over the hump

it's a sign that things have slowed down when i have nothing more exciting to blog about for a few days than the fact that a large member of the gourd family spattered its innards all over my microwave.

clearly, we're past the hump.

in addition to killing vegetables in horrific ways and unpacking the last few boxes i have:

• had great meetings to talk about fitness and opportunities

• done two (count them, TWO!) social lunch and/or happy hour MeetUps

• plundered the sunnyvale library

• refrained from plundering the san jose municipal rose garden

• found my workout groove

• written. a lot. of... um... well. i've written. let's leave it there for my pride's sake

• read too many blogs

• battled the mean reds ... and won. for now.
  

• received pro photos on CD from the photographer (who was so kind when i emailed to ask where it was when i had never given him our new address after asking him to wait for it...) and WILL have them available by the end of the week. promise. by friday. cross my heart and kiss my elbow. (Breakfast at Tiffany's reference #2 if you're counting)

• slept. a lot. it is a beautiful thing.

(source)

more exciting things to come. starting with the California DMV tomorrow. Eek!

It's 9:45 p.m.

Do you know where your spaghetti squash is?

Squashes who do not received proper amounts of attention and nurturing have been known to exhibit explosive violence...


Emotional Outbursts...


And breakdowns in boundaries...


So have family dinner with your spaghetti squash regularly and listen when you hear it scream.

That scream may be followed by a pop.

Rancho San Antonio Take II

When I finally got B out of bed at a time that will not be mentioned we (I) bounded around getting ready for the hike that we (I) had our (my) heart set on last night!

We did the PG&E Trail at the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve when we were here apartment hunting and saw lots of other trails we wanted to try. Today was the day!

We did the Wildcat Loop and Upper Wildcat Canyon + Deer Valley Farm for a total of about 2.2 hours. One thing I can't say enough about here is the weather!


Seventy-Five Degrees and Sunny. Again. Ho Hum. :)


After going on to do the Upper Wildcat Canyon, we stopped at the Deer Valley Farm to glance at the gardens and glare at the goats. (and sheep and pigs and cows, but alliteration is adorable, agreed?!)




The farm had an orchard and a little 'honor system' fruit stand with fresh-off-the-tree apples for 50 cents! They tasted like an intense burst of Fall.

Had good intentions for Hot Yoga today, but got sucked into ACE Certification studying, dinner making, biography reading and continued nesting. Tomorrow morning at 8 am will make a nice complement to today's hike, though.

*

SO. Now that we're here (albeit still couch-less)... what the heck are we doing? B is busy studying away and soaking up the local engineering culture via Meet Up groups and workshops.

Me? I taking a sabbatical. I'm taking a few months to write, read and pray, with a few good down dogs thrown in for good measure. It's been a long road, for those of you who know my story, and I'm stopping at this little Vista Point to grab a drink, sit on the bench and take it all in.

Scary? Yup.

But remember: "Future is as Future Does." Do it.

Of the WednesDay...

Text of the Day:

"You're lucky your head didn't explode!"
-Mom


Wedding Gift of the Day:

Le Creuset arrived in the mail! Thank you Wagners/Agnews!!

Unintended Pun of the Day:

Anne: "Mom got a promotion..."
Brian: "To Head Shrink?"


Home Depot Purchase of the Day:

Mums! Pumpkins to be purchased at Farmers Market to complete...

X Files Season I Quote of the Day:
"We're either genius or expendable..."

The Challenge of the Day came when I unwittingly walked into a 45 minute group meditation. 45 minutes. Of silent meditation. For those of you unfamiliar with meditation, it is a process of drawing inward, ceasing to rely on external stimuli to create impressions of Self, and being still enough to recognize and experience the Spirit. In short: hang out with what makes you You.

Bootcamp ain't nothing compared to spending that much time alone in your heart of hearts.

And despite the tendency of my mind to either a: go running for logical/day planning cover or b: fall asleep, the gentle process of guiding it back to a place of peace was uplifting and left me with a vivid quiet.

If you pray but don't meditate... Take the challenge try 5 minutes or 10 minutes. See what is on the other side of the 'phone line.' Listening can be your Powerful Choice of the Day.

Back to School... Back to school...

(crikey! it's been 4 days! bad blogger! most post more regularly...
how else am i going to turn myself into the anti-michelle malkin!?)

There's a little bite in the morning air, the bumble-bee blur of yellow school buses and the smell of fresh plastic in the form of Dora the Explorer backpacks. School's in, kids.

No brand new pencils for me (those cost money... something in tight supply around here), but here are a few things I learned on my summer vacation:

1. Sisters and Friends are worth their weight in Gold.

Sisters who are friends are priceless.

2. Weddings are stressful.

Getting married is blissfully, tear-jerkingly, beautiful.

3. DC to CA is a long. friggin. drive.

But there is a heck of a lot of cool (and weird) stuff in this country of ours.

4. A mattress is a highly under-appreciated piece of furniture.

*No words nor pictures can describe

Sleep soundly on it!

4. When Love hands you the chance to start over. Take it.


It won't always offer twice.

Sunnyvale Saturday

Whew. Long Day. Heh.

1. Sunnyvale Farmer's Market (forgot my camera . will not make the same mistake again.)

Purchased:

-Zucchini/Yellow Squash
-Pesticide Free Peaches
-Organic Apples
-Organic Red, Yellow and Green Peppers
-Organic Heirloom Tomatoes
-Organic Kale
-Onions, Rosemary, Basil and Lemons
-Organic Cremini Mushrooms
-Ginormous Loaf of Organic, Whole Wheat Bread

Grand Total: $27.50

2. 45 min run in the sunshine on the Steven's Creek Trail

No idea how far it was. 4 miles maybe?

3. Spent the afternoon napping, reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and avoiding shopping for a couch. This epic hunt may be the end of my sanity... so I took a day off.

4. Farmer's Market Dinner:


-Lemon-scented quinoa
-Mushroom-squash skewers brushed with olive oil, sea salt and pepper
-Bell pepper-onion skewers brushed with olive oil, sea salt and pepper
-Rosemary/lemon/garlic chicken kebabs for B.

Tomorrow: pesto.

In other news:

Yesterdays success: Oak End Tables and Coffee Table by Bassett for $150. Booyah.

Have found a really cool spiritual center here in San Jose and am attending a service tomorrow morning. I told B about it in the same breath that I related that there are in fact TWO farmer's markets each weekend, to which he responded, "We're never leaving here, are we?"

Nope.

Coffee and Controlled Chaos

I begin with a quick word of advice.

Go buy World Market's Seasonal Pumpkin Spice Coffee. Then French Press. This may just be the answer to World Peace and the key to personal Enlightenment.

Now that we have that out of the way...

After a few days of complete chaos and ensuing cheap wine consumption (*sheepish grin*)... we are starting to feel a bit more settled in. We bought a mattress yesterday that will be delivered Tuesday!!

My latest successes:

1. Solid wood computer desk: $10 + 20 min of light sanding and polishing

2. Comfy Chair for Brian: $15 + new $15 cushion + 20 min cleaning

3. A cute/functional set up for my tiny kitchen space: 20 min of teeth gnashing



4. A nearly-finished spa bathroom: $35 at World Market + fave faux orchids


5. Hutch to make up for NO cabinets in kitchen: $50 + fun craft project!

I there is also a hutch for the top, which we are using as a bookshelf, but we bought this country living monstrosity last night to end my cries of "No one told me the hood fan took up that whole cabinet! Where on EARTH will my Pasta Maker, Cast Iron Dutch Oven, Specialty Cake Pans (you get the picture) go!?"


The hearts and hardware are *awful* ... enter my new crafting streak! I'll post an after pic when I get it finished, but images of anthropologie door handles and funky damask fabric are dancing in my head!

In other news: So, two newlyweds walk into a furniture store. One newlywed says, "Look! The perfect couch!" I wish there was a funny punchline to this...

A wants overstuffed white fluffy reading nest. B wants black leather man cave throne. A&B have been sleeping on hotel beds and air mattresses for 6 weeks and could use a wee bit more REM. I'll let you use your imagination for the rest.

A few errands and a hiking expedition this afternoon... then resuming the couch search in the hopes that Labor Day weekend sales will mean an end to our hunt! Love and miss you all!