So efficient

I was eating my lunch at my desk at work, when my coworker Mark came by to see me about his May revenue outlook. He saw my lunch and said, "you're so efficient even in your culinary needs". It cracked me up. He explained by saying, "you have your lunch in your little lunch box, and you have your pickles in your little ziplock bag". I never thought of it as being efficient. How else would I pack my lunch? Are finance people automatically assumed to be "efficient"? Or is it because of my no-nonsenseness at work? Either way, I thought it was funny. Did you ever notice that the packed lunch has kinda gone by the wayside? Is it because people no longer cook at home, so they don't have leftovers to pack a lunch? Or is it because people think they're "too good" for packed lunches and they have to keep up the appearance of wealth by eating out all the time? Is packing your own lunch like a "big dork" kinda thing? Don't they know that you GET rich (and thinner) by packing your own lunches???

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Very Caffeinated & Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. Our next door neighbors Fred and Annie had a big Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, including a huge buffet spread! We had been looking forward to it for over a month, ever since we got the invitation. Now, to know Fred is to know his coffee. He's a huge coffee nut (or is it bean??) and has parlayed his love of coffee into a second career of sorts. He roasts his own beans from raw coffee beans. His bean grinder is carefully chosen and calibrated for the perfectly sized grind. He vacuum-seals his roasted beans and gives us bags of them. They are so delicious. Ever since I've had Fred's coffee, I've been ruined. I no longer enjoy Starbucks or any other "corporate" coffee. I don't even enjoy the locally owned mom & pop coffee houses anymore. Fred's is fresh. Fred's is quality. Fred has professional coffee/espresso equipment. Fred goes to professional coffee conventions. He gives us his coffee for free, but they're so good that he sells them to his co-workers and ships them to people far & wide. Fred has BUILT a coffee bar and turned their living room into a bona-fide CAFE. Seriously, walking into Fred & Annie's living room, you'd think you accidentally stumbled upon the friendly neighborhood coffee house.


I was totally amazed. Fred put out like 10 different kinds of coffee, plus his friend Andy manned the expresso machine. Andy is a computer programmer by trade, but he's the best barista in San Diego. We chatted with him about coffee, and he said besides his own coffee, he only finds ONE place in all of San Diego worthy: Yvonne the coffee cart lady in front of Kaiser Permanente building on Clairemont Mesa street off of I-805. Seriously!



The fiesta was bigger than I'd ever imagined. Senora Annie said she started making the decorations in March! She made gorgeous paper flowers as table decorations. She made signs explaining the origin of Cinco de Mayo. She made decorative signs for every delicious dish she made. This party took some doing!




And the food! I could not believe how many dishes she put out. There was the fresh tortillas, the quiche, the tater casserole, the eggs & corned beef hash, the salsas, carnitas, chili con carne, FRESH homemade churros, fresh homemade chips, nacho cheese sauce, jicama salad, lumpia, etc.! On top of that, the dessert table was HUGE! That was a meal in and of itself! Poor Annie actually had to re-cook some of her food when their refrigerator broke a couple of days before the party!




After three cups of Senor Fred's coffee, I was deliriously caffeinated and very chatty. We chatted with our next-door neighbors on the other side, Felix and Cris. We chatted with Fred & Annie's other next-door neighbor Margaret. Turns out Margaret was a San Diego police reserve officer for a long time! She promised us she'd email us all the petty crime happenings in the neighborhood. I love that we're friends with both of next-door neighbors! And guess what? They're both original owners of the houses. Twenty years ago they camped out overnight so that they could be in line to purchase the brand-new houses. They knew Bob and Georgia, who were the original owners of our house, who also showed up at the party! Fred & Annie have been such great neighbors. During the months when my mom was ill and we had to go visit her for a few days every week, they would get our mail and packages for us. Annie always pulls our empty garbage containers from the street back to the side of our house before we get home from work on Garbage Mondays. We couldn't ask for better neighbors. She calls us "The Kids Next Door", because we're the youngest couple in our block of surrounding houses. Everyone else are empty-nesters. We really love it here and are blessed! I promised Annie that I'd make her a scrapbook with all the pics that I took from their very caffeinated Cinco de Mayo Fiesta. :-)

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California - Find Yourself Here

Remember a month ago I posted about my organizing projects? I'm happy to report that I've made some progress! I took "before" pictures, so hopefully later this month I'll take some "after" pictures and you can see for yourself. I've been trying to get rid of old magazines, but it's so hard. I subscribe to many and can't read them all, so I keep thinking that one day I'll have time to read them at my leisure, but life is not quite so leisurely all the time. Anyways, one of my favorite magazines that I've subscribed to for years is Budget Travel. It is an awesome magazine for ordinary (note: not rich) people who like to travel. It tells ya how to get the best deals, where to stay and eat for a good price when you get there, etc. I have back issues dating back to like 2002, so I really needed to get rid of some of them. So I spent some time yesterday evening finding my favorite articles at their website and then ditching the magazine. In one of the issues, I saw some very pretty ads for California. Ads for California you say? What's that? Well, apparently the tourism board here has had this slogan for a few years, and they put out print and TV ads to attract visitors to our great state. The slogan is, "California. Find yourself here."


I love this ad because the details and the slogan are on the surfboard, then in the background there's the Coronado Beach and the famous landmark Hotel del Coronado. For those of you who don't know, we have an "island" offshore called Coronado, even though it's really an isthmus. It is beautiful there: small town charm mixed with incredible views of the ocean on one side and the San Diego skyline on the other side. You can get there via the Coronado Bay Bridge from San Diego, or take the ferry boats.

Anyways, finding this ad reminds me of why I live here again and made me all happy. So I started doing the math in my head and realized that San Diego is the longest I've ever lived in ANY city! I've lived here 7.5 years!

Tainan, Taiwan: 3 years
Taipei, Taiwan: 6 years
Berkeley, CA: 3 years
Walnut Creek, CA: 6 years
Columbus, OH: 5 years
Dayton, OH: 6.5 years
San Diego, CA: 7.5 years!

Whoo hoo! I'm a San Diegan! And what's more, California is my home state. I've lived here 16.5 years versus 11.5 in Ohio, and 9 years in Taiwan.

So, to celebrate those facts, here's a link to my great state: www.visitcalifornia.com. I like the description of San Diego here, even though it's not true that it's 85 degrees year-round! But it IS true that people visit here and end up moving here all the time! Here's a link to the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Here's the cool "Find Yourself Here" commercial:



Ignore the "skate and annoy" part.

Here's a cute video tour of our three major cities:

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Go big or go home

I'm a big believer in giving it your all if you're going to do something. No sense doing something halfway. Go big or go home I say! If you give it your all and the end result turns out not what you expected, you can still say, "I gave it my all and I have no regrets". No woulda, shoulda, coulda. This applies, of course, to the bigger things in life. I'm not saying that I always get 100% of the smudges off the mirrors when I clean, or that it's imperative that things be perfect. Go big or go home on the big stuff. Like, if you really like someone, ask them out. Worst thing that could happen is they don't like you back, then you move on. At least you know. If it's your lifelong dream to travel somewhere, then go. Don't just sit around talking about it. I thought about this because in the latest episode of Veronica Mars, Piz, who has liked Veronica secretly since the beginning of the year, finally employed the "go big or go home" strategy. His friend Wallace had told him to "go all in", and not just sit around pining for Veronica. So at a party, when Veronica was trying to let Piz down easy, he scooped her face into his hands and gave her a big kiss. Then he walked out of the party. Wallace saw him walking out and said, "leaving already?" and Piz said, "yea, the night can't get any better. I went all in." At this point I was sitting on the couch sobbing, because that's what I do. He had given all his heart and "went all in", took the big risk. Despite the end result, he was satisfied. See what I mean?

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Who broke the weather?

Today is yucky outside! Who broke the weather??? I was going to go outside for my 2 mile walk at lunch (cuz that's an extra 175 calories I can burn), but it was cold, damp, gray, and windy. So I didn't go. :-( What happened to the 85 degree summer weather we had this past weekend? Aloha Taylor the weather person on Fox 6 said it's going to be unseasonably cold all week. How can we celebrate Cinco de Mayo wearing scarves and long-johns?! On the upside (yes, there's always an upside), running outside is nice when it's cooler out. You can last a lot longer. So, I've been trying to lose 5 lbs but the scale hasn't budged yet. I'm stuck at 117.5 lbs. I've been doing squats, lunges, and upper-body weights, so I'm convinced that I've lost fat and gained muscles, even if the scale stayed the same. I look thinner... I think. Besides running & walking, I'm also doing one hour aerobics interval classes twice a week (at work, with a few women friends). So stay tuned... when I'm at my goal weight, I'll treat you all to ice cream!

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Eternal Quest for the Ultimate Flip-Flops

I'm always on the lookout for the perfect pair of slip-flops. Maybe it's a San Diego thing... the flip-flop is a wardrobe staple here. And not just for summers, it's year-round. The quintessential flip-flop goes with everything in your wardrobe: jeans, skirts, shorts, capris, etc. The ultimate flip-flop also has to be lightweight, cushiony, stylish, and provide arch support. Most flip-flops don't fulfill all of the above categories... until NOW! I was at Sports Authority last night buying some running clothes when I came upon these... Teva Olowahu. I tried them on and it was like walking on clouds. I've never had a pair of flip-flops that provided so much cushion and arch support before, let alone such a cute style. Don't just walk; run to the store ladies!

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Colorstrology

A digital scrapbooking website led me to this site. You can put in your birthday month and day, and it tells you "your color" and what it represents. Mine (March 11) is "Winter Sky", a pale blue. The description was "YOU were given a rare combination of artistic creativity and financial know-how. It is a wonderful gift to be able to create your dreams while building a financial structure to support them." Okay, so far so good. Then it went on to say, "It is important that you share your talent and your wealth with others because it is the sharing that will bring you some of the most worthwhile blessings." That's pretty good. Then it went on to say some mumble jumble new agey stuff and got less interesting. Nevertheless, it's pretty fun. What's YOUR color and description?

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Two girls, edamame, spa, and froyo

Yesterday I took the day off and spent it with my best girlfriend. She had an orthodontist appt and was running late, so we called ahead to pre-order our food at Nozomi, while driving down there. She talked to them, and we didnt' know what the sushi rolls were called because we didn't have the menu with us. She had to describe the rolls we like, and the guy took our order. When we got there, our food was ready for us. The service was extra-friendly, and the guy said the edamame was on the house. After lunch, we had our appointments at the spa at 1:00. We both got therapeutic massages with Brigit, who was a very nice woman. She's good at what she does, that's for sure. We drove away feeling like jelly. I liked the place, because it wasn't pretentious and didn't make me feel out of place. I usually don't go to spas because I feel out of place there. I don't spend a lot of money on beauty products and treatments, and I don't consider myself a high-maintenance woman, so I feel weird going to a spa. But this experience was great, probably because my friend was with me too. On the way back we stopped to get frozen yogurt. I got coconut yogurt with crushed almonds, and she got strawberry. The young guy at the counter kept smiling at us, and he gave us 4 stamps on the frequent buyer card and told us it was double-stamp Wednesday. So this morning, upon reflecting on my day yesterday, it occurred to me that we got treated very nicely by men while we were out. The two of us. I never get such friendly treatment and so many "freebies" when I go out with my husband. And usually I don't when I'm out by myself either. Why is that? I think I have a theory... Men aren't extra-nice to a woman when she's with a man. That part is obvious. So they don't go out of their way to give you extra "freebies" when the woman is with a man, because the man might get suspicious, or feel jealous or whatever. When a woman is out by herself, the men don't get extra-friendly either, because they probably fear that the woman will get creeped out or get extra-on-guard if they are overly friendly. But when it's two women together, they are very friendly and offer stuff on-the-house because it's harmless and fun for them. The women won't be creeped out because they're with their girlfriend. I also noticed that when I'm with a gaggle of girls, like more than 3, that we don't get extra special treatments then either. Probably because the men know that with THAT many girls, it's too much to offer free stuff, and we won't appreciate the extra attention as much. So, the lesson here girls: go with one other girlfriend to get friendly treatment and maybe some extra freebies! This has happened to me more than once. I think there's a correlation there! I did find out an extra-special secret too! There's a reason that I am not revealing my friend's name and the secret today, yet. You'll have to wait a couple more weeks for me to talk about it. :-p

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The REAL safety pup

I found some pictures of the REAL safety pup... I look nothing like him! ;-p

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Wonderpants

Over the weekend, while visiting my dad, I went to Nordstrom Rack and found a pair of Lucky Brand Jeans for $40. I tried on one size bigger than my normal size, because I've gained 3 lbs in the last two months. I had spent some time "emotional-eating" after my mom passed away. Now that I've gained 3 lbs, I'm more careful with what I eat again. I'm not fat by any stretch of the imagination, but this is my "fat" period, nevertheless. I'm still within my range of acceptable weight, which is 115 lbs +-3lbs. But when I'm at the lower end of the range, I feel the most energetic and athletic. Anyways, the Lucky Jeans fit, but a little loosely. It was a good deal for Lucky Brand jeans, and they didn't have my normal size anyways, so I bought it. I wore it today and I felt SO skinny. So the secret to feeling thin is to buy bigger pants! Wonderpants I tell ya! Ha ha. Of course, I can't keep buying bigger and bigger pants just to feel thin. I know with healthy eating and my regular exercise schedule, I'll be back at my "good" weight in a few weeks.

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Safety Pup spared from a side-swipe!

Todd calls me the "Safety Pup" sometimes, because I'm a big practitioner of defensive driving. When I drive I look way ahead and scan for possible problems on the road. When I'm on the freeway I try not to be parallel to any other cars on my left or right, so that I have an "escape route" if necessary. So... this morning I was driving to work on the local roads. I was about 40 feet from an intersection, and I had the green light, when suddenly this oncoming car from the other side of the road looked like he was making a left turn straight into the intersection. He had a protective left turn light, so he clearly ran the red light. I saw this happening from afar, so I hit my brakes and started honking at him a few times. He stopped in the middle of the intersection and I passed by without being side-swiped. I saw it was an elderly gentleman and his wife, and he clearly did not realize that he had run a red light. Phew, the Safety Pup was spared! Another topic... so I finally got into work and went down to the cafeteria to get some regular coffee and scrambled eggs. I noticed that Adriana, the woman that works in the cafeteria, was drinking a $4 gourmet coffee drink from the gourmet coffee bar next door! Is the 89 cent cafeteria coffee not good enough for those that work in the cafeteria? It's good enough for me! Don't get me wrong, I've gotten the gourmet coffee drinks every now and then, so maybe I caught her on one of those rare days. But in general I pride myself in not being one of those who must have my daily-$4-Starbucks-grande-almond-soy-latte-sugar-free-extra-hot-with-two-shots-of-expresso people. Not that there's anything wrong with that (to quote from Seinfeld), but I don't choose to spend money that way. David Bach, the financial advisor guy who wrote "The Automatic Millionaire", calls this the "latte factor". Everyone has a latte factor which can make a huge difference in retirement money down the road. I'm a "Safety Pup" when it comes to retirement money too. I don't want to be caught old, sick, and poor. I'd rather err on the safe side and have too much money in retirement than not have enough, so I make sacrifices now in order to get there. Yes, God can have other plans for me, and should I go see Him before retirement, the money would go to my beneficiaries, which is okay by me. I don't hoard. I just plan ahead. I've heard other people say to me, "well, I'll just work until I die." Well, you can PLAN to work until you die, but it doesn't mean that others will hire you, or that you won't be too ill or disabled to work. What happens then? I plan ahead. My title of "Financial Planning Analyst" at work comes home with me too, I guess. Hee. So this posting kinda makes me sound like I don't have any fun... but if you've read my blog entries, or you know me personally, you know that's not true. I'm a safety pup when it comes to driving, retirement, information security, identity theft, and probably a few other things. But I'm not afraid to live life and enjoy what God's given me. I'm not afraid to jump into friendships with people, even though sometimes they hurt my feelings. I wasn't afraid to fall in love, and look where that got me! I wasn't afraid to grow closer than ever to my mom when she was ill, knowing the possibilty of her leaving us and going to heaven. And she did. But now I have no regrets. So I figured out that what I am afraid of is living with regrets... the "I should have's", or "I shouldn't have's". I try to live my life so that I won't have to look back with regrets.

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Tuxedo Cat

We have this stray cat that hangs out in our backyard sometimes. She's black with some white on her chin, chest, and paws. Because of her coloring, I call her the "Tuxedo Cat". I thought I was being clever, but my husband found this in Wikipedia. Can you believe it? I guess all black and white bicolored cats with low grade spotting are called "Tuxedo Cats"! And I thought I was being original... bummer!

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Sensitive Soul I watched the first episode of Meercat Manor on Animal Planet, and I couldn't take it. They named each meercat in the family, and then one of them, Shakespear, got bitten twice by a poisonous snake, and he was really hurt. He limped home, which was pretty far away, and crawled into a hole and curled up. The narrator indicated he might not make it until morning. Prior to that, Shakespear had rescued his little brother from some vultures. I almost started crying, and I was angry at Animal Planet that they would name the meercat and make us feel attached to them, and then have one of them die. I was also angry that since they're keeping track and filming these animals, why didn't someone step in and help Shakespear when he got bitten by the snake?? I vowed to not watch the show anymore. A couple of days later, they had it on rerun again. So I pushed Info on my remote and the synopsis of the next episode came up. It said "Shakespear recovers from the snake bite..."! Shakespear's alive! So I might watch the 2nd episode. I've been through a lot the last couple of days. On Sunday I found out that my mom might have uterine cancer. It wasn't looking good cuz she was bleeding and had to go to the ER. The ultrasound did not detect any tumors, but both the primary care physician and the ob/gyn thought it might be cancer. She got a CT scan done and we were waiting for the results. I was so sad b/c I wasn't ready for my mom to go to heaven. I was also frustrated because I had told her for years that she needed yearly checkups and she didn't listen to me. I did some research and I was ready to do whatever was necessary to help my mom through the process, and push the doctors and medical establishments. Last night my parents called and said the CT scan did not reveal any cancer in the surrounding areas. That was GREAT news! We were SO excited to hear that. Mom will need a hysterectomy soon, but no cancer has spread! I slept like a baby last night, compared to two hours of sleep the night before.

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