like a Farmer's market. We walked around just to look, then headed off again in search of food, not just ingredients. We ended up at a roadside "restaurant" for more stir-fried noodles and rice. A half hour and $6 US later (that's for all four of us), we were full and happy and ready to watch some fights.

Muay Thai Boxing is sort of a combination of regular boxing and kickboxing. Striking with fists, shins, knees, and elbows is all allowed during a fight. Matches are 5 rounds, 3 minutes each round. There were seven fights leading up to the main event, which was a 130-pound weight class fight. The first six fights were youth of all ages, some as young as 6 or 7, the oldest being late teens or early twenties. The fight just before the main event was one of only two adult fights, and the only one with a foreigner (Australian) fighting. It was an interesting cultural experience, particularly to see many of the rituals associated with the fights. For example, fighters pray and perform a Ram Muay ritual dance before each fight, wearing Mongkon headbands and Prajed woven armbands for blessings and protection.

We arrived back at the resort at midnight and had a late night of laundry and packing. Headed off to Hong Kong tomorrow. This week has flown by.

A gorgeous sunny day in Phuket:

Hiking through Khao Phra Thaeo to the Ton Sai Waterfall:

Wat Chalong Buddhist Temple:

Eva & Che at Phromthep Cape:

Ringside seats for Muay Thai Boxing:

Day 7: Relaxation

2008-09-11T09:39:00.004-07:00

We slept in again and spent the morning just relaxing around the resort and enjoying the property's beautiful pools. On our way to the pool, though, we stopped to take in a ride on the beach on an elephant! It was scarier and harder than I thought it would be. The elephant was very sweet, though, and his handler very accommodating. I could have spent the day just hanging out with the elephant. We checked out both the pool closest to our villa (which had a fabulous swim-up bar where we enjoyed pina coladas and mango daiquiris) and the main pool, which is huge and beautiful. The water was a bit chilly and we got a little bit of light rain, but once you got in, the water felt great. And looking out towards the ocean and watching the huge waves breaking in the distance from the relaxing resort pool was sheer heaven.

After a lazy morning swim and liquid breakfast, we cleaned up and headed into town for the day, stopping at the seafood restaurant we missed the previous night for lunch. The restaurant was right on the bay and we saw all of our lunch selections live in tanks just before they were cooked and served, so we knew it was fresh. It was the most expensive meal we've had in Thailand but well worth it and still cheaper than what we'd pay in the states for a comparable meal.

In town, we hit the spa again for massages. This time, we chose a different spa. It was just as nice as the first but I still think my first foot massage was the best. I opted for an hour-long aromatherapy massage plus an hour-long foot massage, for a total of $20 US including tip. Soooo relaxing. (Happy, Em?) Afterwards, we ate street food for dinner, shopped in Phuket Town, and headed back to the hotel.

Che & Eva riding an elephant on the beach!

Che getting elephant kisses:

Eva & Che enjoying drinks at the swim-up bar:

Che & Eva at Tha Lay Long for lunch, with a view of the bay:

Eva's squid in chili sauce for lunch:

Day 6: Surfing!

2008-09-10T06:26:00.003-07:00

Not for me. Che wanted to try his hand at surfing, so we headed down south to Kata Main Beach, which is reputed to be the best beginner beach in Phuket for surfing. On the drive down, we got hit hard by more rain. By the time we arrived at Kata Main Beach (this was only the tenth time, I think, that we've gotten lost - the maps and road signs are terrible!), even though it was only drizzling, most of the surfboard rental stands on the beach (as well as every other kind of stand) had shut down from being poured on all day long. We found one stand still open, only because the guy was out surfing himself. We happened to catch him when he came back to shore between runs, and Che & Jay were able to rent surfboards for about $12 US for 3 hours.

Cheron & I watched from the shore for about 30 minutes, taking pictures (of them floating in the water mostly, since we never saw them catch any waves), and eventually got bored. We headed off to find a place to get massages. Perfect timing too, as about 5 minutes after we got inside the spa, the rain started coming down in buckets. This "spa" was more like a hair and nail salon. Not nearly as pampering-feeling as the spa earlier in the week, but my foot massage was nearly as good. And for $7 US, who can really complain?

An hour later, we headed back to the beach in the pouring rain. Che had already returned his surfboard and was just playing in the water; we called Jay in and headed back to the resort to clean up and shower. Apparently the boys did catch waves (or so they say) after we left. But there's no photographic evidence of that. Either way, they had a great time so time and money well spent.

We called the concierge for a local seafood restaurant recommendation and managed to get a name and cryptic directions. Amazingly enough, we found it, but it was closed. So we headed north from the hotel and ended up crossing Sarasin Bridge into mainland Thailand (Phang Nga province) and stopping at the first roadside restaurant we saw. Dinner was very good, although more expensive than other places we've eaten. Still, less than $20 US for four people for a full meal isn't too shabby, especially when three of those dishes were seafood. We drove around afterwards for a place that was still open for dessert but came up short - everything was already closed.

Che gearing up for his first surfing attempt!

Che & Jay headed out to sea:

View from Kata Main Beach:

Dinner at Thanoon:

Day 5: Snorkeling Excursion to Phi Phi Islands

2008-09-10T05:56:00.004-07:00

We booked a full day boat trip to the Phi Phi Islands for Tuesday for about $50 US each. The van picked us up at our hotel bright and early at 7:30 a.m. and drove us to Ratsada Pier, where we enjoyed coffee while others trickled in. A speedboat loaded up with passengers left the pier at about 9:00 a.m. for a 45-minute boat ride to Phi Phi Leh Island in the Andaman Sea. We stopped first at Maya Bay, the backdrop for the movie "The Beach." The Phi Phi Islands were hit hard by the tsunami and redevelopment has been slow, but the islands looked beautiful to us. The limestone cliffs jutting out of the middle of the ocean were amazing. The speedboat ride, though, was miserable. Next time, I have to remember to take Dramamine earlier. Blech.

Once the drugs kicked in, it was better. We circled around the Islands just to look at the beautiful scenery and take pictures, then headed next to Phi Phi Don Island, the largest of the Phi Phi Islands and the only one with permanent inhabitants. We stopped first at Monkey Beach, which is inhabited by, yes, monkeys. Lots of them. And they're not at all afraid of humans. They will come right up and grab any food you have right out of your hands. Che, of course, was creeped out by the monkey hands. We left there, then anchored just off the island to snorkel. We saw lots of cool corals and fish, including tons of giant and super colorful clams. After the first snorkeling stop, we headed to the beach for lunch. After lunch, we took the boat to Khai Nok Island for more snorkeling and relaxing. The snorkeling and relaxing were cut short by a big storm that blew in, so we took shelter from the rain and eventually headed back in the 9-foot swells. Thank god for Dramamine.

We got back to the resort late and ended up eating dinner at the resort and calling it a night early after our long day.

Che & Eva headed to Phi Phi Islands:

Phi Phi Leh:

Che & Eva at Maya Bay:

Phi Phi Don:

Leaving Phi Phi Don:

Day 4: Phuket Aquarium, Butterfly Garden, and Spa

2008-09-09T21:11:00.003-07:00

After a lazy start and seeing a baby elephant on the beach at our resort, we headed out by rental car to Phuket Aquarium on the far southern tip of Phuket Island. The entrance fee to the Aquarium was a modest 100 Baht (approx. $3 US) per person, and that was the price for foreigners. Residents get in for half. The Aquarium was small but nice for its size, and it was part of a bigger Marine Center complex that also included a sea turtle breeding pool, an aquaculture facility, and a science and nature trail. It was raining, though, so we didn't spend much time outside the Aquarium itself. After the Aquarium, we grabbed lunch at a roadside restaurant and headed back north through Phuket Town to the Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, which was more than twice the cost of the Aquarium and not nearly as nice. We killed a little bit of time there, then headed into town for the evening.

First stop: a spa. The one we ended up (randomly) choosing was very nice. Inside, the decor reminded me of any nice US day spa, and for only 250 Baht (which is just over $7 US) each, we got hour-long massages. Che opted for the Thai massage, I chose (of course) a foot massage. SO nice. We are definitely going back at least once, maybe twice, before the end of the week. When you consider we spent more than that just to look at some butterflies, it was definitely a great value. After the spa, we grabbed delicious cheap food at a random restaurant in Phuket Town and headed back to get a good night's rest for our big snorkeling trip the next day.

Eva with a baby elephant at the resort's beach:

Che & Eva at the Aquarium:

Che & Eva outside the Aquarium:

The spa where we had $7/hr massages:

Eva & Che post-massage:

Day 3: Phuket Town

2008-09-07T08:23:00.003-07:00

Jet lag must be catching up to us differently. Che woke up at 5:00 a.m.; I slept in until 11:00. Shortly after we were both up ready to go, down came a torrential downpour of rain. We braved the rain with umbrellas to tour the resort grounds, which were beautiful. I'm sure they'll be even nicer when the weather clears. We ate lunch at the resort then headed to the airport to pick up our friends Jay and Cheron. We dropped off their stuff back at the hotel, then headed out for Phuket Town.

The rain eventually let up and we were able to walk around through town, browsing the markets and shops. I thought driving from the airport to the hotel last night was scary, but that didn't even compare to driving through town. Che had a few drinks so I took the keys after dinner, but after about an hour of driving through town, getting more lost along the way (we didn't have a good map of town nor did any of us have a good bearing on where we were or where we were trying to go), and nearly having a heart attack the whole time, I had to pull over and hand him back the keys. Scooters and mopeds pull up on all sides of you and don't really care about turning in front of you or going straight past you while you're trying to turn - I think they assume cars will stop for them. Stoplights and stopsigns are apparently just a guide, as are lane lines, so no one really feels obligated to follow them. And that's all scary enough without having to also drive on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car while trying to navigate street signs that aren't in English! I can't tell you how many times I turned on the windshield wipers when I was trying to signal a turn. When it came time to maneuver a roundabout, I was done. This was all way too adventurous for me. Che handled it much better.

After hitting a grocery store and finally making it back to the main highway to our hotel, we called it a day. Jay was jet-lagged, and the rest of us were pretty tired too. So we're perusing the guide books tonight to make a plan for the rest of the week and we'll be off tomorrow, weather permitting, to see the sights.

This is the view from our condo balcony:

The reflection pond, which is the view from the open-air lobby of the hotel/resort looking towards the ocean:

Our rental car:

Phuket is congested with scooters and mopeds:

The Municipal Market, which are streets lined with mostly food vendors. We weren't quite ready to brave street food on our first day. We'll be up for it later in the week.

Day 2: Singapore, Arrival in Phuket

2008-09-06T07:31:00.003-07:00

I was surprised by how modern, Western, and amazingly clean Singapore is. Our cab driver said Singapore used to be called a "fine country," meaning residents were fined for nearly everything, including litter. It obviously worked, because there's no trash to be found anywhere. It's also supposed to be one of the safest cities in the world. And it's beautifully lush.

We got up early today and headed out first for the Botanic Gardens. The first challenge, though, was to get past the mob outside the Marriott. That was apparently the popular place to be. First, it's the Mid-Autumn festival, so that means mooncakes. Mooncakes are baked filled pastries, and a lot of higher end restaurants and hotels come up with new and interesting varieties each year. The Marriott introduces a new signature mooncake flavor each year, and the stand outside was bombarded with taste testers and people buying boxes of mooncakes. On top of that, Formula 1 Racing is coming to Singapore for its first-ever night race, and there was a full-size Formula 1 car replica on display outside the Marriott. Construction is going on all around the city in preparation for the race, and we caught a glimpse of the spectator grandstands that are going up along the streets when we were headed back to the airport.

We walked to the Botanic Gardens and strolled through the Gardens (which are free to the public), which reminded me a lot of walking through Central Park. We headed directly for our intended destination, the National Orchid Garden located inside the park. Admission to the Orchid Garden is a little over $3 US per person, and for that, we were rewarded with the most spectactular exhibits of orchids you could imagine. I was overwhelmed by how many varieties there were and how gorgeous they are. I think I took at least a hundred pictures of orchids, most of which don't capture just how beautiful and delicate these flowers are. My favorite were the fragranced varieties, and the vanilla one in particular. Really lovely.

After a few hours at the Garden, we caught a cab to the Jurong Bird Park, which was not even on my radar for this trip. But our guide book flipped to it when I was looking for something else, it looked interesting, and it was closer (and smaller) than the Zoo, which I would have loved to have seen if we had had more time. Admission was more expensive ($12 US) but well worth it. The Bird Park was incredible. There were thousands of species of birds, many of which I'd never seen, and the exhibits and enclosures were amazing - huge, lush, and resembling natural habitats as much as possible. Many of the exhibits were actually free-flying aviaries, so once inside, it was a game to spot as many birds as possible. We could have spent hours in one aviary just trying to pick out the hundreds of birds inside. After seeing how beautiful the Orchid Garden and the Bird Park are, I was even more disappointed that we didn't get to the Zoo, which I have heard is one of the best in the world. Next time, I guess.

We had no problems getting to Phuket, which was a huge relief. We arrived after dark, though, so haven't yet had a chance to see how beautiful the island is. Driving ourselves from the airport to the hotel in a rental car was scary as hell, but we made it and checked in around 8:00 p.m. The service here has been impeccable, everyone is so friendly and nice, and the condo is fabulous. I can't wait to relax here for the next seven days.

Entrance to the Singapore Botanic Gardens:

Entrance to the National Orchid Garden:

One of about a hundred orchid photos I took at the Garden:

Waterfall Aviary at the Jurong Bird Park:

This cute little guy greeted us in our condo upon arrival in Phuket:

Singapore

2008-09-05T05:15:00.003-07:00

We finally arrived here, our first destination (just barely, though, as we are only staying 24 hours), after 26 hours of travel. Immigration and customs took about 10 minutes in Hong Kong, so we managed to catch an earlier connection to Singapore and arrive here about three hours earlier than planned. We then spent almost as much time trying to figure out the subway system to get to our hotel, which is located in the heart of Singapore's shopping district. The shopping, though, is not that different than what you'd see back home: the Gap, Borders, Swatch, Starbucks, and a McDonald's on every corner. And Singapore is EXPENSIVE. We spent the equivalent of $35 US on two (yes, TWO) drinks at the Raffles Hotel. Ouch.

The flight over was not as bad as we thought it would be. It helped that we were both completely exhausted, so we both slept about 10 hours of the 13-hour flight from SFO to Hong Kong. Arrived pretty fresh in Singapore around lunch time and spent the afternoon walking around the city, enjoying a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel (which is beautiful), and then cruising through the Singapore Art Museum. It's now about 9:00 p.m. (Friday) and we are ready for bed. Tomorrow's agenda is the Botanical Gardens, then we'll catch an afternoon flight to Phuket. So far, no news of cancellations on flights to Thailand, so I think we're good to go.

Our entire trip album is on Smugmug, but here are some highlights of the day.

The bathrooms at the Singapore Airport were beautiful!!

We were looking and feeling much more refreshed after we took hot showers and changed into clean clothes upon arriving in Singapore:

The Singapore Art Museum (which has free admission on Friday nights):

The Raffles Hotel, which is absolutely gorgeous. My pictures don't do it justice.

The Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel, birthplace of the Singapore Sling (which is actually very tasty!):

13 Days and Counting!

2008-08-21T15:14:00.002-07:00

I have to focus on vacation before I go mad with work. The time has flown, and our trip is fast approaching. In the meantime, I have appointments after appointments and work projects after work projects to get through, but there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. One that shines from SE Asia. :D

Finally!

2008-08-14T23:18:00.003-07:00

I got my car back yesterday, and it's as shiny and good as new. Looks fantastic, and I can't believe how much I missed it. It's soooooo nice to have it back.

The final insurance determination was a little more frustrating. First, the OTHER guy's adjuster concluded that I was 100% at fault. Um, yeah right! What kind of crack was he smoking? I was livid. My adjuster concluded he was 100% at fault, and the negotiations between the two adjusters fell apart because neither would budge. Go, my adjuster. The dispute ended up getting referred to some panel of senior adjusters, and they concluded that he was 80% at fault and I was 20% at fault. Have to say, if we're allocating 20% fault here, I personally think it belongs to the police officer whose car was blocking the lane of traffic I was supposed to be in when I got hit. But whatever. That means I am getting back 80% of my deductible and the out-of-pocket costs I paid for the rental car. I guess I'll take it, although I'm more concerned about how this will affect my rates. I would think that a single accident in which I was only 20% at fault in FIFTEEN years shouldn't affect me. But then again, I am probably giving the insurance company too much credit.

Countdown to Vacation

2008-08-13T13:12:00.002-07:00

21 days and counting until we hit the road, Che sporting a stylin' air cast on his leg (about which he specifically asked his orthopedist, "Can I surf in it?").

Sigh. He'll never learn.

Never a dull day.

2008-08-11T23:37:00.006-07:00

Last summer, we bought dirt bikes and got into the most rednecky hobby I never envisioned myself doing (and loving!). We rode several times last summer and even rented my brother a bike so he could ride with us when he came to visit in September. Riding season ended on that trip to Mormon Lake, though, when Che crashed on the last run of the day and broke his humerus.

His recovery has been slow but he was finally feeling well enough to head back out on the bikes. Soooooo, we rented a cabin up at Mormon Lake, invited our friend Jay to join us, and met up with friends Sharon & Rick (who camp nearby) for weekend riding. Unfortunately, a day of downpouring rain on Friday left the trails muddy, slippery, and downright tough to ride. On our first run of the day, Che's bike slipped in the mud and he managed to ram his right foot (in its hardcore boot) against a tree stump and then pin it between the stump and his bike. He said it was painful but that didn't stop him from riding the rest of the day. We got a full (HARD) day of riding in on Saturday and finally called it quits when we were all muddy and exhausted (and Sharon beat up from somersaulting over her handlebars to land on a bed of rocks).

When Che finally managed to pull his boot off, his foot swelled up like a balloon and he could barely walk on it. Not good. He still managed to drive us home on Sunday, but standing and doing stuff on it all day swelled it up to the point it looked like he had gout. I was convinced it was broken but he insisted it was just soft tissue damage, claiming "I wouldn't be able to walk on it if it were broken." Um, you're not walking so good on it if that makes a difference.

He was in quite a bit of pain this morning, so he decided to go to the doctor, who immediately said "yeah, that looks really bad although I don't think anything is broken" and referred him for an x-ray. In the meantime, I had to play chauffeur since he could no longer drive on it without excruciating pain. The x-ray tech couldn't officially read the film but did say, "something doesn't look right" and promptly sent him back to his doctor with copies of the film. And then he got the call this afternoon: "you broke your fibula." Just call me Dr. Eva and let me gloat, "I told you so."
So the official dirt bike bone breaking count for Che: humerus, fibula. In less than a year. I'm sure his orthopedist (how sad is it that he even HAS a regular orthopedist?!?!) will just shake his head tomorrow and sigh. And maybe suggest a more passive hobby, like hiking.

Here he is midday, on a break we took to reattach my fender (which flung off the front of my bike during a ride). From the smile on his face, he obviously has no idea what's to come.

And here's what a foot looks like when your fibula is broken:

Cruuuuuuuuuunch!

2008-07-29T23:01:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's the sound I heard as some bastard hit my brand new (okay, five months old, but still!) car. I was driving home from work on Friday afternoon to pick up Che before meeting friends for dinner. In an effort to avert an intersection that had been closed due to a fatal accident (so I learned later), I cut through a parking lot and came out of the driveway into the center turn lane. As I was driving down the center turn lane and waiting for a clearing to merge into the closest lane of travel, out of nowhere, some bastard in a pick-up truck rammed my driver side door trying to merge into my lane. In front of a half dozen police officers. Handy to have them as witnesses.

The officers sent other officers out to take our report, and I waited in the 110° heat with the pick-up driver yelling at me and coming over to my car to take pictures. Whatever, dude. Like I'm gonna go out this weekend and bash up my new car some more just to scam your insurance. The officers showed up, asked questions and took our statements, had us exchange information, and sent me on my way while they continued to talk to the guy and decide if they would issue him a citation. All in all, the process was relatively painless, although my door no longer opens. So my car is driveable, as long as I'm willing to crawl in and out through my passenger door. Which is generally fine, except yesterday when I decided to wear a skirt to work. And a little inconvenient when I pull into the gas station on the wrong side. Oops.

So far, dealing with the insurance company has been pretty painless too, and it helps that we both have the same insurer. I dropped off my car at the body shop in the morning and picked up an Audi A4 from Hertz. It's fine, but it's not my car. Call me spoiled rotten, I'm lost without my Bluetooth phone and my XM radio. I'm hoping the insurance company finishes its investigation quickly so that I can get my car back and drop off the rental with no out-of-pocket expenses. The body shop thought I would have my car back in a week, which shocked me. I was thinking more like a month.

Sigh. What a pain in the ass. However, dinner at Stax afterwards (to which I was only about 20 minutes late) helped make up for the drama. Gotta love a place that has tater tots on the menu. And man, these were some GOOD little fried potatoes.

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

2008-07-25T15:04:00.003-07:00

We used to be such movie buffs. I wish we could find a way to fit more movies into our lives again. Although even when we watched a ton of movies, they were generally rentals. It takes something BIG to drag me out of the house and sit among a mass of annoying people in a crowded theater when in a few weeks, I can watch it in the comfort of my own home. The Dark Knight is one of those movies.

I'll reiterate that this is not a genre of movies I typically watch or enjoy. And even putting aside the bias from my fondness of Heath Ledger, this is a fantastic movie. I loved every second of it (and there were a lot of them although they passed very quickly) and would go see it again -- IN THE THEATER -- in a heartbeat. This not only lived up to its hype, it exceeded it. And Heath Ledger as the Joker? PHENOMENAL. I went into the movie thinking, "Okay, I know there is posthumous Oscar talk, but c'mon, this is not a movie any actor is winning an Oscar for." He very much deserves to be in the running. His character is so creepily psychotic, he literally made my skin crawl. Absolutely brilliant talent.

The only minor annoyance to me was Maggie Gyllenhaal, and I am generally a fan of hers. I just didn't think she was at all suited for the role of Rachel, which was played better (am I actually admitting this??) in Batman Begins by Katie Holmes. I think someone else could have done a better job than both, although I'm not sure who that person is. Maybe Claire Danes? Or Reiko Aylesworth? Regardless, petty criticism on my part that didn't detract all that much from the movie.

I'm giving it two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Batman

2008-07-23T10:11:00.003-07:00

I am not generally a fan of sci-fi, adventure, or other similar genres of movies, including movies about superheroes and comic book/strip characters. So I have never seen any Batman movie nor would I be interested in seeing any Batman movie but for the fact that Heath Ledger is playing (so I hear) the role of a lifetime. I am a huge Heath Ledger fan, so I'm anxious to see his performance as the Joker.

A group of friends had made plans to go see The Dark Knight this week but with the caveat that only those who had previously seen Batman Begins could come along. Fine, whatever. Neither of us had, so Che bought the movie on iTunes a couple of nights ago and watched (and enjoyed) it. I started it last night and am actually enjoying it so far. I have about 45 minutes left, which I intend to watch on the treadmill this afternoon while I'm running, so that I can earn my admission to The Dark Knight this evening.

That said, how is it that I have gone 34 years without knowing that Batman is not actually a superhero? He has NO superhuman powers. I can't tell you how disappointed I was watching Batman Begins last night and realizing that he is just a super strong, well-trained guy with a bunch of high-tech equipment and gadgets. Like Inspector Gadget, but cooler. He can't fly? He can't scale walls? He doesn't magically transform from Bruce Wayne to Batman by some means other than donning his bulletproof suit?? I truly thought that the scene where he confronted the bats in the underground tunnel was where he would gain his superhuman Batman powers. But no.

I'm guessing that means Robin is just a sidekick who rides along in his cool car too.

The Countdown Begins...

2008-07-22T10:42:00.003-07:00

In 44 days (including today), I will be on a plane to Southeast Asia. And, more importantly, incommunicado with work for almost THREE weeks.

Yes, I'm having a hard time focusing and thought I needed a distraction. Maybe it's because all I can think about lately is how much I am ready to quit this job and move to NYC. Which just makes it hard to get work done.

Soon, I hope. In the meantime, I'll look forward to vacation.

I heart NY

2008-07-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

Yep, just like the cheap $2.00 t-shirts you'll find in Times Square. What a fabulous city.

Our trip started at the Newark airport, where we stood for almost an hour and a half at baggage claim waiting for our luggage. There were multiple "apology" announcements for the delay, which was caused by "several flights coming in at once." Like you didn't plan for that??? WTF, it's not like planes just show up at random! Anyway, luggage finally came, we took an uber-expensive cab ride to Times Square (I so do not remember it costing that much last time), and finally checked into the Renaissance at close to 3:00 a.m. BTW, our hotel was fabulous. The location is convenient but I don't think we'll stay in Times Square again. The hoards of tourists who will come to a complete halt in the middle of the sidewalk to take a picture of the M&M store sign and carrying shopping bags from the Gap and Hard Rock Cafe (seriously, you go all the way to NYC to eat at Hard Rock and shop at the Gap??) are too much for me.

We were barely crawling out of bed on Friday in time to meet my friend Katy and her husband Jason for a late lunch at Stage Deli. I grew up with Katy, and we were BFFs all through junior high school. This is only the second time I've seen her in the last 18 years. Lunch was mediocre, but the company was wonderful. We had a lot of fun catching up.

Afterwards, we wandered over to Junior's for their famous NY cheesecake. We took slices to go and dropped them off at the hotel before heading out for the day. Che wanted to see the New York Aquarium, which is on the Boardwalk at Coney Island.

Little did we know that the masses were all going to Coney Island for the annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Yikes - the crowds, the crowds! And no, we didn't see the hot dog contest. Probably good, since I started feeling nauseous from the heat at the aquarium, which was not all that impressive. We walked along the Boardwalk, then took the subway back to Manhattan. We had an early dinner at Tisserie, then decided to brave the even bigger crowds forming at FDR Drive for the Macy's fireworks display over the East River. We arrived at a spot near 20th Street about two hours before the show was to start. We chatted with the people around us and basically just sat/stood around (in the rain) and were finally rewarded with an awesome fireworks show. It was totally worth it.

But then the rain started coming down harder, and we were soaked by the time we made it back to the hotel, booking it the whole way on foot. It helped that we knew there was cheesecake and coffee waiting for us there, which we enjoyed while watching August Rush.

Saturday was on-and-off rainy, which didn't stop us from walking our feet off. We started with brunch at Boom Restaurant in SoHo, a spot we enjoyed last year. Afterwards, we meandered through SoHo, TriBeCa, down to the WTC site (which made my heart stop), back up through Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park, the West Village, etc., darting in and out of cafes, bookstores, and funky shops, boutiques, and markets along the way. What a blast. We made it back to the hotel in time to clean up for dinner with our friends Laura & Greg at Koi Restaurant in the Bryant Park Hotel. Gorgeous restaurant, amazing food, wonderful company. Afterwards, the four of us walked to the Music Box Theater for August: Osage County (which won the 2008 Best Play Tony among others), which was phenomenal. We scored awesome seats (center orchestra aisle, SECOND row) online a few months ago, and even though the show was almost 3 1/2 hours long, the time flew by. I could have watched it all night. Watching the stories unfold among this extraordinarily dysfunctional family was like watching a tragic yet hilarious trainwreck. I highly HIGHLY recommend this show.

Sigh, our last day in New York. The weekend just flew by. We got up early to venture north into Central Park:

We made an obligatory stop at Strawberry Fields and John Lennon's memorial:

then made our way along Central Park West to the Natural History Museum for a few hours. We then wandered through Upper West Side neighborhoods, took a break for lunch at Arte Cafe, picked up cupcakes to go from Magnolia Bakery, and eventually made our way back down through Hell's Kitchen before saying goodbye to Manhattan and returning to our hum-drum suburban lives.

Community Supported Agriculture

2008-07-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

I first heard about CSAs when I was living in Austin, and for $10/week, a bag full of fresh fruit and veggies and sometimes farm-fresh eggs would show up on my doorstep every Friday. It exposed me to all kinds of new and interesting produce, and I loved the challenge of figuring out what to do with it all before the next delivery.

In an effort to regain control of my eating (and cooking), I just joined a local, organic CSA and received my first delivery of the summer season last Tuesday:

That gigantic baguette-looking vegetable is an Armenian cucumber, and it seriously is as long as my arm. A third of it made for wonderful marinated (in rice vinegar, sugar, salt, sesame oil, and crushed red pepper) cucumbers to go on the side of garlic-sesame pork tenderloin. Most of the bounty kept well while we were in NYC (trip report to come shortly), and I hope to use a lot of it once tomorrow's delivery arrives and I see what else is on the menu this week. Unfortunately, I knew the ripe plum and yellow pear tomatoes wouldn't, so I generously shared those with my coworkers, who swore they did not let them go to waste.

Can't wait for tomorrow's delivery! Hoping for more tomatoes so I can make Cooking Light's fabulous tomato and eggplant gratin.

Rest in Peace, Ragan

2008-06-24T20:04:00.005-07:00

Michael James Ragan, born January 13, 1974, died June 18, 2008. He was 34 years old. Ragan was my brother's best friend, a brother to my brother. My heart breaks at the thought of such a young, promising life cut short, for the person he could have been, for his kids who will grow up without their dad, and for all the friends and family who loved him.

Rest in peace, Ragan. You will be missed.

More wakeboarding pics...

2008-06-08T21:07:00.004-07:00

...courtesy of our friend B.

On your mark....

Get set...

Go!

Down for the count.

I got up on a wakeboard!

2008-06-08T13:54:00.003-07:00

That was the exciting part of our trip to Bartlett Lake yesterday. We first went out there on Memorial Day with friends, J & B. J owns/operates the boat and is the resident wakeboarder. He went first and gave us all tips. Che went second and got up on his first attempt. Bastard. B went next and finally got up. On his first trip out, he wasn't able to get up but the second trip for him was a success. Me, I tried probably 20 times on Memorial Day and never got up. By the end of the day, my hands, wrists, and forearms were so beat up that I couldn't even get my car's gearshift out of park.

I tried to blame the fact that the bindings were way too big for my feet (and that I generally suck at sports), so before yesterday's trip, I rented some bindings that actually fit my feet. The boys all took their turns first, then it was my turn. With the smaller bindings and some new and different tips I read online, and about 4-5 attempts, success! I got up on a wakeboard!!! And I was so excited to be up, that I freaked out and promptly fell down. Who knew that staying up would be so much harder than it looks???

I took a few more passes and managed to stay up for a little while each time, but the crappy part of yesterday's trip is that I totally jacked up my right knee. I don't even know how or when it happened, I just know that today, I can't bend my knee without excruciating pain. I guess I'm off to the doctor tomorrow to have it checked out. I'm hoping I just twisted or strained it and that it's nothing more serious. But I got up!! :D

Ready, set....

GO!

Aaaaaand, then she's down.

Chicago Trip Report

2008-06-02T21:14:00.003-07:00

We looooooooooved Chicago!! What a great city. Not for us to live in (too cold!) but to visit? We will definitely be back. There was so much to see in just four short days.

Thursday morning, we got up early, grabbed coffee at the Corner Bakery & Cafe, and headed out the roughly 2.something mile walk to the Shedd Aquarium. It was a gorgeous morning for the long stroll. We met up with a group from Che's conference for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Aquarium, which was mostly technical stuff that didn't interest me. Getting to see the breeding seahorse and seadragon tanks, though, was really neat. After the tour, we spent another few hours going through the exhibits at the Aquarium. The Komodo dragon was very cool, in a large creepy reptilian sort of way:

And who doesn't love a cute penguin?

This is us outside the Shedd:

The walk back to the hotel was long after being on our feet all day so we took our time walking up along the lake and through Millenium Park, stopping at Caribou Coffee for an afternoon break, where we met up with my friend Debie. That night we had a quick dinner at Bella Bacino's before heading to the Oriental Theater for Wicked. If you have not seen that show yet, you MUST. It was FABULOUS. Loved every minute of it.

Friday, Debie & I set out for shopping in Wicker Park/Bucktown, but we bailed with the crappy rainy weather and headed for the Michigan Avenue malls and indoor shops instead. Had a light lunch at Friends Sushi, which was fantastic. Then met up with the other CL girls for tea at the Drake:

Friday night was dinner at Everest, which turned out to be a great choice. Everest is on the 40th floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange, so the views were incredible. We weren't able to get a window table for dinner but they generously moved us to one for dessert/coffee.
We had the option of Chef Joho's 8-course (or something like that) degustation tasting menu, but a few of the choices (like the sweetbreads) turned me off. Plus it required the entire table participation. Instead, we each opted for a four-course menu, not thinking the portions would be as large as they were. The four-course menu gave us each a choice of two appetizers, an entree, and a dessert.

The meal started with three amuses bouches (from left to right: something I can't remember but was a blend of different seafoods and had a spongey-like texture in some kind of lobster sauce, warm asparagus soup with creme fraiche and lobster, and broccoli emulsion with parmesan cheese that had the consistency of mousse):

My appetizer choices were the peeky toe crab cocktail and the Casco bay sea scallops:

DH had the warm asparagus with poached egg and the roasted Maine lobster with ginger butter:

My entree selection was the filet of Dover sole with lemon and capers:

DH had the tenderloin, of course:

And for dessert, I had the chocolate crepes layered with banana brulee, which was TO DIE FOR:

DH had the Five Tastes of Chocolate:

And after dessert, the server brought out this lovely selection of petit fours:

The best one (that even rivaled my delicious dessert) was the little cone-shaped one, which was a dark chocolate-covered mint marshmallow.

Our hotel had a gorgeous view of the Wrigley Building and the Tribune building:

Our hotel itself is the building to the left:

I wasted a gorgeous Saturday sleeping in my hotel room, but we did head to the Hancock Center that night for drinks in the Signature Lounge on the 95th floor. A beautiful view of Navy Pier:

We capped off the trip on Sunday with a long walk all over the city, ending at Navy Pier, where I thought my feet were going to fall off from all the walking and insisted on taking a water taxi back to the hotel:

Goodbye, sweet Brandy

2008-05-25T10:04:00.003-07:00

Fourteen years ago, Che woke me up in the middle of the night coming home late from work with this scrawny mutt puppy by his side. Two of his coworkers were returning from Colorado when they saw a pickup truck in front of them pull off to the side of a busy Texas interstate and kick this dog out of the back to fend for herself. She was scared and bewildered, so they picked her up and drove her home to College Station with them. They stopped by work on the way to the animal shelter, and Che being the softie that he is, agreed to rescue her.

Brandy was so skinny you could see her ribs, and her muzzle was full of porcupine quills. But she was also the sweetest dog you could ever meet. She didn't take well to strangers (especially men) at first, but we think that's because she was abused as a puppy. We spent the next 14 years making sure she forgot about that life and knew nothing but love and happiness.

After Abbey died in November, Brandy seemed to decline rapidly. I think she missed her best friend, but today they're together again in a better place.

We love you Brandy, and we will miss you more than you can ever know. Rest in peace, my sweet beautiful girl.

Keeping my sanity

2008-05-12T21:15:00.003-07:00

My work life sucks right now, so in an effort to not completely lose my mind, I made a list of things that I am thankful/grateful for or that I have to look forward to. If I focus on these things, I might not have a nervous breakdown today.

1) My sister-in-law Aubry's cancer has not spread to her lymph nodes;

2) My brother-in-law has a job interview in two days that would give him a potential great new career opportunity, which he desperately needs;

3) My friend Michelle is coming to visit in two weeks;

4) I am finally getting a desperately-needed massage this weekend;

5) We are going to Chicago for the first time at the end of the month;

6) I get to spa/shop/dine with my friend Debie in Chicago;

7) I'm having drinks in Chicago with an old junior high/high school friend that I haven't seen in probably 20 years;

8) I have a three-day weekend this month!

9) I am going to bed before 10:00 tonight. :)

The City of Brotherly Love

2008-05-01T20:40:00.005-07:00

My blog (and life) have been sad this year. I have been so consumed by work that I can't seem to find time to post more than an average of twice a month. Pathetic. So I might as well post about something tangentially related to work.

Last week, the firm sent me to Philadelphia for our twice-annual seminar. This was technically my third trip to Philly, but I can't say that I've really seen much of the city on any of my previous trips. This time, between meetings, I did find time to check out a couple of sights. Che sent me to the Mint for him (he's recently taken up numismatism as a hobby), which turned out to be a bit of a hassle for our group of four. They don't allow camera phones inside and they don't have lockers either, so one of my colleagues offered to stay outside with our stuff while we quickly toured the Mint. Turns out she was the smart one. There was no A/C inside, so we blazed through the tour, sweltering along the way, then I picked up a couple of souvenirs for him in the gift shop.

Then we headed across the street to the Constitution Center, Independence Hall (which we only saw from the outside because all the tickets for the day had been distributed), and the Liberty Bell. Oh, and to Jim's on South Street for the obligatory Philly cheesesteak afterwards, with a stop at Reading Terminal Market on the way back to the hotel. A virtual wealth of sightseeing compared to my previous trips. I even took photos!

Tag, You're It!

2008-04-19T07:56:00.005-07:00

I've been tagged, by Collateral Evidence.

1. Pick up the nearest book (one of at least 123 pages).

2. Open the page to 123.

3. Find the 5th sentence.

4. Post the next 3 sentences.

5. Tag 5 people.

I have to admit, I had to dig through my nightstand to find something other than a People magazine. I finally came up with Capote's In Cold Blood, a book I started at least two (three?) years ago. I'm not sure I ever got past the first chapter.

"Hitchhiking his way to New Mexico? No, he said, he was driving his own car. And it was parked down the lane a piece."

Hmm, maybe I'll try this one again. Thanks, Amanda!

Now off to tag Robyn, Laura, the other Laura, and JeAnne. Yeah, I know that's only four people - I couldn't come up with five.

Bit by the travel bug

2008-04-04T22:47:00.003-07:00

Che & I are in the fortunate position to be able to do quite a bit of traveling now. Well, putting aside the fact that I do have to work on pretty much every vacation I take and can't generally avoid calls on my cell phone, emails on my Blackberry, and sticking to locations where I can be wired and accessible. Umm, does that even COUNT as a vacation??? Anyway...

For my left-brained, OCD, dysfunctionally-anal retentive self, 90% of the fun in travel is planning the trip. Works out well for Che, since all he has to do is show up and go where I tell him. I know, I must be totally crazy. Or a travel agent at heart. That's not to say I plan every minute of every day of every trip. At least not anymore. :)

That said, booking our "big" trip of the year turned out to be a huge headache, even for me. And we're not quite there yet, but we're close enough that I'm no longer panicking. And we're super excited to head to Thailand (Phuket and Bangkok) and Hong Kong for two weeks in September!! What's funny is that we're almost as equally excited to return to NYC in July for a long weekend, a trip we impulsively booked last night just because we had the airline miles and hotel points to do it. We can't wait to spend more time in NYC - we had a great time there last year but our two days (plus) there was not nearly long enough.

But before that, we have our first trip to Chicago to look forward to next month. We've been looking forward to visiting Chicago for a long time. So far, the agenda includes a trip to the Shedd Aquarium, tickets to Wicked with my friend Debie (who is great enough to come down from Michigan to hang with me for a couple of days!), and dinner reservations at Everest (it was a very tight toss-up between Everest and Tru, not that we could go wrong with either).

Despite having to be completely connected to the office on my trips, at least I'm not IN the office, right? I can't tell you how much I look forward to these getaways throughout the year - I think I'd go insane at work without them. Now to break the news to my boss that I'll be needing three weeks of vacation in the next six months.

Bend Trip Report

2008-03-15T23:44:00.005-07:00

I guess technically that should be Redmond, Oregon, which is where we were staying at Eagle Crest Resort. We spent most of our time in and around Bend, about 20 minutes away. But our 2-bedroom condo/townhouse was great, and the resort grounds were beautiful. I especially enjoyed the running path along the gorgeous Deschutes River:

Che's buddy Rik joined us for the first few days. For most of the week, the weather was GORGEOUS. We spent Saturday tooling around town, had lunch at Deschutes Brewery, and had a fabulous dinner at Deep. We already had plans to meet up with our friends Cory & Lisa at Deep on Monday night, but you can never have enough sushi. Monday's dinner was even better:

Sunday we hit the slopes at Mt. Bachelor. After a private lesson, I was still nowhere near ready to go. What happened to my confidence in seven years? Sure enough, at the bottom of the first run, I took a pretty hard hit to the head and was done for the day. Learned my lesson, though, and decided to rent a helmet the next time out. The boys, on the other hand, were tearing it up. They spent all day Sunday and Monday on the mountain. I spent Monday shopping, lunching, and spa-ing with my Lisa.

Rik went home on Tuesday, and Che & I were pretty much on our own the rest of the week. We did have a great dinner with my friend Alycia at Cork on Tuesday night, enjoyed a couple of massages (at our resort and at Jinsei Spa), did some shopping, ate some great food, and caught up on some R&R. Oh, I can't forget to mention breakfast at the Mustard Seed Cafe in Redmond - AWESOME.

The weather turned cold and snowy on Thursday. We hit Mt. Bachelor for the last time on Friday and boarded as long as we could until the visibility turned to complete crap:

We had a fun week, but man, I do not miss the cold.

Next trip up - Chicago in eight weeks!

Snowbound!

2008-03-04T22:10:00.004-07:00

We haven't really seen much snow since leaving Oregon six years ago, so this year we decided to take a "snow" Spring Break trip instead of a "sun" one. We get plenty of sun living in Arizona. We leave on Saturday for a week in Bend/Redmond, home of Mt. Bachelor. This is us, about 6 1/2 years ago, on our last trip to Bachelor:

I am excited to hit the slopes again, after a refresher lesson, of course, and to spend some time hanging out with my dear friend Lisa, who lives in Bend. Che's buddy Rik is also joining us for the first couple of days. I can't wait to leave. Then again, anything that involves me not having to be at work is a good thing in my book.

Meet my new ride!

2008-02-23T19:08:00.008-07:00

Happy belated birthday to me. :D Today, I am the proud new owner of this 2008 Infiniti EX Journey:

Isn't it bee-yoo-tee-ful??? The color is Dark Currant, and the interior is Wheat:

This thing is loaded with bells and whistles, not the least of which is a fully-integrated communications center, which is my interactive navigation system, 9.3 GB musicbox hard drive, satellite radio, iPod interface, Bluetooth phone, voice recognition for audio/phone/navigation commands, and oh yeah, an around-view monitor (cameras all around the vehicle to show you obstacles) combined with a sonar system, which beeps when something comes within a few inches of your bumpers.

This is my first "luxury" vehicle, and I love the details that Infiniti adds to its cars. Like the embroidered "Infiniti" logo on the front seats:

It was a lot of back and forth for me before I ended up deciding to go for it. It is a lot smaller than my last car (a Nissan Murano), and I had a lot of concerns about that. Truth is, I still do. I'm still not 100% sure I made the right decision, and I hope I don't end up regretting my choice in six months or a year, wishing I had stuck with a bigger car. For now, though, the EX has me won over.

Happy Birthday To Me!

2008-02-18T11:21:00.005-07:00

We returned to Amara Resort and Spa for one night, compliments of the hotel to make up for the trouble we had in December. They more than came through for us on this trip. First, they let us book just one night, when they otherwise had a two-night minimum for Valentine's weekend. Then, they upgraded our already-free room to a king suite with a whirpool tub and a patio that opened up to Oak Creek for a gorgeous morning view. On top of that, they gave us a gift certificate for dinner in their restaurant, which was fabulous.

This was my birthday meal of a half butter-poached Maine lobster tail and claw, two seared Maine diver scallops, an organic olive oil cake, and truffled brussels sprouts petals in a black pepper-tarragon lobster emulsion. YUM. Dinner was so delicious, I didn't even bother with dessert.

And this was the view from our hotel room the next morning as we enjoyed a room service breakfast of pancakes with warm Vermont maple syrup, fresh berries, and applewood smoked bacon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T21:12:00.007-07:00

I love Valentine's Day, despite its bad rap as a commercial, sappy, "Hallmark Holiday." Maybe because it's so close to my birthday, so it's like a weeklong celebration of me, starting with Valentine's Day.

So I'm sitting in my office yesterday, working away. Little did I know that Che was lurking outside my office door. Fortunately for him, my coworker next door saw him and dragged him into her office without me seeing. Ten seconds later, I get a call from another coworker, whose office is five doors down the other direction, asking me to come down and help her figure out what some kind of document is. Had I thought harder about it -- and had I been even the slightest bit suspicious -- red flags would have gone up, since this coworker graduated first in her law school class and is sharp as a tack, so the likelihood of her asking me to help her figure out a document is pretty lame. But nice distraction.

Anyway, off I go, and when I come back to my office, this gorgeous arrangement is on my desk:

Mmmmmm, ice cream!

2008-01-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

So my dear friend Sandy emailed me last week and asked if I would be home on Tuesday afternoon to accept a package that was time-sensitive. Um, I can be. What time and WHY? She wouldn't say, but I could tell she was just giddy about it. Turns out it wasn't quite sensitive enough that I couldn't go the gym early and then head home, which I did. I arrived home at 5:45 and found this styrofoam cooler on my doorstep:

Oooooooh, I've heard of this stuff!! Oprah loves it!!!

I carried it in and tore it open to find six delightful little pints of ice cream and sorbet inside, still frozen rock solid. Yippeeeeeee - guess what I'm having for dinner!

Man, how do you decide where to start?? Actually, it was easy. You start with the sorbet. Then move on to the GOOD stuff. (No offense to sorbet, which I do love. But c'mon, ice cream has CREAM. And FAT. And tastes sooooooo yummy.)

First up:

This was amazing sorbet - creamy tasting and bursting with sweet raspberry flavor.

Next up:

Oooooh, so refreshing! Light lemony flavor with just the right amount of tart to give it that bite that I love from lemons.

And now for the good stuff:

This one I was a little hesitant about, given my aversion to fruit mixed with chocolate. Sue me, but I think chocolate should be pure and unadulterated. Unless it's mixed with a nut flavor, then it's OK.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was! The black raspberry flavor was really rich, and holy smokes - there are some huge chunks of chocolate in there!

Next up:

I have never been a huge peanut butter fan, with the exception of Reese's Peanut Butter cups, although I am learning to like it more and more. Wow, another pleasant surprise! The peanut butter flavor is distinct without being overpowering, and again with the huge chunks of chocolate. Can't beat that.

The first of the two I was really looking forward to trying:

Mmmm, chocolate and almond - two of my favorite flavors. The only thing better than either of them individually is the two flavors combined. This did not even come close to disappointing - I could have easily eaten the whole pint in one sitting. DIVINE.

And finally, the piece de resistance. Turns out I really did save the best for last!

O. M. Gaaaaaaawd. This was INCREDIBLE. I love coconut, and there are actually big chewy flakes of coconut in this, not just fake imitation coconut flavoring (I'm sure there's that too). I couldn't actually stop at just one small spoonful of this stuff like I did the others. I had two heaping spoonfuls and savored every last calorie. Good thing Che doesn't love coconut - this one is all mine! And will be gone by the weekend, I'm sure. Thanks, Sandy - you are the BEST.

Where The Wild Things Are

2008-01-02T23:13:00.000-07:00

Most people who know Che well know that he is a HUGE fan of Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are. It's his favorite childhood book, and he still worships Max and company. Back in 2000, Todd McFarlane (creator of Spawn) collaborated with Sendak and released these action figures of Max and company:

I promptly bought up the whole set on eBay for Che for Christmas that year, and they've been a favorite of his ever since. He was loathe to remove them from their never-opened packaging, but he really wanted to display them, and I'm glad he did. They were on display in our house in Austin but they've been in a box since we moved here, although he plans to dig them out this weekend and put them back out. Each figure, except for Max and Goat Boy, is about 6" tall, so the whole scene does take up a bit of room. I think they're going in our "game room" (aka dining room, which is occupied by a pool table - sigh).

In any event, my dear friend Emily, who apparently paid attention when she visited us in Austin (and has probably been around Che when he's been wearing his favorite Max and company t-shirt), sent us these wonderful nesting dolls from Russia for Christmas:

Che's eyes lit up like a little kid's when he saw them. The pictures don't do them justice, but they are fabulous. The artist that painted them is so incredibly talented - they are a spot on replica of Max and his friends. And just for fun, I took a close-up of each of the dolls.

Tzippy and Moishe:

Max and Bernard:

Tzippy:

Max:

And my favorite, Max sailing in his boat:

Em, if you're reading this, thanks again - you rock.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

New Year's Eve is generally a pretty quiet evening for us. Last night, we joined friends (who happen to be my bosses) for dinner at Furio. They were doing a special prix fixe menu for NYE, which turned out to be fabulous. I wish I had thought to bring my camera so I could have taken photos of the meal. Bummer.

In any event, the meal consisted of five courses. We had our choice of two items for most of the courses; for the main course, we had our choice of four. First course for most of us was the Peppercorn and Herb Crusted Ahi with a Potato-Leek Cake. The ahi was seared a little better than rare, which is not my favorite, and the peppercorn was a bit overpowering for me, but everyone else loved it. I did, however, savor the potato-leek cake, which was excellent. While we were enjoying our ahi, Dave was enjoying his Baked Oysters with Lemon and Olive Oil Drizzle.

Second course for me was the Baratta Cheese Pizzette with Baked Plum Tomatoes and Baby Greens. Excellent, my favorite course of the night. I'm not familiar with Baratta cheese, but it reminded me of a rich, fresh buffalo mozzarella melted atop the tiny pizza. YUM. The rest of the group ordered the Kobe Beef Carpaccio with Baby Arugula and Goat Cheese Salad. Che especially loved it, but raw red meat is not my thing.

The next course for three of us was the Tomato and Dungeness Crab Bisque with a Petite Candied Pancetta and Tuscan Grilled Cheese Sandwich. The bisque was a little bit of a disappointment for me (not enough for me not to lick the bowl clean, but not the rich creamy bisque I had imagined it would be), but the tiny little sandwich was to die for. Julie must have loved the three Saffron and Shrimp Tortellini with Roasted Garlic and Gorgonzola Sauce, because her plate was clean before I even started to eat my soup and sandwich.

For three of us, the main course was Vanilla Poached Maine Lobster with Artichoke Au Gratin and Grilled Asparagus. The presentation was adorable - all of the lobster meat had been removed from the shells but arranged with the empty tail and head shells to look like a whole lobster on the plate. The lobster was buttery and sweet, with just a hint of vanilla, which was a nice contrast to the sharpness of the marinated artichokes in the au gratin. Che, of course, went with the red meat option: Filet Mignon with Braised Cabbage and Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes. I had a taste of his smoked gouda potatoes, which were sooo delicious. His steak was cooked to medium rare perfection.

Finally, dessert. I was the only one who chose the Ricotta Blini Strawberry Shortcake. Not really knowing what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised. The blini were these silver-dollar sized pancakes sandwiched with layers of a ricotta strawberry cheesecake-like filling. Yum. The rest of the group, being the chocoholics they are, ordered the Chocolate Bomb with Caramel Mousse, which was a huge serving of rich creamy caramel mousse served in a bowl made of dark chocolate, topped with fresh berries. I had a bite and while it was very good, it was much too rich for me. Che and Dave cleaned their plates and then finished off what was left of Julie's, after she ate off the fruit.

After dinner, we shared a champagne toast to what I hope will be a wonderful 2008.

Sedona Red Rocks

2007-12-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a gorgeous place. I can easily imagine how someone who lives in Sedona would never want to live elsewhere. I mean, why would you ever move if you woke up to views like this from your window every morning?

My personal favorite, Snoopy Rock:

Anyhow, we had a promotional offer to spend two nights at Amara Resort and Spa for $169 + tax in exchange for sitting through a 90-minute timeshare presentation at the Hyatt nearby. They also offered us a $200 gift certificate to be used at any of a number of restaurants or spas in the area, so how could we pass it up? I decided it would be a perfect way to spend the weekend of Che's birthday, and it was.

The weather was cold (for Arizona!) but sunny and beautiful. Overnight temps were in the teens but the days warmed up to the 50s, which was perfect for strolling through the shops and galleries in uptown Sedona. The hotel was very nice, although there were some significant snafus that put a bit of a damper on the weekend, the biggest being that the hotel restaurant closed on Friday and did not reopen for our Saturday night dinner reservation, something we didn't learn until late in the day Saturday, or for our planned lazy Sunday morning room service breakfast. After speaking to the manager, though, the hotel did generously offer for us to return for another stay with dinner for two in their restaurant, their compliments. Nice! Looks like we will be headed back for my birthday weekend in February.

The timeshare presentation was fine. Our sales guy was a retired pilot now living in Sedona and working for Hyatt to "keep busy." Totally no pressure, and he was actually a lot of fun to talk to. His wife is a travel writer specializing in the Caribbean, so we shared lots of stories of travels in the Caribbean, and he gave us some great suggestions for future trips. And no, we did not buy (another) timeshare. Anyhow, I digress.

Saturday night, we went to Red Rock Fantasy at Los Abrigados, which is a festival of dozens of displays of holiday lights set up throughout the resort by local families. Visitors vote on their favorites - mine, of course, was the Snoopy/Woodstock display. Afterwards, we ate dinner at Joey Bistro at Los Abrigados, a pretty mediocre meal which left me even more bitter that the restaurant at Amara was closed.

Sunday was a lazy day at the spa at Sedona Rouge, which culminated in an hour-long couples massage for Che & I, compliments of our "free" gift certificate. He had a deep tissue massage while I enjoyed an oh-so-relaxing reflexology/foot massage. Afterwards, he admitted he has never understood why I love going to the spa with my girlfriends and spending an arm and a leg for a day of relaxation. Now he knows better. We're looking forward to doing the same when we go back in February.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

A day late, I know. We were busy hanging out with friends yesterday and having a grand time putting together a puzzle, something we haven't done in years. What fun!

Santa was much too good to me this year. Some of my favorites (there is way too much to name it all!) included this gorgeous travel/computer case from Brighton:

This adorable cat pen (to match the dog pen I already have):

And this great kitchen timer, which was MADE for me:

My Neighborhood Market

2007-12-20T23:19:00.000-07:00

If you knew my neighborhood, you'd think I was pulling your leg. The fact of the matter is, we live in a pretty sketchy part of town. Okay, really sketchy. (i.e. our next-door neighbor, who we were on a first-name basis with since we moved in three years ago, was convicted of raping a woman in the empty house next door to him after luring her there via a Craiglist ad - yeah, we learned about that when we saw the TV crews setting up shop in our front yard). Basically, during the residential real estate boom here a few years ago, they started plopping down nice, brand-new developments in the middle of what has always been a heavily industrial/agricultural part of town. And then they started commercial development around them, but for some reason, the area around ours has remained undeveloped for a long time.

And then finally a little shopping center down the street from us started opening its doors. First a Lowe's. Yippee for Che! No more 20 minute one-way trips to the nearest Home Depot. Not long after that, the Staples next door opened. Also nice. But the most exciting addition opened yesterday, and I am thrilled. It's our local Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market. Keep in mind that until now, the nearest grocery store was at least 15 minutes away. This market is right down the street. Close enough to walk if I want to (and it's on the loop that I frequently run, so I know it's almost exactly a half mile from my house). I have been anticipating this market for months and can't believe it's finally open. I've been reading the Fresh & Easy blog almost daily for updates on their stores and to learn about their concept, which impresses me.

We stopped in tonight to check it out, and I am in love. The size is comparable to a Trader Joe's, so you can be in and out quickly. ALL of the checkout lanes are self-check, which makes me soooo happy, although their clerks are there to bag your groceries for you. And the store is so bright and clean. Things are arranged very neatly, so it's easy to shop there. They have a GREAT selection of healthy prepared meals, so I can stop in and grab dinner (tonight was crab rolls - yum) instead of swinging through a fast food drive thru on the way home.

They're also very eco-friendly. They're committed to constructing green buildings, with LED lighting and lots of skylights and windows for natural lighting. There's in-store recycling for plastic, plastic bags, aluminum, glass, and paper. Their parking lot has bike racks and a number of reserved spots for hybrid vehicles. They also provide, free of charge to customers, reusable and recyclable shopping bags. Oh, and as part of their grand opening celebration, they were giving away free bouquets of fresh-cut flowers. I took home these nice tulips and irises:

Oh, and best of all? Their prices are great. Pretty comparable to TJ's. And they also carry a good selection of conventional products, so I can get my fresh produce and hormone-free meats and dairy at great prices, and still satisfy my Coke fix and Che's addiction to Post Honey Bunches of Oats in one fell swoop. Hopefully, more often than not, this is the only stop I will have to make for my weekly grocery shopping. Yippeeeeeee!

Seriously, I have not been this excited about a grocery store since Central Market in Austin. Don't get me wrong, this is no Central Market. NOTHING compares to Central Market. But considering what's around me, I am damn happy to have the Fresh & Easy and actually can't wait to do a full blown shopping trip there this weekend.

Christmas Poll

2007-12-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

Che & I spent a wonderful weekend in Sedona celebrating his birthday, but since my trip report is not quite ready to post (which reminds me I still haven't posted my Grand Cayman report - yikes!), I'll leave you today with this Christmas poll, which I stole from my friend Emily's blog, (and which she lifted from elsewhere).

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. I love wrapping paper but I'll resort to cute gift bags if I have an odd-shaped gift. I suck at wrapping things that aren't shaped like boxes.

2. Real tree or artificial? None. I love Christmas, but I don't decorate for it.

3. When do you put up the tree? See Response to No. 2.

4. When do you take the tree down? Again, No. 2.

5. Do you like eggnog? No, naaaaasty.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A red bicycle.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope. No. 2.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My parents. They have everything or they can get it for themselves. They are SO hard to shop for.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My husband. He's basically a 12-year-old when it comes to receiving gifts. For his birthday, he got a kite and loved it. He was trying to guess his Christmas gift (unsuccessfully) on our drive to Sedona, and among the things he got excited about (for no reason since he's not getting them) are a pogo stick and a metal detector. Sigh.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? ?? A set of Christmas kitchen towels. Since I don't decorate (see Response to No. 2), I have no use for them.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. Sometimes a little late, but I do send them.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Charlie Brown Christmas.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas ? Usually after Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Does donating a gift to Goodwill count? If not, no.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Nettie's Bennie wafers. YUM.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? No tree (let's see, how many times can I reference Response to No. 2?), but if I were to have a tree, I would opt for clear lights. So elegant.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Do They Know It's Christmas?

18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Depends. This year, staying home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Of course.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? No tree (you know the drill), but I definitely would not have an angel and would probably opt for something other than a star as well.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Che's family tradition is to open one on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning, so that's how we try to do it, but I usually want to open them all on Christmas Eve.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Santa Baby, the worst song ever recorded.

23. What I love most about Christmas? Buying presents.

24. Favorite Christmas Cookie? The classic, beautifully-decorated sugar cookie.

Thanks, Em!

Happy Birthday, Baby Bear!

2007-12-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

Thirteen years ago today, our sweet baby boy was born. We got him about 8 weeks later and called him Nacho. A fitting name, once you get to know his silly personality.

Happy birthday, baby.

Nacho and Abbey (circa 2000):

Beagle Buddies:

Pre-Holiday Blues

2007-12-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a rough couple of weeks, but now that I am almost recovered from a sinus infection, I am trying to get back into a routine. The house feels so different with Abbey gone; we hadn't even realized how much the "life of the house" she was until she was no longer here. It's very quiet around here now. One evening as I pulled into the garage after work, for a split second, I wondered why I didn't hear her barking, like she always did when she heard the garage door. For that split second, it's like I had forgotten that she was gone. My eyes trick me sometimes into thinking that I see her around the house. When it hits me that she's gone, it feels like my heart is breaking all over again. I know these instances will come from time to time, and that they'll get less frequent as time passes. But right now, the pain is still very raw. I miss her so much my heart hurts some days.

So in an effort to get into the holiday spirit a little more, I decided I wanted to bake Christmas cookies this year, something I haven't done in several years. After scouring recipes and cookbooks and holiday magazines, and making a list of a dozen different cookies, I scrapped the whole list and decided just to do my sugar cookies (which Che loves). I thought it would be more fun to really get into decorating them NICE this year, instead of slapping on some red and green food-colored icing and calling them good. But then I found this recipe on the Cooking Light board for Meyer lemon ricotta cookies and couldn't pass it up. My Meyer lemon tree is brimming with fruit, some of it starting to come ripe, plus it was a good excuse to buy dragees, which are so pretty and festive. I'm still planning to make sugar cookies, just not tonight.

First, let me say that you'd think silver dragees are last year's Nintendo Wii or something, they're so hard to find. And when you do find them, they'll cost you an arm and a leg. And you might have to fend off someone else for the last one on the shelf. I managed to find the silver ones at the third place I stopped in today, and grabbed the last jar off the shelf while another shopper was browsing the display. You snooze, you lose. And then I proceeded to pay $15 for the measly 3.3 ounce jar. Ouch. Didn't know how far they would go, so I picked up a jar of pastel-colored ones too, which are the ones I ended up using for the cookies because I am selfish and decided to hoard my silver ones in the event that I can never find them again.

Okay, onto the cookie. This is a wonderful, soft, cakey, lemony cookie. The icing is more like a thick, rich frosting than a glaze. Eating one of these cookies is like eating the top off a frosted lemony cupcake. YUM. And the recipe is huge - I got 55 cookies from one batch.

MEYER LEMON RICOTTA COOKIES
Makes 4 dozen

Ingredients:

Cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
15 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or 1 teaspoon lemon and/or tangerine baking oil
3 tablespoons Meyer lemon zest, freshly grated*
1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Glaze:
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
Decorating sugar, silver dragees (small silver balls), optional
*Meyer lemons are available mid-November through early spring in specialty food stores. You will need 2 to 3 medium-sized lemons. Regular lemons can be substituted.

Cooking Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine butter and sugar in bowl; cream together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, ricotta, lemon extract (or baking oil), zest and juice; blend well. Add 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt; blend to combine. Add remaining flour in two parts, blending to combine between each, until a dough forms. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake until cookie edges are very light golden, about 12 to 15 minutes. Let cookies rest on baking sheet for a few minutes and transfer to wire cooling rack.

While cookies cool, prepare glaze by creaming together butter and sugar. Continue to mix, gradually adding juice until desired consistency. Decorate cooled cookies adding dragees or decorating sugar, if desired, before icing sets.

Recipe © 2007 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.

Sweet dreams, little little one

2007-11-21T22:47:00.000-07:00

We are so very grateful for the ten wonderful years you gave us. You may have left our lives, but you will never leave our hearts.

Abbey Rhodes Princess
May 27, 1997 - November 21, 2007

Godspeed, little one.

Abbey Rhodes Princess

2007-11-19T17:18:00.001-07:00

That was the AKC name we gave her when we registered her. Her mom was something something Queen, and her dad was something Rhodes something. Hence, Abbey Rhodes Princess, which turned out to be a nice play on words on the Beatles' album title (Che being a big Beatles fan). She was born on May 27, 1997, and she came into our lives about 10 weeks later. She will leave it much too soon.

Unfortunately, the news today could not have been worse. The ultrasound showed a massive lesion on her spleen which has already ruptured and begun to bleed into her belly. There are also lesions all over her liver and her lungs. The oncologist was nearly certain that it is hemangiosarcoma, which has a very very poor prognosis. Surgical and chemotherapy options would buy us only months at best, and that's assuming she could even make it through surgery. She is already very anemic and would require plasma and blood transfusions to even undergo surgery. If the surgery is successful, it would stop the bleeding from the spleen lesion, but it would be just a matter of time before the other lesions would do the same. In the end, we decided that prolonging the inevitable would be more for our benefit than for hers.

So, the oncologist (who was a wonderful, wonderful woman for whom I gained the greatest respect and admiration in the short time we spoke - I am forever grateful that there are people like her in this world) sent us home with instructions to spoil her rotten in the few days we have left with her. We will be lucky to make it through Thanksgiving before we have to make the very painful decision to let her go, a decision that will be made easier by the fact that the alternative is letting her basically bleed to death internally. If we make it through the end of the week, that will be plenty enough for me to give thanks for on Thursday.

Please keep Abbey in your thoughts and prayers this week. I am not ready to let her go, but I know I have to be strong enough to spare her any pain or suffering.

They say that bad things happen in threes.

2007-11-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

I hope that means we're due for a run of good luck. Che took two of our dogs to the vet this morning. Brandy was due for bloodwork but Abbey has been acting strangely since we got back from vacation, so she tagged along. She normally is a vacuum and will eat anything (and everything) in sight but the past few days, she hasn't wanted to eat anything. Turns out that she has a large mass in her abdomen. The x-ray shows her spleen being three times the normal size. The vet thinks the mass is in her spleen, and there's no way to tell yet if it's benign or malignant. Worse, it could be on her liver and possibly inoperable.

She is going in for an ultrasound on Monday, and in the meantime, we keep our fingers and toes crossed that (a) her spleen does not rupture before then; and (b) it turns out to be a benign mass that can simply be removed. Even though it's been more than five years since we lost our first beagle, Casey, to cancer, sometimes it still feels like yesterday and we are so not ready to go through that again.

Thank you to all my friends for your sympathies and commisseration on my injured foot and my lost job. But I can live with those things - they're nothing. I really really need my baby to be OK. Please send your good thoughts her way.

When it rains, it pours.

2007-11-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

So I was sitting in the urgent care clinic yesterday waiting for x-ray results to tell me whether my foot was broken (after a spill down some stairs at work) when I got the call that they had offered the job to someone else. I suppose I was supposed to feel better to hear that they thought I was great, and that I made it a very tough decision for them, but I don't. Mostly because I know just enough about the other guy's qualifications to know that I could do the job better. And more importantly, I'm sure I want it more. In any event, I will keep my head up and just keep looking. The right job will come along sometime.

And no, my foot is not broken. But from what I'm hearing, I kinda wish it were. I think it would probably heal faster. It looks like I have soft tissue damage, and I have to get an MRI next week to make sure there is no ligament or tendon damage. In the meantime, I can't put any weight on it so I have a lovely walking boot and crutches.

So much for getting back to the gym pronto after vacation. And speaking of vacations, I'll have a trip report soon.

Checking in from the Islands

2007-11-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's Day Four in Grand Cayman, and the weather has been a total bust. It's been rainy (and when it's not raining, it's still cloudy), windy, and the seas have been too choppy for much snorkeling or diving. But hey, I'm not in the office so I'm having a blast.

Despite the mediocre weather, we've still had a great time and are looking forward to several more days of fun activities before heading home on Saturday.

The highlight of my trip has by far been the Cayman Turtle Farm:

Unfortunately, cloud cover has put a damper on our sitting-on-the-beach-with-fruity-drinks-in-hand-and-watching-the-beautiful-sunset plan. This was the closest we've come to seeing a sunset on the beach, last night:

Goodbye Phoenix...

2007-11-03T01:04:00.000-07:00

...Hello Grand Cayman! Well, at least for one week.

I know, you thought I was going to say that I got the job and am moving to Dallas. I wish. Hopefully by the time I return from a much-needed vacation, I will have that news. For now, I am still just waiting (after my second interview last week) and keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

Easy "peas"y

2007-10-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight's dinner was Hoisin Pork and Snow Pea Stir-Fry. Get it? "Peas"y? I know, I hate puns too.

This was delicious and super fast - on the table in less than 30 minutes, start to finish. It will definitely be making a reappearance on our menu in the future. I served the stir-fry over steamed brown rice.

Hoisin Pork and Snow Pea Stir-Fry
Cooking Light, November 2006

The slightly sweet, soy-based hoisin sauce is to Chinese food what ketchup is to American food. Look for hoisin and rice noodles with other Asian foods in most supermarkets.

4 ounces uncooked rice noodles or rice
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and thinly sliced
3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon honey
4 teaspoons dark sesame oil, divided
3 cups snow peas, trimmed (about 1/2 pound)
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
1 tablespoon bottled ground fresh ginger
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Prepare rice noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.

Combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce and pork, tossing to coat. Set aside.

Combine remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, broth, hoisin, cornstarch, and honey in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth.

Heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork mixture to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until browned. Remove pork from pan. Add remaining 1 teaspoon sesame oil to pan. Stir in peas, bell pepper, ginger, and garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Return pork mixture to pan; stir in broth mixture. Simmer 2 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in green onions. Serve pork mixture over the noodles.

4 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup noodles and about 1 cup pork mixture)

Mmmmm, mushrooms!

2007-10-14T21:58:00.000-07:00

Like I mentioned, this month's Cooking Light has some great-looking "wild" mushroom recipes. And I had a bag of beautiful dried porcinis that my bosses brought me back from Italy last year that have been screaming to be used in something wonderful. Tonight's dinner definitely fit the bill, although it was almost a shame to grind such gorgeous, Grade A porcinis into a fine porcini powder. The rest I'm saving to go atop an elegant risotto or pasta.

Porcini-Dusted Chicken Scaloppine
Cooking Light, October 2007

This dish puts dried porcini mushroom powder to use as a flavorful coating for chicken cutlets. If fresh porcini or chanterelle mushrooms are available, use them for the sauce. Serve with steamed haricots verts and garlic mashed potatoes.

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about 1/2 ounce)
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons minced shallots (about 1)
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups sliced wild or cultivated mushrooms (about 1/2 pound) [I used a combo of porcini, shiitake, and oyster]
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley [I omitted]

Place porcini mushrooms in a spice or coffee grinder; process until finely ground. Slice chicken breast halves in half horizontally. Sprinkle chicken pieces with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with porcini powder, shaking off excess powder.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 chicken pieces to pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until chicken is lightly browned and done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with 1 teaspoon oil and remaining 4 chicken pieces.

Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add 3 cups mushrooms; cook 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Stir in wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add broth to pan; simmer until liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup (about 5 minutes). Stir in sour cream; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and parsley.

4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken pieces, about 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce)

"Wild" mushrooms that aren't so wild anymore

2007-10-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

So it's been pointed out to me that the "wild" mushrooms in my dinner last night are not actually wild. I know, most "wild" mushrooms are now cultivated. But that's generally all I can find around here. That said, we are headed to San Francisco next weekend and have plans to visit my favorite foodie stop ever, the Ferry Building Marketplace, and I hope to bring home some REAL wild mushrooms from Far West Fungi.

Breakfast for Dinner

2007-10-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

I'm not usually a fan of breakfast food, but I am a fan of wild mushrooms, and this month's Cooking Light had some fabulous-looking wild mushroom recipes. I picked up more than I needed at Whole Foods last weekend and decided to use the extras to make the Fines Herbes Omelet with Wild Mushrooms. It was a perfect high-protein, low calorie dinner, and I was surprised at how filling and rich it was. I'm not sure it will make our regular rotation, but it hit the spot this evening.

Fines Herbes Omelet with Wild Mushrooms
Cooking Light, October 2007

Chanterelle or oyster mushrooms would complement this omelet. Chervil is a traditional component of fines herbes; if it's available, add 1/4 teaspoon to the mix.

Cooking spray
3 cups sliced wild or cultivated mushrooms (about 1/2 pound) [I used a combo of shiitake, porcini, and oyster]
3 tablespoons fat-free milk, divided
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream [I used light]
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) fat-free cream cheese, softened [I used light]
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onions
1 teaspoon minced fresh chives
1 teaspoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon
[I subbed 1 tsp dried herbes de provence for the chives, parsley, and tarragon]
4 large egg whites
2 large eggs

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add mushrooms to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until moisture evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown. Remove from heat.

Combine 1 tablespoon milk, sour cream, cream cheese, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a medium bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add mushrooms to milk mixture; stir well. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons milk, remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, onions, chives, parsley, tarragon, egg whites, and eggs in a bowl; stir well.

Heat pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spread egg mixture evenly in pan; cook 3 minutes or until center is set. Top with mushroom mixture. Carefully loosen omelet with a spatula; fold in half. Cut omelet in half.

2 servings (serving size: 1/2 omelet)

I stand corrected.

2007-10-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

I'm rarely ever wrong but when I am, I'll admit it. I was wrong and jumped to premature conclusions. I got the call for a second interview this morning! I am SO excited, I can hardly stand it. Not at all excited about the timing of my interview, which coincides with two other trips I have the same week, but hopefully it will be worth it. The Senior Recruiter who called me this morning told me that my interviewer said he had a "great" interview with me by telephone on Monday. I thought it was good, not great, so I'm happy to hear that. Especially happy to hear that after the dream I had last night where the interviewer told me, in person, that I didn't get a second interview because I hadn't printed my resume on colored paper. :o Seriously.

Job blues.

2007-10-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

I really really need a new job. And now that I've decided I really need a new job, it's making me REALLY need a new job, and soon. I still have yet to hear back about a second interview for the job I really want. I know it's only been two days, but given their hiring timeframe and the fact that it would require me to travel out of state as early as Monday, I think I would have heard by now if they were interested. Not to mention, I called (and left a message) this morning, and didn't get a call back in response to that. Quite honestly, I'm surprised they're not interested, as I am perfect for the job. I know, that makes me sound SO arrogant. But it's true. Anyway, I've resigned myself to the fact that I am going to get a ding letter in the mail anytime now. That just means I'm back to square one as far as looking, when I really wanted to be getting ready for an interstate move back home and to start my "dream job."

I love my personal trainer!

2007-10-09T16:52:00.001-07:00

I have been working out with a personal trainer since April. I swore I would never pay someone money to kick my ass at the gym, but I started going in a last-ditch attempt to lose the final 5 pounds I wanted to lose to hit my "goal weight." And he ROCKS. Even though I haven't actually lost any weight since I started working out with him, I lost 6% body fat in 10 weeks. And that's worth every penny I pay him. He's been on vacation for the last two weeks -- and he'll be none too happy with me to hear that I completely ditched working out for one of the weeks he was gone -- but he is back today and I am excited! I also need to return the clothes I borrowed from him before he left, when I showed up to work out without a gym bag.

My foray into blogging

2007-10-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

I decided to start a blog because I enjoy reading other people's blogs so much. Then again, they probably have a lot more interesting lives than me. I'm not sure yet what shape this blog will take -- probably just ramblings from me about my everyday life, which, as described above, consists most days of just working, working out, sometimes cooking, and trying to find a way to enjoy the simpler things in life.

My current interest is finding a new job. I've been in my current position for four years, and I'm completely and totally burnt out. Not to mention the hubby and I want to move back home to Texas. I had a phone interview this morning with a company I love for a job that was written for me. Now, the painfully long wait to hear if they want me to come down for a second interview next week. This is sure to be the longest week of my life.