Marathon weekend!

The week has variously flown by and dragged!  It's now Friday and I have the day off as I am driving down to Monterey (only two and a half hours south so not very far) to prepare for the marathon i.e. go to the expo and pick up my bib etc (and book myself on the 5am bus to the start line).  Will then just wander around Monterey enjoying being beside the sea and maybe off to the Aquarium.  I've staying in a lovely hotel too so can also enjoy the delights of TV, room service and lounging around (it's fair to say I don't skimp on these things).  I'll also take some pics so post as well.
Over the last week Henri has been staying - well last weekend and this, Irene, Lotte and Henri spent the week in Santa Cruz.  Here's some shots Irene took with her swanky camera.

......see how my life is?
Work, cripes, full on.  I've been on the edge of the comms stuff for a while, but now I own it and still have my other job.  Of course it's in my comfort zone but still alot to do and getting my head back to that space is a bit of a journey.  Got my performance review.....happy!  Next is laddering where everyone in the company gets ranked - me within my project then within my "practice".  Be interesting to see how that all turns out.  I'm really just focusing on getting the job done right now (well I say that because I'm good with how my reviews have come out this year).
Last weekend Irene and I started going to open homes.  Houses ranged from 600k to 1.1m.....most interesting to see what you get for your money and, more importantly, the strange architectural and design decisions people make.  In that price range all the houses need "something".  Most seem to have committed to bathroom and kitchen renovations then the quality varies. Anyway, just the beginning to give us a sense of the market and we have to go see the mortgage broker - we have a general idea of what we can get but need to get pre.approval so we can start getting really serious.