cohabitating together

I just got a phone call from a telemarketer. I usually don't engage, but she said my name properly so I decided to give her a chance. She proceeded to tell me about being eligible for a free vacation anywhere in the United States (including Hawai'i!). So exciting!

Then she asked me if I was married or in a cohabitational relationship. When I answered, she said she regretted to inform me that I was not eligible because only people who are married or cohabitating together are eligible.

Why do I feel like I just involuntarily participated in a survey about my relationship status? I'm laughing about it anyway.

victory

I didn't cry at the Montera SSC meeting tonight - and they voted to accept everything I asked them too. Win.

6th graders

Okay, so sometimes I really need to find the joy in my job. Usually sixth graders do the trick.

At Westlake, a sixth grader walked in on the Principal and I watching a guy casing the school on the security cameras. She said "Hey, are you watching TV? What show is that? It looks like my school! Hey! It IS my school! How did you do that? Can I be on TV?"

At Melrose Leadership, I got there just in time for the sixth grade awards assembly. After watching many of his classmates receive awards for high achievement in math, humanities, and college prep, one sixth grader passed by the Principal and I and suggested that "There should be an award for coming to school on time every day!" Almost, little buddy, but not quite.

My job is kind of fantastic.

the good news

Lee Scratch Perry is still out of his damn mind. Also, apparently, kabballah.

Julian and Stephen Marley are my fourth and fifth Marleys to see live on stage, they took the honor very well. And the new Fox theater is gorgeous and impressive - right down to the air conditioning being shot up from floor vents. I only had to shake my finger at one overly aggressive baldhead.

That's the good news.

small wonder

I got home from work before dark tonight.

whatever happened to bolt?

I found myself clapping and yelling on the treadmill tonight and I'm pretty sure it wasn't the 2.5 mile accomplishment. There is something very special about tall men running across a shiny hardwood floor that brings out the cheer in me way more than any budget training or consultant contract packet could. Even more than vegetable day.

It's been a tough game for my hometown tall men tonight (not over yet!!) and I'm proud of them all but the baby of the bunch gets the honors from me. Last time I checked, he couldn't drink legally, and he's about one cheeseburger over 200 pounds. Tonight he made Kobe fall on top of him and kept his head up through bad foul calls and messy hustles. And he loves his mom. Winner!

work

I usually try my best to not post about work stuff here. I talk about it enough in real life. But tonight, I finished about three months worth of catching up on an important part of my new job - updating the OUSD Site Deliverables Dashboard. Thankfully most of you have no idea what that is, and I sincerely hope it remains that way. However, I am extremely proud of myself for collecting the data, populating the cells, deciding on thresholds, and communicating the information to people who will hopefully read it and use it. Go me!

stuff on the walls

When I moved into the garage in high school, I had acres of wall-space to fill with stickers and labels and magazine cut-outs and photos and baseball caps. In college, I took pieces of my real estate with me, along with a huge ball of blue fun-tac. The notes and inspirational phrases mixed in with movie and concert tickets, an enormous Matt Damon face, and photos of drunken nights and new friends.

When I said goodbye to my last roommate here on Magnolia, I decided that everything on my walls would be framed. With a few precious exceptions, my current wall space is a black-framed, almost-a-grown-up collection of museum exhibit posters, drawings, and enlarged photos from my almost-a-grown-up international travels.

Today, that real estate got another piece - thanks to my bacon-loving compadres - a reminder of my love for the irresistible pork belly and its ability to transform everything from figs to scallops to a joyful bite. I'm hanging it near the menorah, cause that's funny.

angry cupcakes

that pretty much sums up valentine's day 2009.

a few things

The past few days have been full of budgets and planning and bad attitudes and rain. I've enjoyed most of it. I had at least four reminders of why I love my job (wait, his name is really Don'tell?) and been much better about not second guessing my instincts outside of work. I also ran just over 2 miles on the treadmill (thanks Top Chef) and burned almost 400 calories. That is half of a really good cheeseburger, for reference. Also, the best raspberry mojito I've ever had. Next time I will bring my own pears.

not over yet

Work hazzard.

Being prepared for anything.

special

I wore a cute dress today. It helped a little.

full force

So when your phone rings at 7:30am, your first thought is never "something blog-worthy is probably going to happen." But when it's your neighbor calling to tell you that she (and her amazing puppy) are coming up the back steps with a special treat, the tide turns a little bit. And then, when the special treat turns out to be freshly-squeezed orange juice from your backyard orange tree, it's pretty solidly the winner for the day.

Here's the problem with this blog: I have an interest in being right all the time (I said it!), so it's hard for me to risk posting about something great before the very end of the day. What if something even more inspiring or comforting or exciting happens and I've already posted? Then it's midnight after a long day of doing three peoples' jobs and I have no interest in being creative or remembering anything at all. So days go by. Luckily, I usually remember to document the good stuff and I've been noticing the little good things more and more, so there is no dearth of blog-worthy material. It's more about the choosing.

Since I last got it together to post, work has taken over my life in a serious way. I didn't need any help in getting more focused on work work work, but being responsible for the duties that three people were doing just a few months ago has completely exhausted me. Did I mention we had to move our office in the middle of all of this? No, I didn't, because this is supposed to be about good stuff. I'll just say this is a before and after:

Outside of work, there was a trip to the farmer's market where Abel and I thought too long and missed out on pork knuckles, but I ended up biking home with a crab in my backpack.


Inspired by my industrious college buddy Sarah McColl, I attempted her $8 salmon cakes - with some Terra Firma salad and roasted veggies - and was pleased with the result, especially with the fig mustard on top.


And, as usual, my high points often involved planned and unplanned adventures with my local folks - a great play with Jenn Brown (and deb! hi deb!), a new night at Kitty's with Marty and Kasha, a day at the zoo with Isaiah and Julie, fried apple rings and cajeta and my first Cal men's basketball game with Abel, parking lot laughs with Liz and Marina, little contributions to celebrating great people with the Agape Peace Prize crew, and 4-year-old birthday fun (cuetes and cake!) with Carolina and the Camacho-Diamonds.

I've got it pretty good.