Wedded Bliss

Today as I opened up my MSN and went on my merry little way opening my windows and about to close the "news" window that MSN gives me I noticed a little blurb about Jon and Kate of "Jon and Kate Plus 8" getting a divorce. So I read it and dismissed it because I know not to believe everything I read, and plus I like to live in this little bubble where marriage is sacred and real and not just something to throw away. But I noticed another link about Tyra having a divorce party on her show. Then another about divorce parties, wherein people celebrate being giant failures. Then the topping on the cake, is the cake, quite literally. And to use another cliche, here's the nail in the coffin.
Now I'm not really shocked that there is an industry for this. It was pointed out to me a mere few days before Adam and I were married that 50% of marriages fail, so naturally there should be an burgeoning demand for such a lame excuse for a party. I'm shocked that the people who are having these parties are proud that they're divorced, not hiding in the corner, in shame. I could be really prude and think it's a little deranged that there are actual party planners for divorce parties, but... well I just outed myself as a prude....
Personally I don't think that divorce is something to be celebrated, I don't care how trendy it is. I think that marriage is something you work at, not run away from when it's tough. I'm not going to assume that Adam and I will never have issues or that there won't be tough times, but I think that we both have the cojones to fumble through the hard times, because we've both committed to each other, for ever. Period.

Bringing back Date Night.

Last week Adam and I went out (with Trixie) and had Indian. Trixie loved the rogan josh which I was shocked about 'cause it's spicy.
Then tonight we went to uWink and it was fun! There are games that you can play against the whole restaurant, or just against the people at your table. There are plenty of games to play alone too.
Adam really liked that you order everything from your terminal, your food and even your water, it's rather efficient! You can also pay through your terminal and they can email you your receipt.
The down side of the whole restaurant is that you are occupied staring at a computer screen that there isn't much interaction going on with your date, it would be a great place to go with someone that you didn't want to talk to though! An alternative to the movie date! Heh.
Anyhow fun stuff. I was amazed that Trixie lasted for 2 hours there, but I think that the Cheerios helped!

Partying post baby.

We had a James Bond spy party today, and it was interesting. First because a lot of my friends have babies we need to have it earlier in the day so that the babies aren't in prime breaking time. Secondly because of the nature of Silicon Valley (or maybe just us) there was an assortment of friend groups which added some flavour to the party. To make of the groups of friends comfortable I tried to have a more than one couple from each group, so that there were mini groups and make it not awkward for anyone. However I fear I may have failed a little. All in all the spy game was fun, although short. When we've played it in the past it lasted longer, but this was done in a matter of minutes! It's like Christmas dinner, so much planning and preparation for a short little blurp and done.
So I think I will write this party off as a social experiment- what happens when several social circles collide, and they have to kill one another.
Interesting....

Four

Four things today.

4- number of years since Adam's and my first date.




(This was taken 3 weeks after we met, Adam came to visit me in Vegreville and he wanted a picture to show his mom. Look how short my hair was!)

3- number of parental units (and grandparental units) we have

(My mom's side. l-r, her then boyfriend Mike, Adam, me and my mom. She's back with Mike now though, so I guess he's not her then boyfriend.)

(My dad's side, l-r, my step-mom, Gabrielle (who Trixie is named after) Adam, me, my dad.)

(Adam's side, his mom, Adam, me, his dad.)

2- number of weddings we've had

(During our January ceremony, becoming husband and wife, legally.)

(Kissy, kissy!)

(So happy.)

(Saying our vows during the June ceremony, wherein a lot of money was spent to have 130 people watch us reenact our committing to each other, we did take some poetic licence and make nicer vows and changing our attire.)

1- number of children we have

(The cutest Yoda, ever!)

24 months ago.

Today Adam and I have been married for 2 years. Not many people know our actual anniversary date because we had a very small ceremony at his parent's house, it wasn't until June that we had the big white wedding that everyone remembers.

The ceremony 2 years ago today was interesting, we had no rings and it was all very tense. I've never talked about it on here before, but everyone knows so I figure there's no harm. I was made to sign a pre-nup, which was very, very hard for me. I have some clear ideas in my head of what makes a marriage and trust is a big one for me, and I felt that I was being told I couldn't be trusted. To make a long, painful story short, Adam didn't want me to sigh the pre-nup, he saw that it was tearing me up and didn't want to cause me that much hurt. The anguish I felt over that was similar to what I felt when my grandparents died. I know that some people will think I'm silly to feel that way, but like I said, I hold my marriage vows sacred and I felt that I was just signing a pre-divorce, I felt rejected and demoralized, it hurt me a lot.

However something powerful came out of my anguish. Until that point I had never really let anyone in my personal shell, I'd never let anyone see my cry that way, and I'd never been that vulnerable in front of another human. I remember leaving the office in the back of our house a total mess, I was sobbing after being told that there was no way out and some other stuff that will haunt me for a long time. I stumbled into the living room where Adam was waiting, and I crawled onto the couch and curled up next to him and cried. Adam sat there and held me, stroked my hair and just was. I couldn't say anything all I could do was cry, the ugly cry, the snotty nosed, breath catching in your throat cry. Adam sat there and let me cry, let me soak his shoulder and he comforted me. Eventually when I could explain to him the situation and the options we had, we came up with a solution, which we all know was for me to sign the agreement. But I think on that night we truly sealed our relationship, I knew that he was perfect for me, and that he did trust me, it was like the ceremony 3 days later was a formality. We made our vows to each other that night, as we sat in the dark with Adam consoling me, and me trusting him and what he was saying. And here we are 2 years later, our relationship is stronger than ever, despite the pre-nup and reminders that 50% of marriages fail. Despite fertility issues and changing countries. I know that we have a strong relationship, one that is destined to last for a long time, even if there is a stupid agreement out there that made me feel like a nasty gold digger.

To be fair I understand why I had to sign it. But that does not negate how I feel about it, and how I felt about it. The whole situation hurt me deeply, and caused a lot of problems for me on a personal level. Adam is aware of how I feel, it's something we talk about often. It wasn't something we could file away under "taken care of", and I don't think we will be able to file it away for a long time. Anyhow the moral of the story is I love Adam, and he loves me, and 2 years ago we made it official. Despite the ugly that happened I'm happy I married him, I'm happy with the way our life is going and there is no one else I would want to share my life with.

Typical Gmail Chat conversation

Me: hey poke poke
Adam: Hi Sweetie, how're you?
Me: good...
Adam: I just got back from lunch.
Me: What did you have?
Adam: (insert gourmet lunch choice here)
Me: I've had generic cereal and milk....

So I'm glad that Adam gets all of the good stuff, but I can't say that I'm not jealous. Today he had duck and pear salad, yesterday he had pork cutlets with some swanky vegetable thing. So jealous.
I had toast with jam....

Fun with English Grammar

Today as Adam and I went for a walk we were returning 2 DVDs from Netflix. So I wondered: "Are they Netflixes, or Netfly?"
Adam says Netfly, I say Netflixes on account of Netflix being a proper noun?
What do you think?

Date a Geek.

A while ago I found Kyle Brandt's blog. So for those of you not in the know, he was on Days as Philip, then he left and now they have this baby faced Philip who isn't nearly as hot. Anyhow that's not why I read his blog, I read it because the man is witty! With good grammar! And he knows good beer! There you have it folks all of the makings of a great website.
I digress.
His recent submission is an addition to his Hate List, which made me wonder if he's been subjected to a bad date recently, since we all know he's single.
So to Mr. Brandt I say, date a geek.
Whenever someone comments to me about the troubles they are having being single, as they longingly look at my diamond, or wonder aloud how I was married before them, I tell them: "date a geek."
Really people, geeks are like an undiscovered gold mine. They try harder, they know when they have something good and they work hard to keep it.
Adam is, by far, the geekiest guy I've ever been with, and yet he was the best boyfriend ever, so much so I married him, and am carrying his child! I am fully convinced that I'm on to something here with my geek talk, I'll expand.... Before Adam I had dated a plethora of guys. A smattering of types, if you will. And while the big burly football guy was all hunka hunka, the guy was an ass, and that really makes the appeal of the hunka hunka diminish. Then I met Adam, and realized that he embodied everything that I value in a significant other, and he's cute, and I became a geek convert. So to all of my single friends and such I say date a geek, you won't be sorry!

UGH

Today is an ugh kinda day. Adam and I had to get up at the horrible ungodly hour of 8am. Which I know will have some people rolling their eyes, I roll them too, when I read that. But I wake every hour to pee, and don't go back to sleep quickly, so 8am is hell! Oi. How did I ever hold down a normal job?
I have no clue.
So anyhow today was an early day because we were interviewing a slew of midwives. Up until today we'd interviewed one, and she was nice, eccentric and I would have been fine with her, but I really want someone I just click with. Today I found that clicky person, and so did Adam, but it's not the same person. However Adam's person is my second choice.
Adam and I do agree though, that we do not want a midwife who will wave incense around me and chant hippy stuff. I'd be liable to drown her in the birthing tub, then labour around her floating corpse. (that's a horrible image....) Okay I promise I won't drown my midwife, but we don't want any crystals being brought into the whole birth experience. I want someone like me, who's a lot of no nonsense and will tell me, straight up, what I need to know. (I'm not saying that I'm no nonsense.... I'm sure I have lots of nonsense....) So it's a hard choice. We'll see what happens.
There was lots of talk of doulas, and we're on the fence. Adam's convinced that he can do it without one, but I worry that it will be a lot of work for him to support me all by himself. Having family step in isn't an option at all for me since our family is in Canada and I wouldn't feel comfortable with any family flitting around me during my birth (or really for the first week after she's born). We might consider a student doula since we don't need an advocate in a hospital since we're not going to one, and if we do have to be transferred the midwife would step into the position as doula at the hospital. In any case it's another decision.
I do wish this was all cut and dry. It's unfortunate that pregnancy and birth is so medicalized now and that we don't have access to more natural births in our lives. What I'm trying to say is that if both Adam and I had seen several births in our lives this would be a cut and dry decision for us, we would have a lot more of an idea of what we want. However we're not privy to that in our culture and I'm going on my gut instincts that this is what I need and Adam has to rely on that too, even though his gut isn't quite there yet. (although he's making strides and is still the only person who's allowed to have doubts)
In any case we're going ahead with it. And in 12-17 weeks I should have a lovely birth story for you, ending with me birthing at home or being transferred to a hospital, but still happy that I tried it my way. I guess really all that matters is that I'm comfortable (with my birth choice), which is totally selfish, but I feel that my comfort level directly impacts my baby, and I truly believe that this is the best choice for her.
Golly I can't wait to show everyone pictures of her.
I bet she's going to be 6ish pounds and a cue ball! I can't wait to see what colour her eyes will be (when the pigment comes in) or if she will have my nail beds or Adam's.
We shall soon see.

3 Years ago.

3 years ago today I went into the Second Cup in Westhills in Calgary and saw the boy. He was sitting at the low counter playing with is palm pilot phone, sipping some frou frou drink that he seemed uncomfortable with. I approached him and made some sarcastic comment about his watch having a calculator on it, and he rewarded me with a smile. We struck up a conversation, only to be interrupted by me getting myself a cup of the best tea* in the world. After we'd both finished our drinks after what seemed to be 2 minutes we decide to go and see a movie. After the movie we sat in my car and talked for another 4 hours, taking us into the wee hours of the night. Realizing that I had to work in a couple hours we said our good nights and went on our merry way.
He was a perfect gentleman. He didn't try to kiss me, grope me or suggest anything inappropriate. Which was a treat in comparison to other dates I had been on recently, with the most recent leaving me literally laughing in some guy's face as he forced a kiss on me, complete with excessive drool and floppy fish tongue. It was so ridiculous, that I was laughing into his mouth as I was trying to pull away from his Vulcan death grip of (his perceived) passion. I never saw Vulcan bad kisser boy again.
Our second date (with Adam) was 2 days later, we saw a movie and went for pho. He dropped me off at home, then in the shyest and cutest manner he leaned in and landed a perfect first kiss. Gentle and sweet, with no drool, tongue or bruising. A week and a half later I had to move 4 hours out of the city for work, and the first weekend I was gone he came to visit me. Then I realized that he was truly special. By Christmas 2004 I knew I was in love, but didn't mention the L-word until Valentines Day. He reciprocated the L-word 3 months after that, although I did find out later that he fell in love with me about the same time I did with him. We were both just being overly cautious.
And now here we are, married nearly 2 years with a baby on the way.
It's story book.... Just the way I'd always imagined it.


* I love their Christmas tea, but it looks like it's been discontinued. This looks similar.

On Being Canadian while not in Canada

Last night Adam and I had our weekly date night and we encountered a whole group of Canadians. They were identifiable by their ostentatious wearing of red clothing adorned with a Canadian flag and a big bag of poppies on the table that made me want to weep for joy.
As we were about to leave Adam approached them, explaining that we were Canadians also and we were invited to join them. As it turns out they are a group called the Digital Moose. They were mostly men, with a couple women in the mix also. And with the exception of me and one other woman they were all engineers, all having graduated from Canadian universities. (made obvious by their iron pinky rings)
Anyhow it was an interesting evening. Much talk about where we all came from and what we miss and the differences here. Eventually talk did turn to housing costs. Everyone that owned a house bought it before 1999, with the exception of us. Many eyes widened and mouths made Os when we mentioned that we just bought a house. Clearly they felt sorry for us, since they have all made loads of money off of their houses.
It was also interesting to realize that many of them have lived here, moved home and came back, because you just can't make the same money anywhere else. One guy was a particularly downtrodden Canadian, singing all of the praises of the US and hating on Canada. I deemed that he should have been stripped of his poppy*. However as it turns out he moved home to Newfoundland and was screwed by the government and the economy in general, so I understand some of his bitterness a little.
All in all it was an interesting night. Some good hockey talk, football talk and reminiscing about home.

(*much like Jason of his man card when he got his pink girly drink)

This post coming to you from behind finger smudged glasses.

Hello, I am in fact, not dead. Hurray.

I would like to say I've been busy, and I have been kinda. But the longer I waited to post, the more pressure there was, and then I knew I had to have the perfect post and ahhhhrg. Here it is, I'm sure it won't be perfect. I've already dealt with it, now it's your turn.

So my dad and Gay were here for 10 days. We went wine tasting, went to SF and did all of the touristy things and tooled around here commenting on the heat. Fun was had by all, most days. I've discovered my dad is a picky eater, and authentic cuisine isn't to his taste. Which I've noticed in other people who are from a very Caucasian areas such as the Okanagan Valley. Chinese food there is greasy, and to my palate, nasty. Here it's much more authentic and tastes different that Smith's Chinese Restaurant, found down town Small Town British Columbia. My dad didn't like it so much. Oh well, it was amusing for me to watch him eat a cheese burger at a Mexican place because he's adamant that he doesn't like roll-ups (burritos in Dad speak). All in all it was fun.

My little brother turned 28 2 weeks ago. Frightening.

The Murp is all Murpy. I don't have much to report. I have been having interesting bouts of wicked motion sickness in the car. I've resorted to having a puke bag nearby at all times while in the car. This development is strange and it sucks! Let me tell you though, this baby had better be really cute!

Adam and I have been looking at some townhouses. They are painfully expensive, but so pretty. After dealing with the possessed shower (which oscillates between hot and cold all of the time) and all of the bloody ants, a new place is so welcoming. The draw back? Our favorite place, which is a 3 bedroom 1600 square foot place is nearly 800K! Sigh. I don't think I can sell a kidney for that much, even if I gold plated it! Also in the past couple weeks the jumbo mortgages around here have tanked, which makes getting a mortgage hard. A lot of lenders are being extra cautious, so lending to non-permanent residents isn't their top priorities. So it looks like we're going to have to wait a little and see what the market does and how the rates react. Hopefully the market will drop a little, rates will stabilize and we can buy. Then the market will skyrocket and we will rejoice.

Bonsai turned 10 this month. In people years he's like 50, him and my dad seem to have a lot in common. Okay I am totally kidding. Bonsai, has much more hair!

Chachi is the same, goofy as ever.

Hmm well there is the post that people have been begging for. I actually have another post planned all full of insight, but I'm tired and my head hurts.

cheers.

Happy Canada Day

No really it's still Canada Day. I haven't gone to bed yet. (work with me here, 'kay people?)
Anyhow blogger and me have broken up, Nicole and Paris style, and it appears that we have rekindled, perhaps we'll be able to squeak out another bad television show. Or not.

Today Adam and I mourned not living in Canada and not being in Ottawa, we vowed that sometime on this day in the future we will be in Ottawa. It's so strange to be somewhere that doesn't even recognize the importance of today. Even when I was in Korea I was able to celebrate Canada Day. Oh and celebrate my friends and I did. We went to a party being hosted by the Canadian consulate. They shipped in Big Rock beer, Alberta beef and BC shrimp (I think there was some BC salmon too, but I was all about the beef). If I hadn't been as hung over as I was then perhaps I would have been able to enjoy more good ol' Canadian beer. In any case the party was fantastic, many drunken patriotic Canadians and just as many drunken American army boys, who were very polite and tolerated me drill them about Canada. (My favourite question was "What is the Canadian capitol?" They always got it wrong, but I was determined to educate them all, one drunken conversation at a time.) A good time was had by all, and I promise that I didn't irritate too many of the boys with my questions, mostly they played along, laughed and answered my questions, asked me some of their own and stared at my boobs.

Back to today, no fireworks, no hearty "Happy Canada Day!"s and no Canada birthday cake. Sigh. It's a little sad for me. It's all good though, I did get a promise out of Adam that someday I will get to be in Ottawa for Canada Day.

Ohhh, I love you long time!

Hey how was that for a hiatus?
It was a good one!
Adam and I went on vacation. We spent a week on a houseboat in the middle of the Shushawp lakes. It was rainy, and a little chilly; but a vacation nonetheless. We had great fun with our friends and there was some drama; but it was with some of the other people on the boat.
The drive up to BC from California was long and the drive home seemed longer. I borrowed a couple books on tape from the library thereby increasing my geek quotient ten fold at least. We listened to a Jean Auel book and on the way home the Da Vinci Code, which I was most disappointed with. I found the information it gave to be highly interesting, but the plot was dumb, the whole looking all over for the grail was lame. Why would the grandfather send his granddaughter all over? Why wouldn't he just direct her to her grandmother in the first place? There was no need for the granddaughter to find the grail, as the grandmother explains the new keepers are already getting in place. Surly the grandfather would have known this since he was the leader of the bloody group. I think that if the author would have just tweaked the plot a little more, or had a little more back story as to why he wanted his granddaughter to have the grail it would have made more sense.
Sigh. Perhaps I am far to analytical. Also I'm sorry if I've ruined the plot for anyone. (The ending of the book ruined it for me, so I'm just sharin' the love.)
Anyhow now we're home, and we're getting ready for an onslaught of visitors starting in August. Adam and I need to sort out the spare room and buy some furniture. We're going to get a new couch and a dresser for the spare room. I think we're going to get an old one from some second hand store and refinish it. I loathe having a house that reeks too much of Ikea that I need some more original pieces. As it is already our bedroom dressers are all Ikea, the shelves in the house are all Ikea and the couch will be Ikea. I need some me!
Well that should sum it all up.
ciao!

T minus 12 minutes.

So technically I should be on my treadmill sweating away getting all warmed up for my trainer. I should. However my blog calls to me.
I have all of these posts planned to write, one about fraud, one about credit counselling, one about Kyle Brandt and also the usual drivel. But I only have 10 minutes, so I will talk about my house.
My house is a disaster. How can 2 adults and 22 pounds of pet make so much of a mess? Why do I hate cleaning so much? I am a wife, shouldn't I love it? Did I forget to take the housecleaning pill? Damn I knew I was forgetting something the day I said "I take you Adam...".
We're getting ready to go on vacation to BC. We leave Thursday after Adam gets off work and we're going to drive until we're bleary eyed, then we will sleep and drive until we get there on Friday. I'm not looking forward to the driving. Although I am a Berkan in name now, I have not yet assimilated the love of the open road. The Harker in me pukes and gets grumpy. It's going to be a fun ride!
So today I must pack! I am packing for the dog, who requires a crazy amount of stuff. I also am packing various gifts for various children I need to see while I'm there. Also I need to pack clothes for me and Mr. Berkan. If left to his own resources he would be really stinky after 2 days on the boat. I don't like sleeping with the stinky man, I like the Kenneth Cole* version of that man. I'm also a cleaning maniac today. I want to take everything off of our counters and give them an extra good scrub to ensure no little ants come and infest our house. They've been the bain of my existence for the past while and I don't want to come home to find them everywhere. I am hesitant to get ant bait because of the small beastie we have who eats everything. I think one very expensive vet bill a year is good, and we're one past our limit already this year.
So that's me lately.
Oh yes I must remember to pack vats of sunscreen. I've declared that I won't get burnt on this trip, but now I'm worried. Adam and I went to a festival on Sunday and I was in the sun for 3 hours and managed to get burnt, and I was wearing properly applied 70 SFP. So I guess I should reapply every 2 hours. I wonder what the long term affects of sunscreen is?
Well I have one minute.

* it's his cologne

Adam's a mini-geezer!

Today Adam turned 29. We celebrated with a early morning trip to the fertility clinic, lunch at our favourtie Korean restaurant, and a cake from Cold Stone. Here's photographic evidence!

Soap Optional

We have the old school kind of dishwasher that rolls up to the sink and you hook it up to the faucet. But we actully have an extra hose connected to the water connection under the sink so our faucet doesn't get used, making it a little less old school. When Adam went to hook it up today he deduced that the nozzle on the hose needed to be fixed. So he scattered his tools all over the office and fixed the nozzle. Then we had the conversation. (Keep in mind the nozzle has nothing to do with the detergent.)

Dea: Did you put soap in the dishwasher?
Adam: But I fixed the nozzle.
Dea: Yes, but did you put the soap in?
Adam: The nozzle's fixed.
Dea: But no soap to clean the dishes?
Adam: I fixed the nozzle.
Dea: Clearly soap isn't needed then.

Monday's Mumblin's

Wouldn't it be a great idea if I had 7 new blogs, one for each day of the week? Like Monday's Mumblin's, Titilating Tuesdays, Weird Wednesdays, Thrillin' Thursdays, Friday's Forcast, Sloshy Saturdays and Sober Sundays? Good idea? No?

Anyhow, Adam and I had a great weekend! We were invited to go to a SF Giants game, which thrilled Adam because he's been wanting to go, but I've been dragging my heels because I'm not a baseball fan; rugby: yes, hockey: yes, football: yes, baseball: yawn. But the person who invited us had a suite to watch the game in. So to recap, baseball: not so much, suite at a sporting even: yes please!
Once there I quickly realized that I would be ruined for any sporting event ever again; sitting in second bowl seats at the HP Pavilion to watch the Sharks get beaten by some Canadian team will never be the same again. I'm okay with that. The suite was amazing. It opened up onto a balcony with an amazing view of the field and the harbour, since AT&T Park is built on a pier. The balcony had two rows of roomy seats and plenty of room to walk around and not get dead leg from sitting still for so long. Also there was a roof to the balcony, so when all of the people in the stands were breakin' out the plastic bag jackets as the rain started, we were all dry and cozy, livin' the life.
We arrived just as the game was about to start, so Adam and I took a seat on the balcony and settled in to watch the game. I decided that I would try to enjoy the game, even though I just wanted to marvel at the suite. The game started slow: swing, miss, swing, miss, ball, strike, blah blah blah.... Then Regan came to tell us that she was going to get food and so Adam went with her to get us something. This left me alone on the balcony with someone I had just met a couple of minutes before. I shrugged off my shy girl routine and struck up a conversation.
So he's a baseball fan and was shocked that I had no clue who Barry Bonds was. (Some baseball powerhouse who was rumoured to be all jacked up on 'roids) I had a quick lesson on Bonds and some baseball trivia as we discussed the merits of major league sports. (For the record I think that they are just a giant money making machine, and I don't get that wrapped up in the hoopla, I figure there are better things in life to be passionate about, like the Flames!) So we were watching the Giants who were now up to bat, swing, miss, blah blah blah. Then Barry Bonds came out to take his bat. The crowd hushed as the pitch came. He swung, and connected! The ball soared high into the sky. High, as in straight up, it was a pop fly, and a foul ball. Some fan caught the ball and everyone around him congratulated him. He is now a minor celebrity with his friends and family. Then the next pitch, he swung and BLAMO! The ball rocketed across the field, the centre field guy tried to catch it, but it was above his head. He did make a valiant effort running and reaching, but alas the ball was a home run. The stadium erupted into a massive roar and Mr. Bonds took his bases, reminiscent of a NASCAR winner taking a victory lap with the checkered flag. Bonds reached home base and the Giants had the lead in the game with one to zero. The game ended and the only score was Barry Bond's 739th home run, which is only 16 away from Ruth's record of 755.
After the game ended the stadium emptied in break neck speed, but we opted to enjoy the suite a little longer rather than rush for a train that would be packed with excited Giants fans. Instead we watch the field crew come and repair the field. We watched them groom the pitchers mound and then cover it with a custom made tarp, which fitted exactly. Then they did the same for the spot where the batters bat. Finally they rolled out a huge tarp which they covered the dirt part of the field up with. (Which Adam has reminded me is called the diamond.) It was interesting to watch them do this, and they were equally amused by the crazy people in suite #49 (us) who were cheering them on. (My favourite was the guy in the cowboy hat who was clearly the leader, and also the guy who wasn't wearing the yellow jacket and was clearly the rebel!). Eventually we were asked to leave because they needed to clean and we went to catch our train home.
Fun was had by all.
Once we were back in Sunnyvale, Adam and I went to a local pub for a really amazing dinner, a perfect end to the day.*

Yesterday we had some friends come over and we played lots of games. I lost most of them, which I am fine with since it was the first time I had played most of them. Also, I've come to the realization that while I am crazy competitive in sports and anything physical, I don't care really if I win a board game, because it's just that: a board game. Except when we were playing Settlers last night and I came out of nowhere, all stealthy and totally screwed Adam over. Yes Internets, there is nothing better than humiliating my husband at a board game. Ahem, I mean, I don't have to win, it is a game after all.

And now it's today. How was your weekend?

*I would have taken pictures to document it all, but everyone had such nice fancy cameras and we only have a wee little digital which is so puny. I didn't want to bring it out and subject it to camera envy.

Hello world.

I know I've been remiss in my blogging duties, I have no excuses, or apologies.
Now on with the show!

Adam signed us up for the Netflix's beta program which allows you to watch movies directly off of your computer. Initially I was not to excited about it because the movies were clearly B rated, but lately they have been getting some much better movies. I'm most excited about the range of Jane Austen movies and the workout ones, which personally, I think is brilliant on Netflix's behalf to include them. You see, you are granted one hour of watch now time per dollar you owe per month on your membership. Adam and I have the 4 at a time membership which is $23.99, so we get 24 hours of watch now movies a month. If you watch a workout video a day, that would take you over your limit. See? Brilliant marketing Netflix!

Also I've discovered this new product that I am all a-rave about. It's castile soap. (I would link to a definition, but my linky abilities are a little disabled at the moment.) Anyhow castile soap is a pure vegetable product soap, no animal fats in it, so that's great for vegetarians. I love it because it's a pure soap, not a detergent which is loaded with other stuff which are irritants. Castile soap can literally be used for EVERYTHING in the house. I use it for laundry, and it's been making my towels fluffier! I love it. I prefer it over detergents because I have crazy sensitive skin. Last summer I used a national brand which comes in a bright orange package, and it left me so irritated, I itched and itched until I bled. Bad news internets! So I try to buy sensitive kinds, but they still have the "stuff" in them, which bothers me. You can also use the castile soap to clean everything in your house (with a few exceptions). If you search it online you can find lists, I won't bother here. Some marketers sell it as a body cleanser or a shampoo, but I am a little leery about that because it has a higher PH than your hair and can be drying. So be warned. Also I've found it in peppermint and lavender scents, we have the peppermint and it's nice.
Oh and we mustn't forget that it's much more environmentally friendly than other detergents.

So that concludes my consumer report for today.

Onto other notes, I finally got all of the weeds pulled from my back yard which is nice. The citrus trees are blooming and the yard has this wonderful smell, it reminds me of jasmine tea. The past few days have been really windy and there are petals all over the yard from the flowers, and it kinda looks like a light snow! The neighbour has a tree that has flowers that grow in a ball, and several of the branches hang into our yard, it's really pretty. I'm really enjoying spring in California, although it's getting quite hot.
Next I aim to tackle my front yard, which the landlord have covered with large ground cover shrubs and trees, but there are still weeds which have infiltrated the plastic under the bark mulch. I hate that our yard looks so ghetto on such a nice block. Adam think it just looks like greenery, but I think it looks bad. I hope our neighbours see it like Adam does!

The pets are good. Chachi rolled over on command the other day and I was beside myself praising him. Bonsai is turning into an ornery old man, but he's still happy and healthy. I've started both of them on a new kind of pet food which lists meat as it's first ingredient, and contains no grain. Chachi loves it and pulls big mouthfuls out of his bowl and spits them onto the floor to pick out the new brand and leaves the old stuff behind. No matter how often I clean up the kibble around his bowl he perpetually has a radius of a couple inches of kibble around it.

Well that's all I have for now. I'm off to make Adam dinner.
ciao!

Nouns and verbs, please.

It seems that I am suffering from being alone too much. I have developed twin speak, but without a twin. Sometimes I even talk to Adam in my special language, expecting him to understand me. There are the times when he does, but mostly he looks at me like I'm wearing my bra on my head (and fantasizing about me being topless*). Mostly this happens when I want him to get something, or do something and my brain is working faster than my mouth, resulting in gibberish. His vacant look exacerbates me, 'cause shouldn't he know what I'm thinking? I know what I'm thinking, and we breathe the same air all the time now, shouldn't that count for something, some weird cognitive alignment? He should speak my language by now. But alas, not always.
Now when I garble some sentence of random syllables he reminds me about the basic building blocks of the English language.
"Nouns and verbs, please."

*apparently even when boys have the boobs committed to them for ever'n'ever they still revert to their old teenage selves when in presence of them.