you should come by the ocean and pray for me
Wow, what a whirlwind month. I alluded to it in my last post, but August was nuts! I had plans every weekend, with the exception of the first, and was either out of town or in town but not home. I was in Atlanta, then San Francisco and San Jose, then I walked in my 2nd Breast Cancer 3-day, and then this past weekend I was in Vegas. Whew!
Visiting my sister and her fiancee was great fun. I also got more excited about work while on the west coast and some of the opportunities I may be able to take advantage of, one of which was kicked off this week. Woo! After almost 3 years working on web portals, it's time for this girl to do something else...including learning how to sell work since that's a major component of me being ready for promotion. Anyway. Back to the visit! Heidi came and picked me up in downtown San Francisco, we hit the Ferry Building for some cheese, bread, candles and lunch, and then we drove down to their place in San Jose. We went to a comedy show Friday night, then went to the Testarossa winery in Los Gatos on Saturday and I may or may not have joined their wine club. Ooops. They were having a wine and cheese pairing event for no extra cost, so we got to try some amazing cheeses specifically paired with their wines. Fun! After lunch at In-n-Out Burger, it was time for a nap and then we hung out with her fiancee that night. I'm anxious to go back for my next visit so we can spend more time in Los Gatos and exploring other areas around them.
I took the last two weeks in August as PTO since I had use them or lose them hours and most of the time was spent preparing for and then recovering from the 3-Day. Going in, I knew this year's walk was going to be different than last year's, primarily because my mom and sister weren't walking. However, I could NOT have had more fun that weekend walking with Sara, Molly, and Sondra. My mom surprised us at the first cheer station on Day 1 with sparkly pink boas (our team name was the Befeathered Bosoms) which immediately united us as a team and was fodder for good conversation on the walking routes. I only made it 12.5 miles on day 2 and had to bail on the last 8 miles because of bad blisters, but I had them lanced, covered, and taped up so I could walk all 17+ miles on Sunday. There were over 5000 people at the closing ceremonies, cheering on the 2500 walkers this year. AMAZING! We're all committed to the walk next year, mom and sister included, so it'll be another great time. I can't wait! If you're interested in checking out any pictures, they're here. I cannot say enough great things about this event, how it's run, and all of the amazing volunteers and staff who help throughout the weekend. If the cause is important to you but you don't think walking 60 miles (or raising lots of money) is your deal, please consider being part of the all volunteer Crew or helping as a day of Volunteer. I promise it'll be one of the most amazing things you'll ever be part of!
Vegas last weekend was nuts! The primary reason Corinne, Catherine, and I went was to catch one of Justin's shows at Mandalay Bay, and we did - on Sunday. He was hungover and it was hilarious. :) We got on the guest list (with apparently 50,000 other people) to get into the grand opening of LAX at the Luxor to see DJ AM and Miss Britney Spears. I can honestly say it was one of the most horrible experiences of my life because it was jam-packed with people (more than once I wondered how everyone would get out of that club if anything happened inside it - am I getting old?) and a billion degrees inside. I've never been smashed up against so many strangers in my life! We were trying to exit just at Britney arrived so I didn't see her, but Catherine did and she was able to snap a blurry picture. What bums me most is that we weren't able to dance to any of the music DJ AM was spinning. He's fantastic! The rest of the weekend was spent out at the pool in the sun, napping, and eating. All in all, a very, very fun weekend.
Coming back to work on Tuesday kinda sucked and this weekend will be my first, alone, at home, since the break-up. I've got some plans this weekend but don't have too much going on, which is hard - but also good. As long as I can peel myself away from the Top Chef and Project Runway marathons on Bravo and the ANTM marathons on MTV, I should be able to get a few things done!
Visiting my sister and her fiancee was great fun. I also got more excited about work while on the west coast and some of the opportunities I may be able to take advantage of, one of which was kicked off this week. Woo! After almost 3 years working on web portals, it's time for this girl to do something else...including learning how to sell work since that's a major component of me being ready for promotion. Anyway. Back to the visit! Heidi came and picked me up in downtown San Francisco, we hit the Ferry Building for some cheese, bread, candles and lunch, and then we drove down to their place in San Jose. We went to a comedy show Friday night, then went to the Testarossa winery in Los Gatos on Saturday and I may or may not have joined their wine club. Ooops. They were having a wine and cheese pairing event for no extra cost, so we got to try some amazing cheeses specifically paired with their wines. Fun! After lunch at In-n-Out Burger, it was time for a nap and then we hung out with her fiancee that night. I'm anxious to go back for my next visit so we can spend more time in Los Gatos and exploring other areas around them.
I took the last two weeks in August as PTO since I had use them or lose them hours and most of the time was spent preparing for and then recovering from the 3-Day. Going in, I knew this year's walk was going to be different than last year's, primarily because my mom and sister weren't walking. However, I could NOT have had more fun that weekend walking with Sara, Molly, and Sondra. My mom surprised us at the first cheer station on Day 1 with sparkly pink boas (our team name was the Befeathered Bosoms) which immediately united us as a team and was fodder for good conversation on the walking routes. I only made it 12.5 miles on day 2 and had to bail on the last 8 miles because of bad blisters, but I had them lanced, covered, and taped up so I could walk all 17+ miles on Sunday. There were over 5000 people at the closing ceremonies, cheering on the 2500 walkers this year. AMAZING! We're all committed to the walk next year, mom and sister included, so it'll be another great time. I can't wait! If you're interested in checking out any pictures, they're here. I cannot say enough great things about this event, how it's run, and all of the amazing volunteers and staff who help throughout the weekend. If the cause is important to you but you don't think walking 60 miles (or raising lots of money) is your deal, please consider being part of the all volunteer Crew or helping as a day of Volunteer. I promise it'll be one of the most amazing things you'll ever be part of!
Vegas last weekend was nuts! The primary reason Corinne, Catherine, and I went was to catch one of Justin's shows at Mandalay Bay, and we did - on Sunday. He was hungover and it was hilarious. :) We got on the guest list (with apparently 50,000 other people) to get into the grand opening of LAX at the Luxor to see DJ AM and Miss Britney Spears. I can honestly say it was one of the most horrible experiences of my life because it was jam-packed with people (more than once I wondered how everyone would get out of that club if anything happened inside it - am I getting old?) and a billion degrees inside. I've never been smashed up against so many strangers in my life! We were trying to exit just at Britney arrived so I didn't see her, but Catherine did and she was able to snap a blurry picture. What bums me most is that we weren't able to dance to any of the music DJ AM was spinning. He's fantastic! The rest of the weekend was spent out at the pool in the sun, napping, and eating. All in all, a very, very fun weekend.
Coming back to work on Tuesday kinda sucked and this weekend will be my first, alone, at home, since the break-up. I've got some plans this weekend but don't have too much going on, which is hard - but also good. As long as I can peel myself away from the Top Chef and Project Runway marathons on Bravo and the ANTM marathons on MTV, I should be able to get a few things done!