Friday, November 25, 2011

Meet Mika

I'm on a roll with this blogpress! Meet Mika, he's Irene's parents dog and has been hanging out at mine over Thanks Giving


Although a little arthritic he did manage to discover the tempurpedic so had a sleep over last night.
Thanks Giving day was fun. Long chat with Michelle in the morning, cleaned my house, then up to Irene's for turkey and pumpkin pie, including some delightful red wine.
Loving this long weekend.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happiness is....

Having a new "toy".....


No excuses now!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Thanks Giving

Do a "Search this blog" for other posts on Thanks Giving. This year, I am so happy to have four days off. I had no idea we got two working days off as well. When I was with TechProse we didn't get holiday pay so when the client closed or I took holidays it was what it was. Yesterday I casually had a question about Friday (the day after Thanks Giving).....total immigrant moment, "Really we get Friday off?". Kept the team entertained for hours!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Randomness after a long weekend of work

Changing out the lights...that would be Irene, not me...
The blue



To the white


To the light



And the pretty of autumn under the fluorescent light as I leave work...




PS Big Sur Half....never happened, working.......next year!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Adventuring in the East Bay

Irene, Lotte and I headed across the Bay Bridge to visit Ikea (coming to the kiwis sometime soon). Irene then took me on a little tour of the art at the local landfill.














Me and my buds!



Irene practicing her surfing moves in advance of doing the real thing in Aus at Xmas.
This shot taken at Fort Funston this morning.




All cultured out.....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:6th St,Berkeley,United States

Friday, November 11, 2011

Ugh

Work is stressful as we head into our big release.....really it's not big like the Cisco days but big because it's big in the context of the work we are doing (okay I think that whole sentence probably doesn't make sense.....enough to know work is BIG). I've all but committed to buying a treadmill. It's now dark when I leave the house and dark when I get home. I'm also going to join the local gym (two short blocks away) so that I don't lose all my fitness over the dark winter months. Not running is depressing.
Simple things are making me happy. For the first time in along time I have heating in my house that I can turn on and the house is cozy within 5 mins (bonus for Irene, all the heat goes upstairs, she might be enjoying a sauna). We appear to be beating the Raccoon who wants to make sashimi of the fish. They are clever little shites, work'n it though, determined not to have "it" win. Lotte still hangs at my house (sitting with me on the couch as I type, which is sweet - like being a god parent or aunt, lots of the benefits but none of the real responsibilities!) I'd love to have my own little dog too but nothing about my lifestyle makes it work, nor would be fair at this point. One of those moments where you can't have everything (Lotte would have to like him/her of course!!!).
I think this weekend is going to be about work - well I know it. The list of "to-dos" is long and the timeline short.....good times.

Sunday, November 06, 2011

NY NY....marathon memories

The other day I got a text from Michelle reminding me that this time last year I was running the NYC Marathon.....wow. Actually when she sent the text it wasn't quite today but Rose had arrived from NZ, we had our housewarming at Halloween and Rose and I flew out for NY on the Thursday. I've just read back through the November 2010 posts (this is why the blog is fab, it's my online journal!). I still grin from ear to ear when I think about crossing that line. Training for that marathon and deciding to do more fundamentally changed my life here and, clearly, set a path for my health and welling being! I think too it's brought a whole bunch of different types of folks into my life and opened me up to engaging differently with people. I can tend towards reclusiveness (caving), running is essentially a solo thing for me....but then I've pushed myself into volunteering and now chat randomly with strangers about it so connections are made along the way. I am still working at finding some running buddies. I keep thinking joining a club is a good idea but then feel overwhelmed by the obligation it brings. Negotiating runs with one or two people feels vastly easier than fitting into a club running schedule. All excuses I know but valid enough to hold me back. I still haven't found an ultra marathon coach. I am not sure why this is proving so difficult....and no I don't accept it's because I'm not supposed to do it!

Thursday, November 03, 2011

Note to self....

Big socializing on a Wednesday night leads to lower work productivity on Thursday! Had a team dinner starting with a mega meat extravaganza at a Brazilian BBQ (accompanied by some very good wine). Then off to a "pirate" bar where I strictly avoided the shared volcano concoction (this my saving grace as I didn't drink at all!). Then off to a piano bar where the singer took requests and we (that would include me) danced. Home 1ish up at 6 am to commute .... These are the good times, right?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:E Caribbean Dr,Sunnyvale,United States