Okay, I know I promised but....

I haven't been posting cause I promised I would stop writing entries about Obama. Truth be told, he and his candidacy are the things I'm most excited about right now. And Michelle Obama is my new favorite person. If I could chose to meet Michael Stipe or Michelle Obama right now, I think I'd chose Michelle. She's my favorite rock star - honest, hard-working, and quick-witted. I like her. (Newsweek helped with the MO article bonanza.)

In any case, I couldn't help but post this pic of the vehicle Ben and Jerry (yea - THAT Ben and Jerry) have been driving to Obama events around Vermont. Maybe a new flavor is on the way? Yes We Cantalope? No. Wait. That starts with "Yes We Can't".

Happy primary day all you Potomac people.

I'll be spending the day getting some work done in peace, away from the fieldsite. I may even take a break to blog about something other than the primaries and candidate(s). I'm beginning to bore myself with those topics, and I'm thinking it's time to sit back and watch this thing play out sans commentary. Spice and Bro, I trust you will continue to provide us your expert analysis.

By the way, Jiggity (whilst channel flipping) just discovered Flavor of Love has launched installment #3. Will Flave find love this time? Doubtful. Jigs is disturbingly interested in the program. Flave has started handing out clocks to chosen ladies and Jigs is giggling at the nicknames of the new crew. Seriously. This writers' strike is getting bad. Really. Bad. Thank god the powers that be are closing in on a deal.

UPDATE: After flipping away from FOL for 2 minutes, Jigs flipped BACK to the program. The man likes his Flave. He has now clocked (get it) 15 minutes of Flavor of Love.

If I were having a baby in the next few months...

I'd definitely have to get my hands on one of these (the onsie, not the baby - cause that would be baby-stealing):

Um...

So my official mail-in ballot arrived in the mailbox this afternoon. Yes - that would be the Wednesday after Super Tuesday. Thank goodness I have the resources and time to figure out how to vote in such situations.

SUPER DUPER TUESDAY!

It' super Tuesday and I'm home sick. Blech. I'm about to go out to the pools, vote Obama, go down the list of propositions and say "wha?!?!", and come home for more sleep. No one will see my "I Voted Today" sticker, but that's okay.

Jitters

I have to stop reading about the primaries. It's making me too nervous ... and reminding me of the feelings I had around election day 2000 (except that Hill is MUCH better than Bush, and Obama is on par with Gore). Anyway, once again, I've invested too much emotion in this election. And the *big* one is 10 months away. I'm going to burn out.

BLERGH!

It has not been a good day so far. To start with, I experienced some sort of mind f*ck this morning, and completely forgot to take my computer, planner, and project notebook with me to work. I realized my slip-up when I was 5 minutes away from my BART stop (and 45 minutes into my commute). I tried my best to do work without said computer, and found I ran out of things to do in one hour. Funny - the technological age. Computers are great and all, but it's pretty scary what little can happen without them. I feel under the control of my machine. Ugh.

So, in my state of complete work paralysis, I decided to commute back home (one hour), gather my computer and notes (5 minutes), and commute back to work (one hour).

In the middle of all that walking to the train station, getting on the train, getting off the train, getting on the train again, getting off the train again, my credit card company called me with the news of apparent "fraudulent activity" on my account. Turns out someone made two purchases over the internets using my card this morning, both for $1 each - just this type of activity credit card companies scan for to catch early stages of fraud.

I have to applaud them for their vigilance - they're only out $2 and I'm not stuck with some ridiculous "copay" to cover excessive charges. And I'm impressed by the stupidity of the credit card number thieves. I'm betting that, if they had charged some sum other than $1 (say, for example, $3.50 or, even better, $35), they would have successfully obtained internet crap on my credit card's dime. Idiots.

I Can Post About Things Other than Obama

See? Here's a picture of Medium Tum-Tum getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner.

CALIFORNIA OR BUST!

OMG OBAMA IS RUNNING ADS IN CALIFORNIA AND THEY'RE SOOOOOOOO CALIFORNIA-APPROPRIATE BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AND FUEL EFFICIENCY AND HOW PEOPLE IN DETROIT REACTED WITH SILENCE WHEN HE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT ALTERNATIVE ENERGY AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.

To echo J.Bro's enthusiasm: MY STATE MATTERS THIS TIME! (As evidenced by ads we don't usually see. Wee.)

Kerry endorses Obama! YES! But what endorsement do we really want (other than Oprah's)? GORE! Come'on man! DO IT!

Obama :(

I cannot express how deflated I felt yesterday evening. After many-a-poll told me Obama's win was in the bag, I expected to turn on my radio to find him giving his rousing victory speech...only to discover that Hill (thanks, Bro) achieved a major upset. Wha?!? And today I looked to the blogs of Bro and Spice, only to find no explanation for what the F*&$ happened. Please, explain. Further, does Obama still have a chance? (I think so! Once again, I got chills listening to him speak last night - and it was a concession speech. He's such a stand-up guy, with his genuine congrats sent out to Hill.)

It's Raining Babies!

Okay. So. I'm slated to host a baby shower in three weeks. Since I'm probably not the first person in the blogring to do so, I need some recommendations.

I'm thinking the featured activity will be decorating plain white onsies, booties, caps, and bibs. Like - I'll provide ribbons, felt, fabric pens, needles, thread, and the like and the guests will go to town to create personal and cute (?) wearables for the little one.

Now, here's my concern: some people are simply not crafty (GASP!) and they might feel overwhelmed at a party where craftiness is featured. But I'm in love with this idea because it's a wonderful way to ease any discomfort around not knowing other people at the party (i.e. - put the focus on the crafts and away from the empty chit-chat).

Any thoughts? One thing I'm planning to do is pre-make cute items (thanks to Spice) to attach to baby things for those who lack on-the-spot imagination. But I worry folks will feel separated into those who have natural craftiness in their blood and those who rely on others' natural craftiness.

Am I worrying too much? (The answer is usually "yes".)

And do you have any other ideas from past baby shower successes?

Resolution: An Update

Guess what, blogworld? I made my coffee at home this morning and took it to work in my travel cup. WHOOT! A small success toward major savings!

In other news, it's RAINY AS HELL this morning and my pants are soaked. For those of you who lived in San Francisco in the winter of 1998, you'll understand when I say that this weather is reminding me of El Nino. This is wonderful for the skiers in Tahoe. I'm not one of those people, so I wish it would all dry up and go away.

OBAMA!!!!!

New Year's Resolutions: Progress

Not good.

My #1 resolution* this year is to save money by avoiding the financial trap that is purchasing coffee on the way to work. Of the 3 mornings of this new year, I've purchased coffee ... 3 times. The dream was to make coffee at home and take it in my cute travel thermos, thus saving $2/day (or so). That's a total savings of $700 (give or take) over the year. The reality is that I don't have myself together in the morning, and I'm lucky to make it to the train on time without the hassle of making coffee.

I still have 362 mornings to realize my dream. Paying a mortgage, which will hopefully start within a few months, may just be the motivating factor.

* #2 = go to the gym more than never (no progress yet); #3 = take care of J.Po first (going relatively well)

Best. Present. Ever.

So there's all this talk on the blogs about favorite holiday gifties. Lest my announcement get buried in a comment for last week's posts, I'm making my declaration on this here blog.

You'll be surprised to find that my favorite present this year was NOT the discovery that Jigs didn't receive Guitar Hero III or Rock Band. Oh no no. My favorite came from the Jigs himself. He got me a double boiler, which I've wanted for years but held back from buying since it seems like such an indulgence! No more seizing chocolate while making truffles. WEE!!

I actually guessed that a double boiler was tucked away in one of the wrapped boxes, but I didn't announce my guess because I have an uncanny ability to predict the contents of wrapped gifts (and, therefore, ruin the anticipation). Just ask Spice. There was a year that I suspected she'd gotten me Giant Pocky and a pencil box. And she did. And I guessed it, audibly. Ruined the surprise - for her more than me.

Anyhoo, there it is. Another Christmas gone. And another happy year for me. Jigs is happy too. I gifted him a dartboard and snazzy dartboard cabinet. He plans to put it in Mantown, as soon as we buy a house. Guitar Hero will be going to Mantown too. Whew.

Meat Pies

Sweeny Todd was SO GOOD. Seriously. Yes, it was a wee bit too gory at times, but good nonetheless. I have renewed (or reaffirmed?) love for the Depp. Truly a genius. And a pretty good singer, to boot. For those who have not seen the flick (or the theater production), I won't give anything away. Just suffice it to say that few people escape the coffin that is a meat pie. Mmmmm.....humans......

Stuff

I realize that listing a bunch of crap is a major cop-out when it comes to blogging, but I'm going to do it anyway. It's the holidays and I don't have much time - let alone energy - for much more.

Thoughts:

(1) Did Jamie Lynn ever consider an abortion? Seriously. 16 and pregnant? Sister of the royal screw-up that is Britney? There are many quiet and simple ways of handling this and she chose, instead, to announce it to the world. Sheesh.

(2) Christmas is not nearly as fun as it was about 20 years ago. It's nice and all, but for very different reasons. This year, I'm just excited to have a few days to sleep past 10am.

(3) Life without cable TV is remarkably dry. I didn't realize the magnitude of my TV addiction until this particular holiday. HGTV, how I love thee.

(4) OMG Jigs and I have a realator! EEKS!

(5) People are getting pregnant left and right, and it's making me realize that my years of fertility are ticking away. Never fear, though. I have no plans for kids right now. Just reminded of my biological limitations. (I can't believe I'm exactly twice as old as JLS and *I* don't feel ready for babies.)

(6) I'm starting to get bored with primary season already, and it hasn't even started. Maybe it's because we in California have very little say in the eventual democrat candidate. Plus, without the Daily Show and Colbert, I have no one filtering the hi-larious from the hum-drum.

(7) Speaking of which, I cannot wait for the writers strike to be over. 30 Rock and the Office are running dangerously close to running out of new episodes.

(8) I'm knitting the cuttest little baby sleeping bag for CFK. I'll blog a pic when I'm done.

(9) Feist is my newest music love.

(10) I'm reading the Book Theif by Markus Zusak and it's really really good. Like I-can't-go-to-bed-yet-cause-i'm-not-done-with-the-chapter good.

(11) I miss Medium. And Jigs. They're both in Austin.

I'll Go with Italian, Thank You Very Much

For the first time ever (?), I threw up in a public place on Wednesday. Let me tell you, it was not a fun experience. But I succeeded in doing it very discretely and I don't think anyone noticed. Thank god for the plastic bag I had tucked away in my handbag. Jigs gets a shout out for recommending I take it with me after vomiting on Tuesday night (that time, in our bathroom).

I think I had food poisoning. We ate out at a Mexican restaurant Tuesday night before going to a Sharks hockey game (vs. the MN Wild...the Sharks kicked some serious bottom). I've had a vomiting experience two times after eating at said restaurant, though the first time relates to taquilia, to which I think I have some strange sensitivity. I vomited one other time after eating at a different Mexican restaurant, so I think I'm done with Mexican. Moving on to other ethnicities...

Anyway, after 2 days of fever, chills, and various digestive track-related symptoms (I'll let your imaginations run wild), I'm feeling better. And a little woozy, to be honest. I've eaten a total of one sleeve of saltines, 3 bananas, two cups of jello, and a handful of cereal in the past 48 hours.

Gain 5 pounds during the holiday season? Not me! I'm on the Staphylococcus aureus diet!

CAROLS!

Okay, so speaking of Christmas, I do enjoy a good carol from time to time. My favorite? "O Come, O Come Emanuel". It's such a strange choice for me, being the non-religious person I am. But it's such a beautiful tune. I finally read the lyrics a few days ago, only to realize how incredibly religious it really is - and dark too. Read for yourself, and then leave a comment about your favorite holiday carol.

O come, O come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Refrain

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Refrain

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Refrain

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Refrain

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

Refrain

The Jigs LURVES Christmas

Seriously. I don't think I've ever seen a man get so excited about trees, wreathes, carols, and cider. And his favorite part of the season (as far as I can tell)? Getting the tree.

He is IN HIS ELEMENT whilst selecting a Christmas tree, which we did this weekend. We bought our tree from "Steve's" last year, but I made him go to Rite Aid this year. It's true that the trees at Steve's are beautifully displayed, and Steve's services include a vigorous *shake* (on a contraption that looks much like a giant vortex, like the ones I remember form my lab days), an end-trimming, a tree-wrapping (in netting - also involving an interesting contraption), and assistance with strapping the tree to the top of the car. But at Right Aid, all you need is a good eye, some patience, and a small dose of physical strength, and you'll get just as good of a tree for 17 fewer green backs.

When the Jigs is selecting trees, I just stand back and act like see what he's talking about when he notes minor blemishes in specimens: an asymmetric side, a bald spot where needles should be, branches growing too vertically for his taste. My gifts are more suited to selecting deals (encouraging the purchase a 5-to-6-footer instead of 6-to-7 at Rite Aid instead of "Steve's") and warming the hot cider when we get home from the tree field (or parking lot, whichever the case may be).

After our third year of selecting trees together, I have to admit that the Jigs has mad skillz in this arena. Once again, our tree looks completely symmetrical with evenly-spread branches. The only minor problem is that the tree is a wee bit too small, but I'm the only one to blame for that (and we have $10 in our pockets to show for it).

Oh my word, I've been so busy

Since the T-giving holiday, I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. But since I want to continue the illusion that I'm an active blogger, I'm going to post this list of random crap for you to read. When things settle down at work (in 2 months?), I'll be posting more regularly.

Stuff:
- I heart Al Gore
- I'm almost done with my holiday shopping/crafting. It's the year of the homemade gift.
- I saw my sister for t-giving and learned that she lives in a container in Iraq.
- The Cleve is more depressing downtown than I remember. SO abandoned. But there are far fewer homeless asking for money, as compared to my lovely town of employment.
- Someone crapped in our elevator at work the day before I left for t-giving. I didn't have to clean it up.
- I have accumulated 120 hours in overtime vaycay. What's unclear is when I'll be able to take that time.
- I really want to visit Williamsburg, but someone has informed me that I may be disappointed.
- Medium Tum-Tum finally had the opportunity to fly in a plane.
- Facebook was extremely fun for about 1 month. Now I'm starting to get bored.
- I still love Sweedish meatballs.
- The Jigs and I have been pre-approved for a loan to buy a house.
- I'm going to a *spa* this weekend with some gal pals.
- Sufjan Stevens continues to entertain me with his tunes.

That's it! More soon!

15 Hours of Work to go....then 15 hours of flying...

Hey now. Who's excited about the upcoming 4-day weekend? I am - especially because it's a 6-day weekend for me and the Jigs. Well, to be completely accurate, Jigs has a 10-day weekend. But who's counting? (He is.)

In any case, I need a break like nobody's business. This morning I woke up and, for the first time in a year or so, DREADED going to work. I have to say, this is actually a good sign - given that the conditions at my job have been rough for about 3 months. And they will continue to be rough for another 3. So this 6-day weekend is providing a much-needed break.

Jigs and I are flying out at 1pm on Wednesday - to North Carolina and then to Cleveland. The sis will be there, on her 2 week break from the (damn) war and Jigs will meet the whole fam for the first time. Methinks it will go well, since my grandma already reports that "it seems like [J.Po] really likes that [Jiggity]". A truer statement was never told.

In anticipation of our trip to the Cleve, we watched the 30 Rock episode featuring that fair town and, I have to say, it was HI-larious. Mostly because it captured Cleveland so accurately and made me feel all warm and cozy inside. Unfortunately, it featured ALL of the sites I planned for our walking tour of Cleveland. But no matter. Cleveland rocks, even when the surprises are spoiled by primetime TV.

Let's hear if for the Cleve!

Blergh!

DO NOT SAY A THING!

'Kay. So. Project FunWay isn't on until 10pm. Ooooof. Too late when I girl has to be out the door before 7am. So TiVo is doing its thing. And you, my dear readers, are staying tight-lipped! 'Kay?

I Friggin Cannot WAIT!

OMG! CANNOT WAIT! Any guesses on the first challenge? Make a dress out of food? Chose a partner and make something out of whatever THEY are wearing? Dig through the trash at the city dump and create an about-town getup? Ooooohhhhhh, I just cannot wait! I miss Tim Gunnisms like no body's business!

It's Sew Time!

Yes, I'm on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the 4th season of Project Runway. I hope they have to design an outfit for Tim Gunn himself. Or Britney - maybe something to transition her from lost cause to fit mother? We shall see.

In any case, I'm celebrating the upcoming season with a fewe creative activities of my own. What am I up to this time? HANDBAG CREATION! This little ditty took me about a day and a half. And I'll be looking snazzy toting my things around in it - especially when I open it up to show the flashy lining!

When the Joneses are actually the Jobses, there's no keeping up!!!

Poopy Real Estate!

Jigs and I could buy 3.95 of these 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2,138 square foot homes near my hometown:




for one of these 2 bedroom, 1 bath, and 1050 square foot homes in our current target neighborhood:




There's something grossly wrong with this situation!

Turns out I'm on more of a break than On.Break.Bro!

Shake it!

So apparently we had an earthquake in the bay area - 5.6 or so. And I felt it ... not at all. The only thing I noticed was the 1.5 hours it took me to get home on the train. Seems they were checking the track as we traveled southward.

10:01pm update: One casualty noted in San Jose. A woman reports a broken jar of jelly. We will mourn her loss appropriately.

I've gone where no human is allowed to go, and this is the evidence.

Spatime!

Back when I was 13 and reading Seventeen Magazine, I was under the impression that every girl in her right mind partook in "spa time" on a regular basis to keep herself fresh and young. In the 20 years since making this realization, I've taken part in Spatime about - oh - one time in my life. And that one time, it was part of a bachelorette party-type thing.

But that's all about to change. I'm officially taking a day off on Friday to take care of me. That's right, J.Po's gonna take care of J.Po - in part by going to a spa on Jiggity's dime. He bought me a gift certificate to a swank little place for Christmas and I'm finally cashing it in. Let's hear it for rest and relaxation. WHOOT!

So, until Jigs gets his own blog, I'll post his creations...

Okay, THAT was totally fun!

Enought About Halloween - Let's Talk About Christmas!

Okay, so ShanShan figured out my costume far sooner than I thought anyone would, so I'm out of material. Or at least I'm out of Halloween material. But I have Christmas updates! On my way home, I purchased a Christmas present for CFK's baby bump. Since she doesn't read my blog, and probably doesn't even know I have a blog, I'm posting a picture.

Specs: Found it at Marshall's (like all good treasures) and purchased it for less than 30% of the original cost. It's Ralf Lauren, meaning that 30% of original cost is just about right. It's a pretty impractical little outfit for a wee babe (of 6 months), but now the bump will be ready for a garden party come August (or so).

My Muse

Part 3 of .... "GUESS WHAT I'M GOING TO BE FOR HALLOWEEN!!!"

Hey now. More clues about my costume! Please note, the sunglasses are for the sake of maintaining my anonomity. They are in no way part of the costume. I still have a few details to pull together, but it's getting close!

Awesome

Al Gore won the Nobel Prize. Now if that's not a small slice of vindication, I don't know what is. Guess who will NEVER win the Prize? The guy who lost the popular vote in 2000.

In other news, here are my weekend plans:
- Sleep
- Work on Halloween costume
- Go to stitch'n'bitch with the gals
- See the pregnant CFK
- Plan for next weekend's camping trip with Sophist and HT
- See that new Wes Anderson movie
- Nap
- Sleep
- Possibly do some form of exercise

Part 2 of..."GUESS WHAT I'M GOING TO BE FOR HALLOWEEN!"

Anyone? Anyone?

Blog or Facebook?

You decide.

I don't just want a sandwich. I want a Manwich!

Man, I'm hungry.

What a difference a day makes.

Within 15 minutes I went from no Facebook page, to Facebook page wtih 2 friends. What's the world coming to?

Action Packed Weekend!

Jigs and I had one hellofa weekend, with activities out the wazoo. Despite my head cold, we rocked and rolled through our list.

Here's a brief sampling...

(1) We decided on our Halloween costumes for this year. We'll play a game of "guess what we're going to be" as we assemble our costume items. First pix below.

(1) We scoured our house for much unused items, and bagged them for the Goodwill.

(2) We went to JoAnn Fabrics to purchase a pattern and fabric for my costume. Yes - my costume involves fabric. Any early guesses on what I'm going to be?!?

(3) We went to the Goodwill, dropped of 2 ginormous bags of clothes and a smattering of kitchen excess. We looked for various items for Jiggity's costume, but came up empty handed. Turns out the Goodwill in San Mateo has actual useful and tasteful items. And a hair designed to look like one of the brothers in Dukes of Hazard. The fact that we DID NOT buy that hair - clue number one about our costumes!

(4) We made our next stop - at the local REI. Jigs happens to have a job that rewards him for good performance - with gift cards to various stores. Ah, the corporate world (as you may recall, I'm rewarded at my job with the opportunity to clean poo). This is how we got our vacuum, toaster oven, and Guitar Hero (guess which I had no input on). This weekend, we cashed in his reward cards for CAMPING SUPPLIES! $315 of camping supplies, thank you very much. We're now totally pimped out with a camp stove, Colman gas-powered lantern, camping "coffee table", kitchen supply set (my personal favorite item), cutey-pittutey tea kettle, egg carrier (actually very useful, believe it or not), and a few other items. We are seriously pimped out, and ready for our next adventure (to take place in 2 weekends ... if Sopist and HT are game).

(5) I made some significant progress on sewing my Halloween costume. I'm really really happy with this year's choice.

(6) We went out to dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant - a mere 5 minute walk away - and I had one fantastic veal cutlet. I haven't eaten veal in 10 years or something. And I'm now wondering why.

(7) I got massive indigestion from said meal, but I don't think it has anything to do with the food. I think I'm recovering from being illin. Anyway, it made for a rough sleep last night.

(8) We spent today looking at houses (!!!). At some point, Jigs and I became all adult and started considering buying a house together. Kindof scary (no - very scary). But also kindof fun! And we're starting at a good time in the market, when houses are selling slowly and sellers are cutting prices to get houses our of their hands. Who knew we could ever imagine buying a place in this insane housing market. The bubble had to burst at some point - and I think we're seeing evidence that it's seriously starting to happen. We saw some places we'd be happy to live in - and they were well in our price range. YIPPY!

(9) We went to Trader Joe's, which is not a big event, but always happy-making! (Especially this time. I bought licorice.)

And finally, the first clue about Halloween. My progress so far: (any guesses?)

Spice Was Right!

30 Rock is truly a FANTASTIC show! I'm done with disc 1 of season 1 and now disc 2 has surpassed the final disc of Freaks and Geeks in my Netflix queue. Jiggity would love 30 Rock, if only he would stop playing WoW. (Unlikely to happen anytime soon.)

As a side note, I now have a newfound respect for the Baldwin.

Brits

Oh poor Brit-brit. I actually feel sorry for her. Things are spiraling absolutely out of control. Poor thing.

Shut it!

Okay. NOBODY blog about the season premier of the Office. TiVo did it's job. Let me and Jigs enjoy it.

Birthday - In Pictures

So I'm guessing Sophist has better happy snaps, but here are a few shots of our times together over the past weekend. I have no time for excessive descriptions, so use your imaginations!

C'Est de la Bomb!

I had the most fantastic birthday weekend. The original plan was to go camping in the redwoods near Santa Cruz with HT and Sophist, but the first substantial rain of the season coaxed us to abort those plans and have a two night sleep-over at our place instead. And I couldn't have asked for anything more! Games, food, naps, gifts, cupcakes, Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour. Life doesn't get any better. And I was reminded, once again, that Jiggity is the BEST BOYFRIEND EVER! EVER!!

More to come, but probably via Sophist's blog. Work life continues to be busy for me....

Lovers? Or Siamese Twins?

We had our first visit to the Palo Alto Farmers Market today, and saw some serious PDA! Sheesh.

Truthism Vol.1. Issue 1.

I'm working Google hours for 0.4X(Google pay).*

* should not last beyond next week (fingers crossed)

Daily Lesson: Vol. 1 Issue 7

I don't like the fact that I feel as though I just finished finals, but I have to be in by 7:30am on Monday.

Daily Lesson: Vol. 1 Issue 6

There's a reason we go to college (and pull all-nighters) when we're in our late teens to early 20s. By the 30s, it just ain't happenin' anymore.

Daily Lesson: Vol. 1 Issue 5

When you like a boss, and she respects you and your work, you never know what will come of it. One day she might say, "What would you think about taking this entire project to Uganda?" She may be thinking big, but the way she works, there's probably more than an ounce of truth to her ideas.

Daily Lesson: Vol. 1 Issue 4

When in doubt, eat breakfast and incorporate some sort of protein in your lunch.

Daily Lesson: Vol. 1 Issue 3

Sometimes you've just gatta fake it, and pretend things are going to be just fine.

Daily Lesson: Vol. 1 Issue 2

Left-over berry crisp from last night's dessert makes a mighty delightful sauce for home-made waffles.

Daily Lesson: Vol. 1 Issue 1

When it comes to work life, nothing is better than an understanding, fantastic, engaged boss who knows the right time to wield power and authority.

Hey Old Phone - Meet My New Phone! Then, Meet The Trash Can*!

In lieu of new and exciting life stories (because there are none to tell, unless you consider 10-hour work days exciting), I'm posting photos of my phones. Guess which one is the old phone and which is new! I can't tell you how happy I am to get rid of the old piece of crappola. When I got it, it was a replacement for my second robbery in the fall of 2004 and was provided from the insurance plan (clearly a refurb piece of poop). It's never quite worked right, but for the last several months, it hasn't been alerting me to new voice mail messages. And I have the sense it wasn't logging all of my incoming voice messages either - but that's probably an issue with T-Mobile's voice mail system (or, alternatively, no one was calling me). Anyhoo, I'm liking my new phone ... but it's a hell-of-a-lot of technology to catch up on. For example, the icons don't look like they were created on an Etch-e-Sketch.

* worry not - I will dispose of my phone in an environmentally friendly manner...if there is such a thing

QUICK-BLOG!

Hey now. Lest you think I've totally dropped off the face of the earth, I'm back for a quick post.

The weekend was grand (yay!), although it included some work (boo!).

It went something like this:

Friday afternoon: The week ended on a very positive note with me working with some fantastically enthusiastic folks on our project. Way to end a relatively tough week with a bang!

Friday night: Me + glass of wine + couch + What Not To Wear = happy

Saturday morning: I woke up at 9am! For those who don't know, this is UNREAL! I usually clock about 2 additional hours on Saturday morning. I think I've been having trouble winding down into the weekend lately. Or I'm finally growing out of my adolescence. In any case, it was great - because Jigs and I were out the door and off to Costco before 10am. And I had a brand new cell phone plan (Sprint, thank you very much) and phone (the new Sanyo razor-look-a-like) by noon. Who knew Costco deals in cell phones? And who knew my plan with T-Mobile expired almost 2 years ago. My old phone is twice that age, and that's saying something in these times of rapid improvements in technology. I figure this new Sanyo will get me through until my iPod dies and I can justify an iPhone.

Saturday afternoon: Me + popcorn + HGTV = Me hankering for my own house

Saturday night: Um, gosh. I can't remember. I think Jigs and I went for a walk in the EXTREMELY wealthy neighborhood we recently discovered a few blocks to the west of us. It's extremely clear when we cross over into the swank neighborhood, because the sidewalks end (and not in the storybook way we read as kids). We figure they stopped building sidewalks cause they don't want the renters walking their streets. I recently looked at the stats on this town, and discovered that the average home cost is WELL over $1 million. Eegads. These homes are palatial.

Sunday morning: We took off for the northern lands of Petaluma - to visit Er.Han and her man-pal. They left for Seattle (like, "moving" left) this morning. Sad me. No more wine country friends to visit.

Sunday afternoon: The four of us drove to the Russian River and went on a lovely (but HOT!) 3-hour canoe trip. I learned these things: it's hard to paddle when you're sitting indian style on the bottom of the canoe (too low); people can be jack-assy when it comes to spraying innocent canoers using giant water guns; if motorized vehicles aren't already banned on the RR, they should be; and I crave Sprite like nobody's business when I'm dehydrated.

Sunday night: Back at Er.Han's pad, we enjoyed an exercise in "eat everything left in her fridge so she doesn't need to move it to Seattle". The exercise got a score of YUMMY after combining chicken strips, black beans, cheese, lettuce, and a few shakes from a packet of McCormick "burrito seasoning". As a break between dinner and dessert, we played a rousing game of Settlers of Catan. Jiggity kicked our bottoms! (I came in a close second with a crazy sheep production ranch and a 2-for-1 sheep port.)

Monday morning: We played the morning version of "eat everything left in Er.Han's fridge so she doesn't need to move it to Seattle". Ooof. I was full. We left for home before we had to play the lunch version.

Monday noon: I started work for the day. Not thrilling, but I got a lot done!

And that's it - no frills catch-up blog!

Ugh

Work has hit a point of extreme craziness! And my blogging has been and will be minimal. I sense the overwhelming sadness in the blogosphere. Yea, whatever.

In any case, keep checking in! You never know when the opportunity will arise to recount some wacky story. I may even start a regular column: Poo Sightings!

Blog Love

So I'm getting my craft on, once again, to start a *scrapbook* (M.Bro would be proud) about the life and times of Jiggity and J.Po. And I must say, having this blog is making it amazingly easy. I have a poor sense of time (like, did we go to Freemont State Park the first or second summer of our relationship?) and this here blog is answering all of my questions. Plus, I've captured precious moments like this.

html

Anyone out there know the html to get text to stop wrapping around picures in blogger? I know all about "/br" for creating breaks, but I need some text wrap help. I suppose I could google, but there's a whole lot o' knowledge out there!

LUGGAGE!

So this guy has recently been discussing his new adventures in carry-on luggage. I, too, made a recent luggage purchase due to a broken zipper on my 10-year-old carry-on. I LOVE my new luggage. Look! It even tells me where to put my female items (jewels and all).

As the Jigs can confirm, I spent several evenings wheeling this bag around our apartment when I first bought it. I gave it the plane test when I went out to the land of TOWWAS and Alsho and it achieved high marks for travelability. It fit so easily into the overhead bins and the wheels were so frictionless, they must have been developed at NASA!

Another plus? I'll never again get confused about which of the hundreds of black bags is mine. This bag can be spotted from a distance of 4 baggage claim carrosels!

Oh Man!

I left the house without deodorizing. Crap! Now I have to burn 4 bucks at the Walgreens to remedy the situation. If it weren't so blasted hot, I could totally get away with it.

Come to think of it, I'm at the fieldsite today and (with the window open) there's a rich aroma of marijuana mixed with smog and urine in my office. So I'm guessing no one would notice a little B.O. I can delay until lunch, at least.

New Favorite Channel: HGTV!

I discovered - only 1 week ago - that the Jigs and I get HGTV as part of our basic cable package. Channel 67, dudes. Ever since, it's been ALL HGTV ALL THE TIME! Among the highlights of my new channel love is the design taste quiz from Get it Together!

Jigs and I knew we were compatible in many ways (including those ways NOT screened by eHarmony), but we had no idea we have the same design sensibilities. Indeed. "Rustic" it is. For both of us. Though I'm beginning to wonder if everyone tests as "Rustic". Let me know your outcome.

Unfortch, we haven't had a lot of opportunity to let our design senses shine, given the crazy-arse housing costs in the bay area. Mayhaps we'll benefit from all the folks defaulting on loans. Will it mean more availability of reasonably-priced (i.e. - will only take 70 years to pay off) real estate?

Soundtrack for my Day

Thanks to Sophist, the amount of music in my iPod increased 2-fold a few weeks ago. For those who will claim piracy, I already owned a good portion of this music - just too lazy to download from CD. So there.

Today's favorite is Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha. Spice, OnBreak.Bro and I (and others, including the long lost T.Bone) went to see him in Madison a few years back and I fell for his music, hard core. I'm slightly too old and way under-hip to fit in at his concerts, but his tunes are good. And he's a master whistler. And a classically trained violinist. Check him out, yo. Start with the Mysterious Production of Eggs and move on to Armchair.

Yo.

Things Have Changed!

I haven't altered my profile significantly since sometime in 2004 (i.e. - when I started this blog). Back then, in the dark ages, we had to do things via html. What up with all the user-friendly tools available these days to add links, etc?

When I updated my profile today, I lost all of my old links, etc. And I had to add them back using these tools. Which was easy. But it made me long for the olden-days when blogger was more like a stick shift than an automatic. (Okay, so being a non-driver, I don't exactly have much authority in using that metaphor.)

Any other long-time bloggers out there notice the change?

Is anyone else out there really really really tired of hearing about Britney Spears' self-destruction? Dude. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I sortof miss the days when TomKat was (were?) the subject of most entertainment news headlines.

Breaking News: Jiggity Wins Award for "Best Boyfriend Ever"

The award was granted for driving girlfriend, J.Po, to an alternative form of public transportation after she heard on the radio about the morning train delay due to pedestrian hit.

We are following the story and will have live updates from the award ceremony later this evening. Early reports indicate there may be hot pretzels involved in the festivities.

Live from the Road - It's Bathroom Graffiti

This was sent to me by BK, during his travels with LK across the country.

BEST GRAFFITI EVER! Spice and TOWWAS will probably agree!

Hot Pretzels

During lunch, I realized I work within a block of 2 (count them, 2) hot pretzel-eries. Since our study is launching September 1st, I'll soon be near said hot pretzels 5 days a week.

The degree of Jiggity's envy is hard to estimate. My hypothesis: extreme envy.

Big Basin = Big Fun

The Jigs and I - along with ye olde P.H.ers (minus 2 who were behind on Burning Man preparations) - had a most fabulous weekend. We went camping at Big Basin State Park, the oldest state park in California (est. 1902). Look how pretty:

After 2 nights and one full day enjoying the environs of the Santa Cruz mountains, we give the park 9 out of 10 Camping Yummies*. We've already decided to return in the winter months to enjoy a few nights in the platform tents. Yar!

Highlights: The food (no surprises there), the fantastic campsites, the amazing redwoods, the cozy fires, and the view from Buzzard's Roost.
(Photos below: Buzzard's Roost, Bag of Cheetos Enjoying the View From Buzzard's Roost, Lovely Campsite, and Dinner Prep)

Lowlights: Experiencing leftover symptoms of cotton lung whilst climbing the 1200 vertical feet (in switchback form) to the peak of Buzzards Roost. Dude. I'm outta shape. I need to put an end to my poor ballet attendance and gym avoidance. Sheesh. Other lowlights include: the bees (very buzzy and annoying) and the critters (we had racoon visitors at night, although the only evidence was the trampled bag we found in the morning....)

* As I ran off to work Friday morning (while Jigs rolled over to enjoy a day-off morning snooze), I put Jigs in charge of concocting a dessert plan. And concoct he did! Using the so-called Interweb, he discovered the wonder that is Camping Yummies. The recipe goes something like this: buy a tube of Pillsbury puff pasteries and jug o' puddin; start fire; jam one raw circle of puff pastery onto roasting implement; roast patery until it puffs to twice its raw size; remove pastery from roasting implement; create well in pastery center; fill well with puddin; enjoy your Yummy. See pic below (Yummy craddled in Jigs' meaty paw....oh no, wait! That's MY meaty paw!).

Cotton Lung

So this damn cold I got *in the middle of the summer* has migrated from my nasal and throatal passages down into my lungs. I'm talking deep into my lungs, like aveoli deep. I feel like I work in a cotton textile factory in the late 1800s. Ugh. Maybe I have TB. This is quite likely, given the bus I ride on a regular basis. Sophist knows the one. She's seen many a drug deal on that bus.

Wha?!? J.Po completed a project?!?

TRUE!!! I finished a major project, which took much less time than I anticipated. MY FIRST SWEATER. Let's hear it for me. WOO!

I'm seldom intimidated by the crafty challenges in this world, but knitting sweaters is one exception. I finally faced my fear and saw this project to completion.

The sweater is from the Cowl Neck Sweater pattern (Stitch'n'Bitch vol. 1 (thanks, Spice!)) and I used non-dyed organic cotton yarn. My only adjustments to the pattern were to add 2 inches in length to both the torso and arms (the beauty of making your own crap - tall girls get the length they need!).

Lessons from this experience: (1) checking gauge is actually useful and wise; (2) knitting with cotton is so fun cause I don't get eczema outbreaks; (3) Jiggity likes my new duds cause he can nuzzle up as though he's resting on a very soft blanket; (4) knitting sweaters isn't that hard, especially given a simple pattern using wide yarn and large needles.

Sorry for poor lighting on the pics. Jiggity couldn't stand to separate himself from the snow monsters attacking him on WOW. If you don't know what WOW stands for, your nerd score is <5 (congratulations).

Anniversary, concert style!

It's the 18th anniversary of my first self-chosen* "rock'n'roll" (I use that term loosely) concert. On the evening of August 3rd, 1989, I went to the Medina County Fair to see New Kids on the Block "rock" the house. The date of August 3rd was burned in my mind the entire summer of 1989, as I impatiently awaited the performance of Danny, Donnie, Joey, Jon, and - my personal favorite - Jordan. I ate, slept, and breathed NKOTB that summer - and during most of the year that followed.

The opening act for the concert was none other than Tiffany. In anticipation of my readers' questions - yes, she sang "I Think We're Alone Now". Tiffany started the tour as the main act, but was eventually demoted to be the opening act as NKOTB's fame grew with crowds of hysterical adolescents chanting their names. I felt sortof bad for Tiffany at the time, but she did alright for herself in the end - what with her starring role on Celebrity Fit Club and all.

There was a time, after I grew out of love with NKOTB, that carried some shame for my musical interests circa 1989. But at this point I realize I was a pretty typical teenager, and I'm glad I had that experience. Now I have a deep understanding for the the hoards of crazed teens to follow - with excitement for such bands as N'Sync and Backstreet Boys. And anyway, I feel like I've redeemed myself in terms of musical taste, with playlists that include tunes from Sufjan Stevens, Patty Griffin, Bright Eyes, Joni Mitchell, Radiohead, Bob Dylan, REM, The Postal Service, and so on. So there.

And with that, I can't wait to hear about your first self-chosen "rock'n'roll" concert. So?

* My first non-self-chosen concert (i.e. - first concert ever) was Peter, Paul, and Mary. I was 3, maybe?

Who Gets a Cold in the Middle of the Summer?

Me! What's the deal?

Anyhoo, I've not been blogging much - mostly because all of my energy has gone toward trying to keep my focus at work. No time for a sick day! Things are busy!

Life with Jiggity as I've known it has come to an end.

He bought Guitar Hero.

Pix Courtesy of Jigs

With this sum, I could pay off a very small percentage of my student loans! WEE!

$5125.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth. From Mingle2 - Free Online Dating

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

Patty Griffin Rocked the House...

...this evening at the Mountain Winery. She played all the faves, save for "Mary". Spice would have enjoyed hearing "Rain". My personal favorite songs of the evening were the upbeat ones, including "Useless Desires", "No Bad News", and "Truth No. 2" (first recoreded by the Chicks, but written by PG herself). All in all, a first rate show. No surprise, really. Patty seldom disappoints. But after a weekend floating around in a houseboat on Lake Shasta, I wasn't sure if I'd get excited.

Points for the Person Who Can Place the Quote (no fair for you to play, Jiggity)

Spider pig
Spider pig
Doin' whatever a spider pig does

Who Knew?

Wikipedia has a page about tricornes, which I was sent to after typing in "tri-cornered hat"*.

I'm glad someone pointed out that "Participants in reenactment events often don tricornes...". True enough.

Though Jiggity's hat has neither a plum nor a cockade, he likes it anyway ... and promises to wear it this weekend on our Friday-Monday getaway.

* After all the discussion of tri-cornered hats in the comments earlier, I was curious of the proper name: tri-cornered or tricorner. If Wikipedia is right, both are acceptable. In my opinion, tricorne is even better.

BAD Ballerina!

I've been really bad about going to ballet class lately. Several weeks ago I got a cold. And then I went to OAM. And then the ballet studio was on summer hiatus. And then I went to DC. With all of that, I've been away for a couple of months. And truth be told, I've been an irregular attendee since April.

And currently I'm struggling to find the desire to go back. Like tonight, there's a class at 7:30pm, but I just feel like going home and curling up with some knitting. Maybe I'll be back in the groove next week. One thing's for sure, I'm not at Adult 3 level anymore. I'm planning to start back at Adult Beginning....while some folks in my original cohort have moved on to Beginning Pointe.

Sheesh.

I'm too tall to go on pointe anyway, right?

Rapid Fire, DC Style

Hey now! I don' t have tons of time today to post, but I thought I'd give a run-down on the happenings in DC. This will be fast, so buckle your seat belts!

Wednesday 10:00pm PST - scheduled time of departure from SFO
Wednesday 11:30pm PST - actual departure from SFO
Wednesday 12:00 midnight PST - J.Po swallows Ambien
Thursday 8:20am EST - Sis.Po and Sis.Hub depart for National Airport to retrieve J.Po.
Thursday 8:30am EST - J.Po lands in Philly, having missed 2 departures to DC (the original and the one I was placed onto after I missed the connection).
Thursday 8:31am EST - J.Po calls Sis.Po at home and cell to warn them of her delay, with no response.
Thusrday 9:00am EST - Sis.Po and Sis.Hub page J.Po at National Airport to no avail and return home where a message is awaiting them on their home and cell phones explaining the situation.
Thursday 11:30am EST - J.Po finally gets on flight to National (I'm told by TOWWAS that I MUST call it National, not Reagan Airport)
Thursday 1:00pm EST - At long last, J.Po, Sis.Po, and Sis.Hub meet up.
Thursday din-din - J.Po supps with Sis.Po's department at a goodbye din-din. Everyone agrees that Sis.Po got a bum deal with this Iraq deployment thing.
Friday a.m. - J.Po learns the wonder that is the Tour de France. Sis.Hub teaches her that there is a load of strategy involved in the race. J.Po is impressed by the bleeding-butt guy who took an unfortunate spill off his bike. He was thought to be a potential contender for the win.
Friday afternoon - J.Po and team go to Mt. Vernon. J.Po is impressed by the number of poo sitings. Sheep poo, horse poo, a "dung repository" that looks much like a compost heap. J.Po purchases a tri-cornered hat for Jiggity.
Friday evening - Alsho comes to Sis.Po's house to meet up with J.Po. Sis.Po's friends from HOM (Her Alma Mater) and their two kids (ages 1.5 and 4) arrive for a visit from New Hampshire. The whole gang eats pizza and J.Po takes a liking to the 1.5-year-old. Silly face games ensue.
Friday evening, post-dinner - Alsho takes J.Po to her house, a LOVELY and RELAXING escape. J.Po bunks in the yoga room. Her blood pressures goes down and she considers staying forever. Ahh.
Saturday AM - TOWWAS comes to Alsho's to brunch with Alsho and J.Po. TOWWAS brings sausage and Alsho cooks waffles in her maker that was gifted by L.Kes and J.Po. Bellies fill to the max and food comma sets in. Mmmmm....
Saturday post-brunch - TOWWAS departs for her baby shower activities. Alsho and J.Po depart for the zoo, to meet up with Sis.Po, Sis.Hub, and her friends from HAM.
Saturday afternoon - The gang spends 5 hours at the zoo. J.Po's favorite animals are the free-roaming monkeys (baby monkeys on the backs of adult monkeys make her squeal with joy). J.Po and Alsho have ice cream for lunch. Wise choice? Yes!
Saturday evening - J.Po says goodbye to Sis.Po and Sis.Hub. Alsho and J.Po return to Alsho's house for dinner. TOWWAS joins the party, and refuses to eat cheese. No surprise. TOWWAS then entertains the crowd with her revels video. Alsho plans to go to the performance this winter. Perhaps Spice will join her?
Sunday morning 5:30am EST - Alsho (the doll that she is) drives J.Po to National for her 7:00am departure. J.Po discovers she is not booked on the flight, due to the mishap earlier in the week. She gets the last seat on the flight, but it's a center seat whereas the original was a window.
Sunday 7:00am EST- J.Po settles into her center seat and is joined by a woman and her young child. Child begins grabbing J.Po's sweater and stepping on her leg to entertain herself. The grabbing and stepping continues throughout the flight, without much intervention by mother. Perhaps a cultural difference in personal space? J.Po remembers she adores children, but not when they keep her from sleeping during the flight.
Sunday 12:20 PST - J.Po lands at SFO and Jiggity arrives to retrieve her. J.Po is glad to be home and envisions an afternoon nap.

Stupidest Thing You've Ever Done. GO!

Me: Missed my flight to DC that took off at 12:35 am THIS morning, not TOMORROW morning. (No worries, DC crowd, I just rescheduled)

(Note to future self - read itinerary carefully.)

Whew!!

I just got word that my 2pm meeting (that I was going to run) is cancelled! WHEW!!!! I can't even express the degree of my relief! I've been working in overdrive over the last week to get ready for my somewhat unexpected trip to D.C. Now I actually have the time to take a walk over lunch instead of haul my arse to the fieldsite. Ah, the little joys in life. WEE!

Project switch!

After completing the back, front and one sleeve of my FIRST EVER HAND-KNITTED SWEATER, I got bored of the yarn and pattern. So I switched projects - made a trip to the local yarnery yesterday, found some delightful variagated cotton on sale (40% off, dude), and started knitting a hat. I'm making good progress! The plan was to have something to work on during my flight to DC on Wednesday. Seems I may be done before my departure. Oops! Good thing I bought a second skein in another color.

HEALTH!!

For the next 7 weeks, I'll be doing everything this guy tells me to do. He's the latest in a long line of my PBS-inspired health kicks. I'm currently following his 8 week plan for ultimate health.

The first week involved doing lots of things I already do (eat broccoli and salmon weekly, take fish oil pills daily, walk a lot), which is making me think I live a relatively healthy life.

He did, however, advise on two key things I have not done until now: take supplements (vitamin B complex, vitamin E, vitamin D, Selenium, Calcium, and Co-Enzyme Q) and practice daily meditative breathing. The B-complex supplement is doing amazing things for my energy ... with the added bonus of turning my urine florescent yellow. The breathing is very difficult for me - because I tend to be a little ADD and I have a tough time slowing down. But it's probably the thing I could use the most!

I can't wait to see what I'm slated to do in week 2. I cheated and skimmed ahead, excited to see that I'll be increasing my fiber intake to 40 GRAMS A DAY sometime soon. That will be a true challenge. Sophist will be happy to hear that I'm taking fiber intake to a whole new level!

Pool Party!

Jiggity and I totally went to a pool party for the holiday. I haven't been invited to a pool party since the age of 12 or so.

Here's our culinary contribution:

Gettin Stitchy With It

After a couple of months off since my last stitch-related project, I've started a new venture...and this time, it's not a wedding veil and in no way related to a wedding. At all. WEE!

I've taken a turn from sewing to knitting, and I'm ready update you on my progress.

Several years ago, I treked to a local knitting convention along with a few of my stitching compatriates. We saw more than our fill of applicay-sweater-clad women diving into bins of wholesale yarn. Although I refused to take a literal yarn-oriented plunge, I did purchase several skeins of lovely organic cotton and vowed to use it to knit my very first sweater. It has since collected dust waiting for me to get enough courage and patience to begin. (And it's been about 4 years.)

With lots of inspiration from this gal (who, if my memory serves, was on that fateful trip to the convention), I started knitting 3 weeks ago. And I've already completed the front and back secitons! Granted, I'm using a really easy pattern and a relatively bulky yarn, but this is going much quicker than I thought. It's easier than I thought, too, and I've already learned 3 new techniques!

Medium Tum Tum Monkey kept getting in the way of the camera, but I managed to get some photos. Here they are:

The Bottle Lied

I totally have fish burps this morning.

I think I might get some coffee to mask the taste. Ick.

At Least I'll Finally Pay D.C. a Visit....

After years of telling the DC area crowd that I'm due for a visit, the war gave me the motivation I've needed. I'll be kickin it, DC style, from July 12th through July 15th - with 2 days of familial goodbyes and one day of chillin' (or boilin', as the case may be).

With an estimated one day to spend in ye olde capitol city, what do you recommend I see? (TOWWAS is already on the list, if she's willing.)

Good Times with Cocoa

So it seems L.Kes and B.Kes are taking in all the Bay Area sites before fleeing for the MW. And Jiggity and I are taking advantage of their energy and organizing efforts. We're also trying to spend as much time as possible with them before they leave us (sad).

Yesterday's adventure included a trip to the Scharffen Berger Chocolate "factory" (a relatively small building, really) and a sake factory (also, quite small).

Jigs and I were going to phone Sophist to see about some din-din plans, but I got a little stomach ailment, probably from all the intense chocolate washed down with several cups of sake, so we went home instead. Sorry, Sophist.

We partook in a lovely brunch before the festivities. Pics for your viewing pleasure: