phyncke

It was a pretty quiet day today. I had the day off - Spring Break and I took today off. I relaxed most of the day and read a lot. Stayed in my pajamas until noon, drank a lot of coffee and basically lazed around. A good day. I did not feel like doing much. I had planned to go through some clothes but ended up not doing that. I found a Law and Order SVU Marathon on TV and had that on in the background. I can always watch that show.

So not much to report. I decided to order sushi for dinner - from this great place in my area. Really good. I checked my finances first and things are ok so I got it. It was delicious and I really enjoyed it. I get the same order of nigiri, edamame and miso soup. Yummy.

No news on the car yet. It is still driving ok so not a rush yet but I will have to do something on it sooner than later. Don't want it to break down. That gets expensive.

Anyhoo. Short entry today and not much to report. Hope all is well with you there. Tomorrow - I am back to work. Blah.

I am really trying not to get all worked up over the evening news. The Trumpists and their BS this week have me on my last nerve. I am sure it will all be fine but it is ridiculous. Trump lost and they are all butt hurt and cannot accept the election. Funny how we had to accept it when he won in 2016 - they told us to get over it. Well it is time for them to get over it. This is how elections work - there is a winner and a loser. Trying to overturn an election threatens our democracy and the Republicans are going too far with this. All of the people trying to do this should lose their seats in Congress - I really think so. The news is calling them the Jim Crow Caucus because they are basically trying to invalidate the black vote here. Sounds about right to me. They are also expecting trouble in Washington, DC that day too - Trump supporters doing crazy shit there too. This is madness. We had free elections and there were no problems with them. They are literally making this stuff up. Anyways. See? I am all worked up.

I had a pretty good day for my last day of vacation - got my food shopping done - did a lot of reading and relaxed around here. It rained most of the day so I did not get my walk in. I will go tomorrow.

Back to work tomorrow - I will deal with that in the morning. I don't think I have any meetings tomorrow so that is good. Just work to do. Blah.

That is all I have. I wish it was Inauguration Day - this transition is for the birds - it is taking far too long. Speed this up!

Hope all is well with you where you are. <3

 I am doing a little post today. I woke up really early - 4:30 am to watch the French Open tennis match between Nadal and Federer today. Just for a thing. I have been into tennis lately so it was fun to get up and watch it. So I am up and thought I would write a little post here and send it out to the Universe. Hope you all are doing great. 

I am finding few challenges at work. My office is a mess so I am going to clean it up and my electronic files are a mess so I will clean those up too but I am bored and not challenged very much. I would like to find a new job with new things to do so I am going to concentrate on that for a bit and see what I can rustle up. The problem I am finding is that my salary is too high for the positions I am seeing. They want entry level people and I have too much experience. So there is that. I just have to hunt around. I will do some trainings and get that going too. Get more qualified and see what I can do about that. 

I am dealing with the death of a very good friend. I miss her every day. How do you deal with that kind of loss? I guess you just go on and let the feelings come. I have not had that big cry yet. I am sort of bottling up my feelings and think the cry will happen later. I really really miss her though. We texted and instant messaged on a daily basis. Silly things - nonsense really but it meant something to us. I will say it again - I miss her. It feels good to write these words. Sometimes people don't want to hear about grief - they are afraid of it. I do have a few friends who understand what I am going through - so I can talk to them. So that is ok. I think I will always miss her and that is ok. 

Summer travel coming up - just Vegas this summer  - with the gals. I have a childhood friend coming in town for a week so we will do things around here - a staycation for me. So that will be fun. Anyhoo. This got longer than I planned. 

I am good, not great but I know things will get better. Keepin it real. Thanks for reading and drop me a comment. I love comments. <3

 I don't know how it happened but somehow I got on Donald Trump's campaign email list and he is sending out daily and somewhat desperate emails to his fanbase. It is weird. Seems a little early to be campaigning to his base for 2020. Weird. But the guy is weird. Totally. I am going to stay on this list and see what happens here. I am just curious about the tone of his campaign. I also monitor the White House communications - I have followed that since Obama and now I watch with dread as the Trump White House sends out their crappy stuff. Crazy. Best to know the enemy, eh? I still really miss Obama. 

So I am doing well. I am almost through all my events at work and into planning summer vacations. <lj user=khylea> is coming for a visit the end of May and we are going to do local things here. A fun Bay Area vacation. There is a lot to do so that will be no problem in thinking of things to do. Yay! I also am going to Vegas this summer so have that to look forward to. 

I need to also see my parents sometime this year so hope to get that trip going. Anyways. That is what is going on with me. 

I am adjusting to maintaining here on the weight loss. I still track on the WW app and watch what I am eating. I think I always will do that to keep within an acceptable range of eating. Most people who maintain well do that from what I have seen and I am used to tracking. I really don't want to gain the weight back so I will do what I need to and keep it off. I am allowed to eat more now so that is good. It is a bit easier now. One thing that is easier now is clothes shopping - I am looking for used clothes at the Goodwill and finding things and going to discount places like Nordstrom Rack and consignment stores. Hoping not to pay a lot for clothes that fit. I got a pair of nice jeans at Goodwill yesterday for 4.00! Woot. Gotta love that. 

So that is all I have. I am trying to keep active too. I do a few work outs a week and walk on the weekends. And go to yoga when I can. So that is fun. 

Anyhoo. Hope all is well with you. Spring is happening here. The weather is getting warmer for now and then it will settle into the cold SF summer. 

Cheers! 

Just got back from my vacation in Vegas with my girls R*** and J***. It was very fun. We stayed at the Signature - did up the pool at the MGM Grand (which is all connected) and ate at some great restaurants. Our room had a kitchen and fridge so we got some groceries and saved a little money on the breakfast thing. All in all it was a really good time. It was good to be off work and just chilling. It was very hot - I have to say really hot - Saturday got to be 114 degrees. Mostly we were in climate control and in the pool so it was not that bad but you have to drink lots of water and stay hydrated for sure.

Edit - I forgot the cool thing we did - we went to the Neon Boneyard - it is a museum where they have all these old neon signs from places that have closed in Vegas - think the Stardust Hotel. Very fun place and a really good tour with some great history. I will post some pics of that if I have time.

Anyhoo - back to work tomorrow. Lots to do there. Will worry about that tomorrow! :P




by laurahonest on livejournal.com

So I went to Los Angeles for last weekend - it was a two-fer. My brother had gotten a teaching award at UCLA and I wanted to go to the awards ceremony - and we got to celebrate my birthday. So that is the two for one special - actually three in one as my parents came in and I got to visit with them too. We did lots of fun things and had a grand time. Here is the run down -

-awards ceremony at UCLA Chancellor's House - Friday
-mani-pedi's for the three girls - Saturday
-dinner at The Strand House, Manhattan Beach - Saturday
-visit the science museum, Imax of Hubble Telescope and visit the space shuttle Endeavor - Sunday
-concert by Bruce Brubaker, pianist at the LA County Museum - playing Phillip Glass selections - Sunday

It also was important to touch base with my parents. My mom is 77 and my dad is 84. They are getting up there and doing well but seems like age is settling in. My dad went to see a great audiologist in LA and got new hearing aids. This is a huge thing as his old hearing aids were not working very well at all and were pretty run down. I notice my mom is stumbling around a lot and she wears these platform shoes 2-3 inches there. I have to figure out how to tell her and get her to wear flats. She is really unsteady on her feet and she took a fall in her house earlier in the year. I am worried about her falling again. So what do I do? I am trying to figure out how to broach the subject and handle this without hurting her feelings. If anyone has any ideas - feel free to comment.

Anyhoo. This is the stuff I am dealing with. Work is very very busy. I don't hardly get to breathe when I am there. Just too busy and getting busier.

So that is all I have. Thanks to everyone who left me birthday messages. It was amazing! *hugs to all*


by laurahonest

Hope all is well with you and yours there.

I am back from Vegas and had a great time. Don't really want to work tomorrow. Wahhh. Swam at the pool, ate some nice food. It was really hot -- over 100 degrees. But kept hydrated- that was key. Anyhoo. Vacation is over.

Here are some pics. Behind the cut...

( Pictorial this way... )

It was a week of back breaking labor and wrangling my mom but we got it done. I am back in Berkeley, CA and my parents are actually moving today. My sister-in-law is supervising this part of the move as I could not take that much time off from work. I think it is going well based on the pictorial updates that I am getting on my iphone. Going well. My parents still have too much stuff but it will all be in their new place and that is that. They are putting a lot of it in the basement and I am hoping over the next few years to go through that with them and get rid of more of that stuff. If they don't use it - it should go. I am inspired to go through my stuff now. I am in a purging mood for sure now. I am going to clean out my apartment though now that I look at my place - I don't have that much stuff.

We worked from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm all week last week. I got my lobster roll and then had lobster tail. And then the most glorious strawberry shortcake at The Chophouse. It was amazing. Never had that good a shortcake. I ate the whole thing. It was amazing. Went to Dunkin Donuts everyday for my large coffee. We ate badly and I have to get back on the nutrition plan. Food was out of control.

Anyhoo. That is the report. It all worked out and my parents are doing well. They are excited about their new place and will be unpacking for a while.

Cheers to you and I cannot believe that summer is ending. I am not ready for September!

I am back from my vacation! Still have the weekend before I head back to the dread work thing so that is good. I think I timed it pretty well. Fun was had on the East Coast with family and my oldest friend in the world. I had a good time and did the things I needed to do. Here are some blurbs:

-we had some family dinners and family times. this was good.
-had some shopping bonanza's with my niece who is going into HS. totally fun
-hung out with my oldest friend (since first grade), drank wine, gossiped, swam in her pool
-my dad is going really well at 82 years old and seems very content. he is a good dude.
-my mom - I have to be accepting of her stuff and just deal with her unhappiness. she is not a happy person and that is just how it is. her driving was ok and it is a distraction thing not a skill thing. she needs to just drive and not fiddle with things. hoping she will work on this.
-had some time with my brother - very fun. he is a good guy and doing well.

So all in all it was a good trip, lots of visiting.

In other news, I posted my Sultry in September story to the website so it is totally done. Yay!

That is all I have. I have laundry to do and food shopping to do as well. Teddy was glad to see me and has been running around here like a maniac. :P I caught up on the journals and read all the way back. Woot.


by yueshi on livejournal.com

I think I am due a post to the journals so here I am. Right now I am watching True Blood on HBO. I am still following this show and not sure why. I guess I want to see what happens with it so it does succeed on that very basic level. It piques my plot-based curiosity. I do think they are a bit killing happy for the sake of killing and could draw some of the plots out more. Lost opportunities there.

I am heading off on vacation on Thursday to New Hampshire to see my mom and dad, my brother, niece and sister in law. I will also see my oldest friend from childhood for a few days too. I am looking forward to it. I don't know if any of you have elderly parents (I am sure some of you do) but I will be dealing with some of the issues inherent in that. My mom's driving skills are not what they should be. She has had 5 accidents in the last year or so. I am concerned about that. Me and my brother are going to have "a talk" with her about that. I anticipate that not going too well as it represents some loss of independence. Have to see how this all goes down. I don't think my brother should have to deal with this on his own so we will approach this together. That way it is fair. He deals with a lot of things with my parents as the sibling who lives close to them so I think I can help out with this. My dad is seven years older than my mom and has had zero accidents. Doing much better on that. He is steady eddy. Mom admits to the distracted driver thing and feeling rushed so wondering if adjusting timing on things might help. She has mainly fender benders but I worry still. Anyhoo. I will get some home cooking, have some good seafood and lobster and fried clams. Looking forward to all the East Coast goodness. Yessiree.

I saw a great movie this weekend. "The Way Way Back". Loved this movie. Kind of a departure for me in as it was not an action, sci fi epic or anything like that. Here is my FB posting on this one - a touching coming of age movie set in a Massachusetts vacation town. Water park, partying and a wonderfully humorous performance by Sam Rockwell. Lots of laughs and joy in the awkwardness of life. So much to love about this film. Highly recommend.

Work is chugging along. It will be gearing up for Fall pretty soon there. I did not get the job I interviewed for. I am pretty sure I was low balled on the salary as I wanted the top of their range there. Someone probably snaked in at the middle of the range and they went for that. Oh well. Would have been nice to move for that but I will keep looking. I was strongly in contention for the position so I know I have the skill set for that. I will keep plugging around and apply etc. Don't mention this paragraph on FB at all. This is journal only, please.

I am sure there is more but I cannot think of it. I am glad I have a short week this week. I fly out on an early flight on Thurs morning. I have to wake up for a 5:00 am shuttle. Egads. Killer.

I hope all is well with you where you are and that your summer is going well. Cheers!



by laurahonest on livejournal.com