Happy boxing day!

I have not been good at keeping up with this lately. I've been home and surprisingly pretty busy. It seems like every day but yesterday (Christmas Day) I've been running around and meeting up with people or doing errands.

I picked the worst week to be here. I got in Friday at 1am, and the snow was really starting to pick up. It took us probably 40 minutes to drive home when it is normally 20 minutes. It was freezing subzero temps for a few days with snow off and on. On Tuesday it warmed up but there was another blizzard, one which made the roads very icky to drive on. I can't remember the last time I had to drive in a snowstorm, I honestly think it was high school days. I was super nervous, and sure enough, an old lady passed me on the highway haha.

It's been great meeting up with old friends, a few whom I haven't seen in years. I've been loving seeing my cute little niece Molly - hopefully I'm not a stranger to her anymore. I babysat her this morning for a few hours and we had a great time. It's nice taking care of kids when it's not my job!

It kinda sucks that the holiday was so late in the week, it makes me feel like this week has gone by so fast. I am going into the city for the first time tonight and have to leave in the morning. I just feel like I don't have any time to do anything. I am not excited to work, but I am very excited to be back with Greg...I miss him so much.

I don't know if it's me or it's the holidays but what sticks out the most about this week is going to the mall/Target/etc and hearing tons of parents screaming at their kids. I suppose kids are extra bratty around Christmas. And I suppose my patient population in San Francisco is different - I don't really see anyone over the age of three. But it was weird. Lots of yelling and impatience.

Overall, Christmas was a lot of fun. The window right in front of our tree was leaking and we discovered it right before our Christmas party. That was a mini-disaster but we got it taken care of. At our party we played Mexican Train dominoes and that was a lot of fun. Christmas day I lounged around and watched a Law and Order marathon, then went to Antonette's house for dinner, something I have been doing for the past 7 years. So yummy and lots of fun.

I come back Sunday afternoon, back to my cold cold apartment. I got a new plush blanket that I'm excited to use, one more conducive to sharing. I hope everyone else had a great week, and quality time off of work!

phew

I just saw 22 kids in 3.5 days, I'm not excited to head to cold weather but am very excited to actually have real heat in my house, I am worried about waiting for 10 hours in the airport, I am hopefully my flight will leave and arrive on time and safely, and like the sometimes great sometimes not so great K.West proclaims, "I'm coming home again".

Here's to a fun week!

So tired

I feel a lot more fatigued than I should after my 8-mile run. Today I tried out Nike+ on my Ipod for the first time. It's very cool! I thought it was going to be a hassle to calibrate it but it really did not take long at all. I also think it's pretty accurate as compared to what I'm familiar with using my usual routes on mapmyrun.com. It's pretty neat - from the start of GGP all the way to the beach and back is 7.5 miles. That's good to know. The run wasn't too bad, but I was fatiguing a little coming back on MLK, with all the rolling hills. I used my old Alaska marathon mix to help me along and man it's a great playlist! I love Girl Talk. So anyway, I highly recommend the Nike+ if you are curious. It's great when you set a distance or time goal - a voice comes in and tells you when you are 1/2-way done, a mile away, etc. Very cool.

I've been pretty much lazy since the run this morning. Sat on the couch, tooled around on the internet, and watchied old movies. Greg and I ordered a few gifts for our families and friends, and I'm soooo glad to get that out of the way. I am trying not to spend too much on people this year and am doing well so far. I usually spend way more than I should on holiday gifts, but not this year. I hope people won't be disappointed. It's the thought that counts, right? I'm always appreciative that people are thoughtful enough to get me a gift, no matter what the cost is.

Speaking of that, I have to get cracking on this knitted sweater.

Funny

http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-30-things-women-love-that-men-just-dont-understand/

I think greg can vouch for at least 50% of this list.

love/hate

I have a love hate relationship with Trader Joes. I love the concept of it, very good food with lots of organic options for cheap prices. Lots of great easy dinners if you are not a fan of cooking that do not cost an arm and a leg. I love that when I look at my receipt it is hard to find an item that is over $7.

I absolutely loathe going to Trader Joes in SF. There are too many annoying people there. It's always crowded, parking is heinous, and the checkout lines spill out into the aisles. People bring their annoying kids. People stand and take up the whole aisle crouched over with their big bags trying to compare ingredients of tomato sauce. People will shove other people aside to get the last tub of hummus. My favorite things apparently are the favorite things of everyone in the city because they always run out. Produce never lasts longer than a few days. Their bread is not yummy. Did I mention annoying children.

But there are some things I do love!!! I love their French Berry Lemonade. It is seriously my favorite non-alcoholic drink. I love that is almost a little too sweet so I only drink it in small amounts. I love their ricotta-stuffed chicken breasts. These are super easy to make and they taste soooo delicious. I like some of their pizzas. There is such a large wine selection and most of it is cheap and not entirely terrible. Everyone raves about their stuffed peppers but I've never had them. They never seem to be in stock. I also don't know where they are even located so maybe they are in stock but I just don't know it. The peanut butter pretzels are good and dangerous. Greg has spent many a night very upset with himself over eating the whole bag.

So I would go back to TJs for the above items, but definitely not during peak hours. I've learned my lesson. I went today at 12pm and it was surprisingly a somewhat pleasant experience. My chicken breast is baking in the oven and I can't wait to eat!!!

I'm in hell update

Ok that wasn't too bad. I got dismissed at 12pm. I am glad I got dismissed, because the case that was up for trial was supposed to be 4 weeks long!!! I wish I remembered the name of the defendant because I want to look up this case online. I was able to get out of it due to "personal hardship", because I had already bought my ticket home to Chicago for the holidays. I'm supposed to go back January 5 to start the process all over again. Hopefully the case during that week isn't too long either. I think the judge was letting people who were trying to be excused because of financial hardship exchange this case for a shorter one. I will definitely need to be on a shorter case because I have to either take unpaid days off or vacation days for jury duty! Bleh. So my doom is postponed until January 5. Phew!

I knew Addison IL was good for something!

I'm in hell.

otherwise known as jury duty. My contacts suck, I should not have slept in them last night and I should have replaced them this morning. This chair is uncomfortable and I'm annoyed someone chose to sit right next to me when there are 50 other empty chairs in here. I should have eaten something this morning and not have assumed there would be a coffee shop in here like there is one in McCallister. I am hoping I don't get picked and if I do, it's only a day trial. I brought my sweater to knit but have no desire to do this. An hour has passed and nothing has happened. I'm starving and in a cranky mood.

I'm so tired

Holiday party - minimal sleep - 7 mile run in the freezing cold with the first mile slightly hungover - shower - work at St Frizzle for 6 hours - Jen's holiday party - meet up with Addison friends at Medjool - minimal sleep - wake up to trek to Lucky's and then make cookies - meet with Halley for lunch then go shopping - come home to make apple cake - my company's holiday party - pick up Rob and Toma and catch up on the past 10 years at our apt - home at 11:52 about to pass out from hunger leading to eating Stovetop stuffing for a late snack.

Pfffphhhh. This weekend was so much fun and I'm SO glad it's over.

awesome.

Two very cool things:
1 - after many weeks (ok, more like days) of anxiety on Greg's part - including, and I quote "I've lost sleep over this"....we finally bought a new tv!! It's ridiculous, it's LCD, it's 40", it's a little ostentatious, it's 1080p and other things I have no idea what that stands for....and it has a touch of color!! A slight twinge of red. So cool, and we love it!!
b - I went to support my mentee Matt at his fundraiser at Madrone.....and WON two free tickets for a wine country tour!!!!! yayayayyayay! I think it was rigged because I told Matt and everyone I knew that I wanted to win this raffle, and even though he said "I swear this isn't rigged, but Betsy won!" I still am skeptical. That doesn't mean I'm going to give up this prize, I'm super excited! Any takers? Greg already said "You should take a friend and someone who appreciates wine"....ok!!! No complaints by me! And we also loved hanging out with Terry, our Scottish neighbor who is funny and awesome.

Awesome night!

And ps - Dog the Bounty Hunter isn't any better or more interesting on the big screen.

nervous

Don't know why but I have this wave of nervousness and anxiety over me right now. I get this way as the holidays approach. Hopefully everything will work out ok. I just hope everything works out ok.