FINALLY, I have a job!

A bit behind, but I got a job. Finally. And what happens? 7 months of not-a-single-offer. Not even a crap one. And then what goes on? I get two offers. At once. It was awful. I know, I know. "You should have a choice!" and blah blah blah, but it sucked. I won't get into it, and sometimes you still wonder if you made the right choice, but I believe I did.

And now. How the hell do people do a full-time job, ride, grocery shop and keep up on life? Holy moly. I'm so freaking tired. ALL THE TIME. I'm just hoping that my "schedule" kicks back in. And soon!

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks of employment. And my benefits just kicked in last Saturday. That will be important in the next post...

The wedding of my friend!

The last weekend of July was the road trip down to Long Beach for the wedding of my good friend, Leilani. I have to say that I was so glad that she found her now-husband! The first time I met him was after driving to Long Beach and sitting in awful traffic. They came to pick me up and took me to dinner (and for a much-needed Margarita!). To see them together, was very comforting. She was just glowing. Their personalities are different, yet they mesh so well.

During the pre-wedding picture session, I got this picture of the Bride with my camera phone. She looked so beautiful, and SO happy. Whenever I look at this picture, or even think about that day, I smile. Yay!

I should have gotten a picture of all of the bobby pins we pulled out of her hair that evening, after all of the festivities. OMG. If I had 50 in my hair (I counted), she had at least double that, if not greater!

No wedding ever goes off without a hitch, and this was no different. Fortunately, it wasn't a disaster, and too bad we didn't have a person videoing it. America's Funniest Home Videos, for sure. During the ceremony, a friend of the Bride came onto the stage (the wedding was upstairs, but due to the Bride's challenging height, the decision was made to build a stage on top of the upstairs, and let me tell you: we were WAY up there!) to do his reading. Not 20 seconds later, his almost 4-year old son bounds up on stage behind him. I'm horrified. The Pastor is horrified. The bridesmaid next to me says under her breath (something to the effect of), "Oh no he didn't. Uh, uh. Mmm, mmm, mmm." Then, he moves over behind the column of the hoopah (half Jewish/half Christian wedding) and peeks around it, while holding it. OMG. I'm sure we were all thinking, "Don't let him knock it over...". By now, the Bride and Groom see him and are equally horrified. The kids Dad doesn't do anything, because he is reading! I look into the audience and don't see his Mom (she was outside, as the youngest was having a meltdown). Then, he moves over in front of us bridesmaids, and is kind of dancing. I am hearing, "Uh, uh. Mmm, mmm, mmm" and I'm trying not to crack up. The urge to laugh was unbearable. I'm worried the kid is either going to step on the Bride's dress, knock something over, or fall off the stage and we'll have to call 911 in the middle of the ceremony. I bent down a few times to whisper to him to go stand by his Father, but that would last about 2 seconds and he'd be back! I finally, panicked, reached down, grabbed him by the hand, whispered to stay next to me, and held him close, hoping he'd not start crying. The only thing that I could think of was to try to control him. When his Dad was done, I handed him off. No crying, no 911 calls, no stepping on the Brides dress, nothing knocked over - crisis averted!

After giving the speech, accompanying the bride to all of the tables, keeping the Bride calm pre and post-ceremony, and running around checking for cakes with one of the other bridesmaids (there were 18 cakes! We were on the hunt for carrot cake, and the white cake with lemon curd and fruit!!), I was just exhausted! Definitely more work to be the Maid of Honor, than the Bride. At least what I remember of it, since it was so long ago!

It was truly a memorable day! And I'll just keep looking at this picture of Leilani smiling, and smile as wide as a house. I'm so proud of her for finding "The One", and for just being herself. She's a great friend, very generous, very patient, and very loving. And she deserved to have someone who'd treat her like the Princess she IS!

For fun, some hair and dress pics, including one of the crazy amount of bobby pins I pulled out of my hair. My poor scalp was so sore!!!

The best T-shirt - ever

My officemate is pregnant. She wore this shirt last week and I thought it was the funniest thing I'd seen in a long time!

Well, when she wore it again today, I just HAD to have a picture!

Awesomeness...

The Red Stapler...

I'm actually afraid to say this out loud. I like someone. Really LIKE him. We met about a month ago. The more I'm around him, the more I WANT to be around him, and when I'm away from him, I MISS him. I haven't felt like this in a very, very, very long time!

Last night, we had a date. Dinner and a movie. We watched "Office Space". Holy crap, I forgot how funny that movie is! Today, we were IM'ing, and I said, "Gosh, I really want a red stapler!". He said, "Me too!".

That's when I knew just how MUCH I liked him. I found myself driving to OfficeMax at lunch to buy a red stapler. I'm going to see him Saturday, and Valentine's Day is always an awkward holiday when you're just starting to date. What better way to break the ice than with a red stapler?
Perfect...

I am so grateful...

Today has been topsy-turvy. I went to vote this morning. I was on top of the world. Huge smile on my face. Back on track to getting into work on time again, and I'd done my civic duty by voting. I felt the hopefulness the country felt this morning.

Then I got stuck in traffic. Then my phone rang. My cousin was on the phone, telling me that my favorite Uncle, Robert, had passed away early this morning. He had been sick, but my Great-Aunt, Hazel, had been covering for him - he had dementia and they had to put him into a nursing home. I only found this out last Friday. I had no time for any of this to sink in. I got off the phone with my cousin, and called Hazel. As soon as she got on the phone, I burst into tears. I only talked to her for a short while, but continued bawling my eyes out, the rest of the way to work. Fortunately for me, traffic was moving at about 15 mph, so I didn't endanger myself or anyone else. Finally, after trying to work, and failing, I came back home. I rode my bike, which only made my back hurt and didn't make me feel better.

I've been watching the telly, and now that the networks can predict a President elect, I am again, in tears. But these are tears of joy. Tears of hope. Tears of relief.

And Christ, I have a headache. Whenever I cry, I sweat. And I get a gnarly headache. It's bad... I seem to be a bit more tearful than normal, which the 2nd glass of wine is probably NOT helping, but wow.

I can't believe my Uncle Robert got out of voting by dying. I guess that's a valid excuse. I'm grateful that I'll be able to go to his funeral on Friday morning in Kansas. And I really hope someone tells the story about when Robert won the County Commissioner seat in the county in Kansas in which he and Hazel live in. They told me this story many, many years ago, and I was so shocked, but amused. It's one of those stories that will stay with me and make me smile for the rest of my life... Robert won the election. Kind of like tonight - by a landslide. He and Hazel were celebrating a bit, and on the way home, Hazel got sick. Out the car window (acccckkkkk!!!). Imagine your Grandma barfing out the car window, and you get the picture. He got them both home and into bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, Robert woke up. Sick as a dog. He knew he was going to throw up, so he jumped out of bed, and ran down the hall to the bathroom. Only he didn't make it. He puked in the hall while running. And then he stepped in it. To add to all that humiliation, he then slipped and fell down - into his own vomit! Gross, but funny as hell. I'll always cherish that story. And even though I'm both sad for him, and elated for our country, it makes me smile.

I will never forget today...

My favorite sign from the Ironman

That just RULES!

I'm sooo going to have a hard time going to sleep tonight...

I opened my mailbox when I got home tonight (after meeting Jill Kintner, no less) and found my pre-sale Metallica tickets and their new CD in my mailbox. Yesssssssssss!

If I were really smart, I'd get up early and listen to it, but oh no. I'm listening to it now (it's really good) and figuring I can crank out the last car review that's been due before I get another car to review in a couple of weeks (the MINI Clubman).

BTW, Jill Kintner is very sweet. I only wish I could have ridden with the nice group of people that rode Saratoga Gap tonight. Looking forward to that ride report!

My little angel

Snoring away under my desk...

I never thought I'd love a badger...

Until today...

Damn! I was watching today's stage LIVE this morning and I almost dropped my cup of coffee! The protester was a total surprise, but I had NO idea Bernard Hinault could still move so fast.

That made my entire week...

Holy sh*t!

I've been trying to break 1000 watts since I started training with power last fall. I got close a few weeks ago with 994 watts, but this is all during training. I haven't felt good enough to actually sprint in a RACE, so it's kind of a moot point. Tonight, I'm out on a pre-race ride with a former teammate (Kim P), just messing about. Did a few efforts and asked her if she wanted to go do a couple of sprints on Runnymeade (my favorite place to do sprints). She was game and so off we went. The first one was a bit shaky, but I still pulled out 909 watts. Okay, good, but I can do better. The next one was way better. I could tell because I felt like I was going to pull my shoes out of the pedals! Kim got a better wattage reading that time too, so when I checked my max, all I could do was scream. I just kept whooping/screaming and almost crying and when she caught up to me all I could blurt out was "Holy shit. I did it. I broke 1000 watts!!!!!!". Kim was hilarious. "This is great! I've never seen you this happy!".


I had to take a picture of it, just in case. And I have no idea how the hell I'm going to sleep tonight, because I'm SO amped up. And to think I did it on Friday the 13th, of all days. Wow. Must be still wound up about the butt gasket business! JK.