Almost finished!

I started reading "The Goldfinch" a few weeks ago, almost.

 

It's really good and riveting and I've been staying up late getting further and further into the book {& I'm definitely feeling it at work during the day} because I have a time limit on this thing since I have it checked out from the library as an ebook - which is my recent favorite way to read books. Except for the whole time limit thing. I don't have another good book lined up which is a positive thing since I have a ton of grading coming up in the next two weeks although I'm number 2,334,353 on the library ebook waiting list for Amy Poehler's book and I'm looking forward to that one. 

Also, are you watching Peter Pan tonight? I watched the first part of The Sound of Music last year but never finished it and since we don't have a DVR right now it's tonight or nothing so we'll see if we can make it up that late...even though I've been staying up the same amount reading but reading is a better excuse.

There it went.

I was doing some work and just looked at the clock; it got late!

In other news...

1. It's supposed to warm up around here later in the week. Tomorrow's supposed to bring some snow flurries.

2. There's a smelly little dog on the couch with me.

3. There's a bit of a vacation on my horizon...yippee!!

4. I heard little girl's heartbeat this morning at my appointment; always a wonderful sound. And nice and strong!

5. There's some trash TV also going on around here {it starts with MT and ends with V} and as enjoyable as it is, it's time to switch off and do some reading.

I hope that you're enjoying the season and staying warm!
xoxo, natty ♥

The Hills.

What I couldn't say in only pictures yesterday is that I'm proud of having figured out how to use that little car seat - in our apartment at least.

Mike and I looked like Zoolander trying to get the straps pulled out {they were totally up against the seat}, pull the car seat out of its base {is there a trick to this?}, and make the base go down {there's a hard-to-adjust lever that lets the base go up and down}.

Now, on to getting the thing into the car and figuring out that confinguration.

And then there's the whole aspect of the child we'll actually be putting into the car seat but we can worry about that later.

In other Thursday night news {it's Thursday already?!}, there's a dress-down day at school tomorrow {YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS}, there are some ice cream sandwiches waiting in the fridge, a gingerbread house kit that needs to be assembled {maybe tomorrow night - woot for crazy Friday evenings}, and THE SOUND OF MUSIC on TV tonight.

Are you watching Carrie belt out the tunes? I plan on singing along with all the songs {growing up, the original movie was about as important to me as Little House on the Prairie}. But I'm actually a bit nervous about this "show" because I love the original so much and so dearly - I even heard from someone at work that Carrie Underwood was receiving death threats which seems pretty excessive. If it's crummy I figure that I can just file it away in the pantheon of "remakes that shouldn't have been made in the first place". But I'm still hopeful and very excited, though I think it'll just make me want to watch the Julie Andrews version ASAP.

Happy watching {or not!} to you!
xoxo, natty ♥

The Itchy & Scratchy Show.

In California I never suffered much from allergies even though we have some of the worst hay fever in the country.

But since earlier this week my throat and all it's connected to have been feeling junky. My grandmother so kindly pointed out to me that it's because I wasn't born here so I'm not immune to the allergies here. 

So true, I suppose; good job granny. 

I noticed it specifically on Wednesday night. It was the toastiest day of the week and storms were predicted so I opened our windows to enjoy the warm breeze. 

After several episodes of Downton Abbey {Mike's been really busy with work/school, hence the nights of wine and roses BBC}, one being ESPECIALLY sad, I realized my throat felt funny but I thought it was just the drama I was watching. Plus my eyes were/are super agitated {red}.

But now it's Friday and I'm not still sad.

Way to go pollen.

In other news:

• I'm a bachelorette for the evening because my better half is doing one of those ultra races that are done in teams {and it involves a van}. I miss him dreadfully even though I just saw him this morning; funny how "absence makes the heart grow fonder" really does ring true.

• After putting in some great miles a few weeks ago, I'm back to loathing the sport of running. Why would I want to do that? Who even likes that? What is WRONG with me?

• We're going to "The Ball" put on by Mikey's graduate program tomorrow evening. I'm afraid that I am that California casual person and I'll be wearing flats and not very dramatic make-up. 

• It's bed-time.

Bon nuit and have a lovely weekend!

xoxo, natty ♥  

And just like that.

The title of this post refers to how last week we cancelled our cable television. There was a lot of gratuitous junk watching/time wasting and we were looking to save some moola.
And just like that, what do we do with our random tidbits of time in the evenings?
We do have Netflix and the Hulu, but that doesn't really count because we really think about what we're going to watch.
What else is there?
Reading.
Taking out G-man.
Going for walks.
Talking.
Going out?!
And, making buffalo chicken sandwiches for a certain brother-in-law's birthday.

Happy cumpleaños brother-in-law!

And yesterday was my beloved grammy's special day; happy birthday to YOU!

xoxo, natty ♥

:nioauerrrrhrefaresfa!

The title of this post adequately sums up my feelings on the following:

•        The business of work the past three weeks

•        The glorious, glorious advent of Spring! Trees are starting to be green and some even have lots of leaves and blossoms ♥

Grades were due two weeks ago and it felt like one thing after another came up at work. Things are still pretty intense, actually, but I think that’s just part of the territory of March during the school year. Our spring break looms ahead, not for several weeks, but it’s still coming up thankfully. 

We had quite a bit of fun back at the old corral the past three weeks also. Mardi gras was celebrated, we had our Irish-American dinner, I saw Maeve(!), we sent out Save the Dates (yay!) and planned a bit more of the wedding. Spirit week happened at work/school, which made dressing professionally this morning pleasantly mundane.

The running has been kind of hit or miss, mostly hit recently though, which is nice. After a long run a few weeks ago on the embarcadero in San Francisco we ran right past Nancy Pelosi, which was quite a thrill. That same day we drove to and hiked at the Marin Headlands which was beautiful. 

Some students had these awesome nails so I asked about them and I got ddirected to Tar-jhay for purchasing and I'm loooooving them, though M says that they’re merely another example of how I’m more like an adolescent girl than someone my age…oh well I don’t care they’re fun yay yay yay!

I’m on the couch watching Seinfeld and hoping that M will make me two grilled cheese sandwiches with cheddar and a bit of mustard smeared on the bread, though I have a sneaky suspicion I will have to make that sammy myself. Speaking of, tomorrow is the guy’s birthday (Happy Birthday Sweetie!) and I’m so excited to take him out to Henry’s Hi-Life for dinner, the very same place I celebrated my birthday 4 years ago and he surprised me at. 

This has been quite the stream of consciousness and that’s ok with me. I’m pretty tired from seeing Maeve last night since I'm old and am not used to going out with people and fun stuff like that and I'm enjoying some un-structured time. I’ll have some pictures up soon from those parties and hiking. My computer, sadly, is slowing down quite a bit these days and uploading and then importing to photobucket takes forever, something I’m not entirely up to right now.

Anyhoo, happy almost middle of the week!

 

wowzas!

Oh my, have I been remiss. I apparently decided to take off of blogging for about a month, unbeknownst to me. The school year hit me like a tidal wave that is still cresting, but it’s been great. My classes are good and I felt as though I was able to go into the school year with a good handle on planning, etc. I started some part time coaching soon into the school year which promptly zapped any free time that I had enjoyed, but that’s been good too.

We ended up having a great time in Chicago/Milwaukee. It was great to have time with my good friend and then M and I had an amazing time with our college friends.

I spent the last week or so of summer vacation buying pretty things for my classroom (pretty fabric to cover my corkboard, bright marker colors, etc.) and attending back to school meetings. My beginning of the year field trips went well (¡Gracias a Diós!) as was Back to School Night. The team and I and some faithful parents trekked up to Tahoe two weeks ago for an invitational meet and even though I was “working”, it was super nice to in Tahoe, if even for about a day.

I JUST saw a movie ad for “Secretariat” (I’m watching a USA marathon of Law & Order SVU since M s visiting his folks this weekend) and have decided that I MUST see it. I also want to see “The Social Network”. M and I have been subsisting on “Mad Men” (we’re on season three) and “Weeds” (Season two…old, I know, get over it) since we decided not to get cable whilst cohabitating with the Memaw so I’ve seen hardly any commercials so I have ni idea on what movies are out there. Have you seen any movies recently? Are there any that you want to see?

Speaking of things to see, I’ve been on a nasty book hiatus and I want it to STOP. I re-read “She’s Come Undone” by Wally Lamb as my last book. It is such a disturbing novel but has a beautiful story of redemption and I have read it several times. I keep meaning to start “Dead Until Dark” by Charlane Harris (it’s what “True Blood” is based on) so hopefully soon ☺

The weather has been crazy-dazy recently and we had a major heat wave this week. It’s since cooled down a bit and the days are beautiful and autumnal. Our street is lined with giant sycamore trees and the only downfall is the obscene amount of leaves that rain upon us every day. Amongst this picturesque backdrop my cousin J and my friend C ran the San Jose Rock and Roll Half Marathon this morning. It was a total blast. This was the second time that I’ve done it (last year with M and his fam = so much fun ♥) I love this race and there’s so much energy with bands at every mile and tons of people cheering. I wasn’t going to do it but my friend asked me and I figured that it would be a good tune-up before my big day!

Anyway, this was a great day and I’m really looking forward to M coming home tomorrow. I still have some grading left to do tonight (pooh-pooh) as well as major laundry, but I’m full and happy from my yummy dinner (home-made Greek quiche and copycats of two salads thanks to my friend C!) and the days have been beautiful so I guess I’ll be “ok”.

Hopefully I’ll be back sooner than last time! Happy beginning to your week ☺

 

PS

A good family friend died last week unexpectedly and we’re attending his memorial service tomorrow; please think positive thoughts.

ok, I'm back

Despite knowing better, it's 11:37 PM and I'm taking advantage of my current teacher-in-the-middle-of-summer-status by watching CSI (the original, woot woot!) and folding laundry and updating my phone with one of those automatic computer update thingies. I decided to get started on catching up from last week and I just KNOW that I'll regret this all tomorrow when I'm tired but staying up late just feels oh-so-good sometimes.

I'm starting with last weekend and our garage sale extraveganza. We woke early and put up signs. It soon occurred to us that we needed more so I whipped some up and M went around putting them up while I got started with the early birds, of which the numbers were not entirely modest!

We had our "refreshments" available for sale, I made the cookies that morning and my cousin made her own batch. The sweets along with the cold water, juice and soda solds suprisignly well!

A shot of some of our earnings and our little "salesman", though he mostly just barked at people. My young cousin B and his pal (both in grade school), however, were both out all morning pitching their wares (old toys) which was super cute and they made some cash too!

After the tiring afternoon we cashed in our earnings for our very first grill =) It's a two burner little gas job and the Home Depot gave it to us for a good deal. I was pretty pooped when we were at the store so thankfully I was able to swing a nap before getting in our run (7) and heading over to the Japantown (San Jose has one, don't ya know?! It's actually one of the oldest areas of the city and holds quite a bit of rich history...click here for some info, yo) for the annual Obon festival. You can read about the festival here and the J-town Buddhist Church here, but I will share with you that we ate some DELICIOUS food.We got there pretty late so we were able to see some dancers on our way to gorge ourselves but not much else. Here are some shots of our mode of transportation ( =) ), the lights and the dancers.

Unfortunately I was too hungry to take shots of the food but we enjoyed some pot stickers, beef teriyaki, Sapporo beer, yummy-yummy udon and the famous strawberry shortcake. Fun was had and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Sunday morning we roused ourselves too early and headed to the cool bay coast along the Embarcadero in San Francisco to get in our long run (14 miles whoa!). The run felt good, the weather was cool and all of the good people and place watching made the time go quickly.

We planned to run early so that we could meet up with a friend who recently moved to SF (as in the week before) for work and watch the World Cup Final with him. We visited his very empty but cute apartment and then headed over to a bar in the Russian Hill area of the city. Every place was PACKED, for good reason, so we stood for the ENTIRE game; running 14 miles and then standing for two hours isn't the best idea ever, but it was worth it. At half time we migrated across the street and enjoyed some yummies at Nick's Crispy Tacos (where we also went today after our long run). The place seemed a bit popular and almost full of itself, personality-wise, but the tacos were delish. They are made with traditional smallish corn tortillas and there are two of them, but the inner one is fried/made crispy/fattified and there is guacamole and other goodness piled on top = heaven in my mouth!!! I had a carne asada and a fried fish taco as well as a beer. The boys enjoyed burritos and we headed home after the game. We lounged the rest of the afternoon and then headed to my dad's house to have a birthday dinner for him...happy birthday dad!!! You're an awesome dad and I'm SO lucky to have you for mine!

The weekend was great and tiring in a good way, just the way I like them. The week was to be full of running and errands and cleaning for me...more to come!

Photographic Friday

Some images to end the work-week (though I'm not technically working...shhh...) and a Natty-style book review at the end:

The sadness at Trace, the burnt-down school. 

Today when I was running by they were bull-dozing the remains and in the past few days these signs have come up. They're pretty poignant to me. I kind of think that many children would, despite maybe liking school, choose a fun day with friends/at home/doing whatever instead of school, but the childrens' messages on these signs showing their sadness at the blow their school has taken was truly touching. I love seeing the support and love that the children/parents/teachers/random people have put up for all to see. There was also a nice "thank you" poster to the SJ Fire Department (individuals who always deserve great thanks). I have a fear of fire (Thanksgiving 2008, for those of you in the know) and really admire those who fight it...thanks all! As a teacher (or just a person), it is very sad to see destroyed what I know was so much love and work, not to mention the actual supplies and effort put into making classrooms classrooms with personality and emotion rather than just rooms. Once again, it is such a good thing that no one was injured and that the children will be able to return to the same location when the school year begins, though the landscape will be a bit different...

Last night I stayed up late to finish "Body Surfing" by Anita Shreve. I'm quietly hung up on Shreve's books. They mostly take place on the East Coast and revolve around the life style of WASPy folks from that area, so, in other words, they have nothing in common with my life, but I'm hooked. My favorite of hers is actually "Fortunes Rocks", though I'll save that for a later post ("Books I MUST read at least once annually", no joke). This one was a fairly quick read and once I was within an hour of finishing, it just had to be done (please tell me that other people have those sorts of nights- when you don't plan on staying up too late when you get into bed to read but end up getting too involved!?) It revolves around a house on the coast in New Hampshire that is actually in several of Shreve's other novels and is somewhat about a love triangle and the sticky mess that families can make. The book was actually pretty disturbing to me, but knowing me, I'll probably revisit it in a year or so.

I did a bad thing and accidentally read a real author's review of this novel and can't seem to shake what this writer says, namely that Shreve does a fantastic job of description and reader entrapment, but that her story lines are always a bit ideal...however, it is fiction and we (I) read fiction for a reason. Anyway, my next read is probably "Fortunes Rocks" (once again, I = compulsive re-reader...are there any more of you out there???!!! BTW, K.L., my dear friend, I have yet to read "Dead Before Dark", and I REALLY REALLY plan on it this summer!) for my yearly/6 monthly/whatever fix, hopefully followed by Alice Hoffman's (my one true literary love, no shame about it!) "Practical Magic" (also a favorite movie) which I oddly don't own but just keep checking out from the library.

Tomorrow's our sale, wish us luck =) Here are some pics of our preparations as well as some of tonight's activities...

Cookies to sell tomorrow...Funfetti cookies, can you imagine?!

Gouge-your-eyes-out-colored signs to lure in customers...

The tools of the trade...

What's on TV tonight...Miss Marple = my girl!

What some one's reading tonight...

What I'm reading tonight...for now tonight...

What some one's gnawing on tonight...

Why I'm late

***This was meant to be posted yesterday!! Just pretend like it's yesterday when you read this =) ***


I got my hair done today, which was exciting since I feel as though I was seeing too many white hairs. I went a bit light for summer and because it's fun. I got to the salon early, which, believe it or not, felt GREAT to me and is what I actually aspire to. If you know me, you know that I can often run a bit late to things. It's not that I'm being passive-aggressively late on purpose, rather I just can't seem to figure out how much time I actually need to do what I want in order to get ready.

Also, there might be a slight concern of being the first person somewhere and not knowing to do with myself, though I'm no longer an awkward 14 year old so maybe I should just face that fear. Or, its actually all my family's fault anyway. So, much to my chagrin my promptness today was most definitely UNVALIDATED when 15 minutes early I was told to go buy a coffee or something and come back on time. Isn't it better to be early rather than on time?!?! I tried at least but without positive reinforcement from those around me (acquaintances or otherwise) I just can't get better.

Last night Audrey and I met up for some much needed catching up at a wine bar on the Alameda which was quite fun despite the oddly somber demeanor of our waiter/wine guy. I'm talking Lurch from the Adams Family level of energy and enthusiasm in this guy! We each had a flight of whites (Chardonnay for A and three different types for me) and then a yummy glass of one of my whites. We hadn't been able to actually see each other's face in person for far too long with all the craziness of life recently so it was SUPER nice to sit on the sidewalk, sip vino and chat.

Our "flights"; yum-yum!

I also went to finally finish the tire work yesterday at Eastridge and got in some (un-necessary) shopping while waiting. Though I was able to get birthday presents for both of my parents; their birthdays are a week apart and I forgot to mention ¡feliz cumpleaños! to my great mom on Monday...happy birthday Mama! We went to the Sonoma Chicken Coop for her celebration dinner last night and had a lovely time =) My mother is such a strong person who works soooo hard and I hope that she had a great birthday!

The necklace I gave mama for her day. The circles each say a different word and for her I chose: Mother, Spirit, Friend and Courage; they all describe her.

At Eastridge I was able to go to Daiso (read about it here), the fun Japanese dollar store, and browsed. I didn't end up buying anything there but took some interesting phone pictures of various products available in the store.

 

Frilly washcloth/dress? Two headed "toi" poodle.

Everyone needs a party gown.

...and we all need party wigs too.

Speaking of her, it's Wednesday night and that means frijoles con mamá which I'm pretty stoked for. She apparently liked my salsa that she tried on the fourth so
I'm taking the rest with me tonight. M and I are hopefully going to go and buy a water cooler at the Home Depot tonight. I guess that we could be less snooty about drinking tap water but it just tastes so chlorinated and we both drink enough water that we're constantly refilling the Brita so we decided that the big bottles with a cooler is the way to go. Memaw used to have an Alhambra one but recently phased it out and I looked into getting the service again but just buying the cooler and filling up at the grocery store seems more economical so that's the way to go; I'm very excited for water = me in a few words.

Before dinner though, I'm planning on doing one more thing. Memaw and I are going to go and buy a straw bale or two to attempt some late season straw bale gardening! It looks so neat and I missed out on planting in the spring so I'm excited to get a summer planting opportunity; are there any suggestions for things to plant this late? What is straw bale gardening, you might ask? Check it out here!

That's enough for now, over and out!


***Now it's today***


Oh boy how I cleaned today! I cleaned and cleaned and took my running day off today. I just keep taking out more and more things for our garage sale, I only hope that people actually show up ha! We got our water cooler last night, it's pretty great, I think, seeing as how we haven't even set it up yet, but I think it's great. The plan is to go and get a five gallon bottle from the Home Depot and then just refill accordingly at the Safeway when necessary...drink up us!


I showered after cleaning and went to pick up M from work and then we had Chicken Masala (sweet, sweet goodness) and New Indian Cuisine on Willow, across from Flower Flour (Flour Flower?) followed up by frozen custard = delish! M's following the LeBron circus on ESPN right now...actually he's asleep on the couch and Sportscenter is on; that counts as "following", right?


Today was kind of a nothing day and I'm planning the same for tomorrow, though Thomas and I are going to lunch together (In 'n Out...what what!) and then getting ready for Saturday morning. As a reward for all of this moving/cleaning/organizing/garage sale-ing

Animal hi jinks.

¡ciao!