Browse Category: life

Hellooo Winter!

Today is the first day of winter and it’s also the first day of my Winter Break!!  Woo hoo!!  I think Christmas sorta snuck up on me too.  With work being so hectic and being out of town last weekend, I’m only getting my Christmas shopping done now!  We’re also getting the house ready for tomorrow night’s party.  Some of the food is ordered, the booze is purchased, and we moved the furniture to make more room.

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to hear rain pattering on the window.  Does that mean we’ll have more snow soon?!  Apparently there’s a storm brewing up in Mammoth.  Perhaps it will be nice and powdery by the first week of January.  Can’t wait!!

just like old times

redrock

Last night before we flew home from Vegas, Kev took us to Red Rock Canyon for the scenic 13-mile drive. The sun was setting and it was really cold (about 31 degrees). I managed to capture a couple photos while we were there. Surprisingly, the sky had just enough light to make the trip worth while. Unfortunately, I haven’t outgrown one of my worst physical weaknesses. After taking a couple shots of the sunset and horizon, I turned back towards the car, slipped, tripped, and fell on the asphalt. Luckily, I had the camera well protected like a football and it didn’t even touch the ground. Alas, my knee didn’t fare as well. I landed on my left knee and also caught myself with my right hand. Back in the car, not only was my ego a little bruised but so was my knee. I noticed a couple black spots on my jeans and thought it was just dirt. Turns out it was blood. Yep, it was just like when I was in grade school…falling on asphalt, skinning my left knee, and scratching up my right palm. The only thing I didn’t get was the wind knocked out of me. Ever had that happen from falling flat on the floor? Well, it sucks. I guess there are somethings you just can’t outgrow no matter how hard you try.

Oh yeah, here are the photos from our weekend.

time warp

Last night I was on my way to dinner and had the funny realization that it was already Thursday night!  What happened to Monday through Wednesday?!  The only reason I realized that was that the trashcans were out on the driveway for the Friday morning pick-up.  Hm…lately my days have been flying by.  Am I getting old?  Is our daily routine so consistent that I lose track of my days?  My hypothesis is that I don’t have a nighttime routine.  Well, maybe I do but I don’t remember each time I fall asleep.  Basically, we have dinner sometime between 6 and 9 pm, then I go upstairs and change into my PJs, take my contacts out, and brush my teeth.  Then the rest of the evening is a big blur.  According to Jes, what is happeneing is that I start out either downstairs on the couch or in bed watching TV with my laptop next to me…and then I fall asleep.  The lights are on, my glasses are halfway on my face, the laptop is still on some page that I was reading, and TiVo is on the I’m-all-done-with-your-program,-do you-want-to-delete? screen.  I think I once fell asleep in the middle of posting a blog.  Yep.  I woke up the next morning to find that my laptop was still on the admin page with my blog half-written.  *sigh*   Some mornings…no, most mornings, I can’t remember what I was doing the night before or how I got into bed.  You’d think I was a drunk or something!  It’s a good thing I don’t live by myself.  I’d have a really high electricity bill, my glasses would be broken, and I’d probably never get a good night’s sleep. 

Sorry Dog, no door for you.

We got our Christmas tree today!  It’s a 6-foot Noble Fir that we picked up from a lot across from Orange Coast College.  Our neighbor told us about it last year and it really is a bargain.  Basically, they say that you can have your pick of the lot for $33.99.  So, basically a little 3-footer and a big 10-footer cost the same.

As our tree guy tied the tree to the top of the X3, he told us that Noble Firs are much more popular lately.  He said that they go through a container and a half each day!  When I was a kid, we couldn’t afford them because they were sooo expensive.  I think they still are at most tree lots (even at Home Depot) – going for at least $70 for my 6-footer.  I used to call them “the soft ones” and thought they were so much prettier than the pokey bushy Douglas Fir that we always brought home.  Now that I’m a “grown-up” and found a place that sells them dirt cheap, I can live like a baller and take home my very own Noble Fir.  Unfortunately, the bird house is a bit small so we actually had to block the door that leads to our patio.  Sorry Dog, you’re going to have to go through the garage for a couple weeks.

Ready to go back to work?

The worst part of long weekends is going back to work.  I’ve had a good balance of holiday busyness and socializing mixed with laid back stay-in-your-pjs time.  I enjoyed good food, good company, and some really good R&R.  The house is clean, the laundry is done, and I managed to finish six reports too!  Now that’s productivity!!  The best part of going back to work tomorrow is that it’s supposed to rain.  I hope it pours!  The weather has been really nice and cold lately and I’m loving it.  Now if only it would snow in the mountains so it’ll be ready for me by January.

It’s about time.

We were long overdue on fixing the patio. I started the project about a year ago by pulling out most of the weedy reeds (they were so out of control) and dug up the wires that weren’t working anymore.  I guess that wasn’t bad for a girl who doesn’t own a shovel. Yep, I basically used a hand shovel and my bare hands. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any more energy to finish it since the dirt was so hard and difficult to manage.  So, I left quite an unsightly mess in the planter for about a year. I also wanted to redo the side plot where the maple lives. It’s gone through some crazy rain, hungry  neighborhood rabbits, and dogs running through it. It was time to replace most of the shrubs.

So, in celebration of the last day of Daylight Saving Time, we decided to fix it up with a little help from the nursery down the street. Sure, we could have done it ourselves but it would have take at least two or three days and wouldn’t look nearly as nice. Instead, we went to the nursery on Saturday around noon, picked out what we wanted, asked for a quote on planting it, and forked over the money. They showed up at 4:30 pm the same day, dug up all the old stuff including the hard clay dirt, installed all the plants and flowers, and put in new soil all in one hour. Of course there were three guys but man, that was fast! Ah…I feel much better now. By the way, the time change totally rules. Having an extra hour in the morning will definitely help me get to work on time now.

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