Thursday, January 31, 2008

an affair to forget

until very late in the day yesterday, i thought yesterday was the 31st.

which means i did inventory at one location a day early, and not at all at another. i'm glad i have another day to get it finished, but hell if i'm doing it again at the other location.

this also means i did two of my least favorite work-related activities yesterday: inventory and raising prices. it's been over two years since our last price increase, and our products have gone up exponentially over the last two years. it also means i'll get a raise soon, which i'm thrilled to hear. but ugh. raising prices is No Fun.

the chairs i got at the estate sale are in the works to get redone. i had a woman that does custom orders come over last week with books and books of fabric samples. so many that it was hard to decide! of course i stupidly decided without her first telling me the price, and the fabric alone was $46 yard. i need at least 10 yards. needless to say, along with the cost of labor, these chairs are going to be very expensive. i rethought the idea of such an expensive fabric and dragged Jewels to calico corners last weekend and found something slightly more reasonable. i got the feeling if i spend that much on these chairs i'd end up resenting them. i only wish i had the chairs, either in their current or future form, for the small super bowl shindig i'm hosting this weekend.

just having family over, not really concerned with the winner unless it earns me some cash from our super bowl pool. i signed up for 5 squares today, here's hoping they're lucky!

mom saw her medical oncologist yesterday morning for a follow-up to her DNA test -- she falls into the "not very likely" group for the cancer to return. a thousand thanks have already been said, and now that we know she "only" has to do radiation and not chemotherapy we're all breathing a little easier. of concern next: dad mentioned to the MO that my mother has lost an additional three pounds since her last appointment and we're all worried. she is thin as it is, and we're worried what significant and rapid weight loss can mean. the MO said she'd contact my mother's primary care doc about an endoscopy, as from her view it's not cancer-related. my mother is absolutely furious with him, saying she'd rather not find out anything else wrong with her. i'm glad he mentioned it, of course, and hope she can get some answers as to why she's always sick to her stomach.

the cake decorating class that i thought was one night ended up being four nights, starting last week. i had to miss the first class due to other commitments but the two i've taken since have gone well. we have a "final" tonight, one that requires us bringing an already frosted split layer cake to decorate in class. because it's in the middle (end?) of the week, i decided to get a jump on making the cakes early. (sounds kinda gross, i know, but they're not frosted yet, and they sat wrapped in the freezer since they were made. that i've now seen enough icing to last a lifetime means that i hopefully won't be tempted by a slice.)


IMG_4871


i made two square cakes cause i thought they'd look cool. Jewels' are the traditional round ones. i will say that decorating is a helluva lot harder than it looks! we'll see how well my final cake comes out before i promise any pics.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

bells are ringing

allow me to introduce you to the rock on my sister's finger.




that's right, my baby sister is engaged as of last night.

color us shocked, indeed, but happy for her and her, erm, fiancé. it is my sincere hope that they will be happy together. but heck -- if they've already put up with each other throughout the past 5 (6?) years, that's saying a lot!

tonight we celebrated not only their engagement, but my father's birthday and my future brother-in-law's birthday. lots of celebrating, lots of good times.

six word sunday: oh, the weather outside is frightful

(I skipped last Sunday as I was away. Being frozen to death, as evidenced by the pic below -- that's 0 degrees at 3:15am).

oh, the weather outside is frightful





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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

coked-out

i feel all skeevy posting this, but i'll do it anyway.

here's heath ledger recently, talking about his role in the new "batman" flick. tell me he's not high on something.



sad stuff, his death. not because i'm his biggest fan or anything, but because people my age aren't supposed to die this soon.

Friday, January 18, 2008

photobooth friday




the family and i went to san francisco last weekend and i convinced them all to step into BOTH (!) of the fabulous booths at the musee mecanique at pier 45. truly, these two strips are not only two of my all-time favorites, but that i was able to cram all four of us, plus my sister's boyfriend into one shot, really makes me happy.

notes:
mom's getting better at her photobooth faces! the last frame one makes me grin -- she had no idea my sister and i were on either side of her giving her a faux-smooch and her pose is just perfect for it.

always the ham, sister is 'picking' her nose in the third frame

first time with dad in a booth! more of his crazy faces to come in future photobooth fridays.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

straight, no chaser

i keep trying to come here and actually write something. i hate doing "catch up" entries, but also like to have a record of what's gone on, so here goes.

christmas was held at my condo with my immediate family, the first time we've ever done something like that. and it was probably one of the best christmas holidays in memory. we feasted on crab, lamb, sourdough bread and various cheeses and gorged ourselves on wine. i fell in love with a caymus cab that was to die for, and only solidified what i already was beginning to know: i pretty much only care for red wine. my mother cried when she opened her gift from my father, specifically saved for last, and it was the most recent time in memory when she used the phrase, "well now i know i'm dying." needless to say, i cannot stand it when she says this. because she's not dying.

but the truth is i can't ever really tell with her. she seems to be doing well, and she was "supposed to" have an appointment yesterday to supposedly finalize her radiation treatment schedule. i say "supposedly" because it's been pushed back a bit. the plan was to take a sample from her biopsy and have it sent for essentially DNA testing to determine how at risk she is for the cancer to return. truthfully i don't know a whole lot about it, other than that it's considered experimental and that the results should put her into essentially one of three categories: not likely, semi-likely or highly likely that the cancer will return. if i'm not doing it justice by explaining it this way, please forgive me. anyway, this test will also allow her docs to finally say whether she'll have to have chemotherapy as well as radiation, something we've been waiting far too long to hear.

2008 has been good to me so far. i didn't make any real resolutions, just to have more adventures. adventures, whatever they may be. i traveled so much last year and loved every minute of it. if i could travel just a fraction of the amount i did last year, i'd be stoked. matt invited me to palm springs this coming weekend, but the airfare is unreasonable for a two-night stay. i am contemplating flying into ontario and driving down with them from there, but i'm still not sure. money doesn't flow as easily around here as it once did, and although i manage to have more than enough left over each month without any debt, i'd like to keep it that way. besides, there are expensive things on the horizon to be purchased, namely a camera. oh, and property taxes due next month.

so i'm going to tahoe instead. wheee!

speaking of adventures, i find they can be right under your nose. jewels and i went to an estate sale last weekend. we'd been talking about hitting up some estate sales, so this was the perfect time for her to look for baby-related items and for me to look hunt down mid-century modern goodies. this particular sale was thursday, friday and saturday, so when we showed up saturday mere hours before they were closing up shop, things were pretty picked over. i got some neat books, and an absolute steal on two suitably modern slipper chairs. apparently they were $175 each on thursday, and i was originally told they were $100 for the pair by one person and $20 EACH by another working the event so it was a deal ($40 for both) i couldn't pass up. they're yellow and could potentially stay that way, but i'm taking them for an estimate next week to have them reupholstered.

then later that day i found a polaroid spectra camera at a new consignment store for less than $20 and promptly purchased some film for it. it's pretty much not left my sight since i acquired it and i had lots of fun cruising the streets of san francisco yesterday afternoon with the 'roid in hand.

i got a facial last week, the second one i've ever had. i'm pretty sure that's the most relaxed i've ever been, even post-massage. there's just something about this esthetician that is instantly calming. any armchair psychologist would say that it's the advice and kind words she's offered about dealing with her own mother's breast cancer many years ago that creates a bond, and i can't disagree. we both cried a bit last week as well as when i saw her in november, and she's one of the few people who, when they say things will be alright, i actually believe. as i was leaving last week, she slipped a bright pink envelope into my hand and asked that i give it to my mother for her. mind you, i've only known this woman for maybe six months, and she's never even met my mother. inside the envelope was a gift certificate for a facial for my mother. she left me a voice mail later that evening explaining in further detail why she decided to do this, and it came down to "honoring her mother by helping other women with breast cancer." i'm never sure how to react to things like this, and the thank-you note i've written seems like too little to thank her for caring, most certainly aside from her generous gift.

i've seen several movies in the theater lately, most recently "juno" and "charlie wilson's war" on christmas eve and "taxi to the dark side" on sunday. i highly recommend the latter when/if it opens at a theater near you if you're a fan of documentaries. i'm trying to forget the sundance film festival is upon us and i'm not going to be there.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

six word sunday: finding a smile brightens everyone's day









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Friday, January 11, 2008

photobooth friday



despite the stormy weather we had last weekend, my sister, her boyfriend and i made a trek pretty much around the bay area for some shopping and good eats.

i knew there was a booth in berkeley, and i let them in on my plan to have us all climb in together. after the obligatory eye-roll, they obliged. and agreed it was good fun! so much so that we may booth it up again this weekend in SF! (fingers crossed!)

the only bummer about this booth was that all four strips we did came out with at least the last frame obliterated.

ah, the mysteries of the booth.

happy friday!


Tuesday, January 08, 2008

last night's dinner



was so good and so orange.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

new year's rockin' eve

just sharin' some pix from new year's eve. it was one of the best i've had, thanks to lots of friends and maybe just a leeetle to drink.

just a leeetle.

started off the night downtown with a couple of drinks with friends. and a tequila shot. and apps. and did i say drinks?


moved on over to the home of some good friends, where much fun was had. and more drinks.

sake bomb, anyone?
sake bomb!

nothing like drunk ROCK BAND!
rock band!

which brings to mind this:



before i knew it, it was time to countdown



and the clock struck...
and the clock struck...

welcome, 2008! here's to new adventures!

six word sunday: and then the clock struck midnight








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