We had a great class this weekend. There was a group of 4 middle school teachers. 2 of the teachers looked like they were 16 but apparently were engaged and old enough to be married. Another teacher was celebrating her divorce with a new scuba life. And the other was a former teacher who was a stay at home mom of 4 teenagers currently. Then there was Patrick who was going to Playa del Carmen April 17th with his inlaws. And Travis the fire fighter. And a guy we called Short Bus. He was applying for a job with A1 and this was the first step. The instructors were Louise and Judy with Butch who was interning as part of his Master Diver certification process.
We really had a blast. Tons of laughing. Tons of joking. Tons of blushing. Tons of talk about places to go and dive and different ways to book the trip and dive with the fishies. We spent a lot of time in the pool 'playing' as well as learning. They had a ton of toys and it felt like they were supervising an underwater daycare. My buddy and I were naturals and they kept commenting about how comfortable we looked under water...I think it is because we were both water signs, Pisces and Aquarious.
I really did feel comfortable. There is a couple of lessons we had to learn with flooding our mask and clearing it. And then on several occasions we had to remove our masks completely and wait until they told us we could put it back on. Now your mask covers your nose which means you don't snort water. Well I removed my mask and was in such a moment of zen that I almost tried to inhale through my nose...good thing I caught myself and remembered to keep breathign through the mouth.
Yeah. Definitely ready for Bonaire and already thinking about my next trip. I somehow have to find a way to make more money to fund said scuba trips......
This is me with step 1 certification. Step 2 happens end of this month in New Mexico...should probably book a hotel here shortly.
Granted, that meant I had to wake up about 2:30am Denver time to make the flight. Which really meant 2am Denver time since an alarm clock in the hotel in my wing has been going off about 4am everyday this week. To further add to my jet lag, I only got 3 hours of sleep before that since I overslept on my nap yesterday.
But I am hoping to get my sleep schedule caught up this weekend as 1) I don't plan on working and 2) I plan on sleeping.
Stupid no snow in Denver...
]]>Krys has her husband trained well, or at least Keri does, because Frank shows up with the most awesome flowers with a butterfly in them and is fully prepared to make steak and salad and well, we won't say anything about the potatoes *cough* Keri *cough*. The food was awesome as always and we got seranaded by all the boys who played rockband while the rest of us chatted.
I should probably plan for a non-impromptu rockband party here shortly.
Yay for flowers!
The boys rocking out...
P.S. Keep holding your breath for my sister, we should know more come Monday afternoon...
]]>Also I think that it is super awesome that the locker we used to process the cow individually packaged all of the steaks into nice, single person sized portions. No longer do I have to figure out how to eat 2-4 giant steaks in one week. Not to mention they actually gave me brisket this time around too...mmmm, brisket.
My sister, brother-in-law, nephew and mother should be in Memphis, TN right about now settled in for tonight. Tomorrow is the final push to Florida where we hope to adopt my new nephew. I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up because there are a million things that can go wrong between now and the 48 hours after birth when the baby mamma and baby daddy sign away their rights. And there have been a number of red flags lately. So I am holding my breath and not booking my tickets to go down and join them quite yet.
Other than that, work is actually super fun. I've got a challenging new assignment that is forcing me to use my brain. And I get to mentor a new guy who is stoked to learn.
Yep. That's about it for now. Keep your fingers crossed and send good mojo my sister's way. So close to a new nephew....
]]>Ok I've always had coffee but I have weened myself off of any type of additives like milk, cream, skim milk, sugar, splenda, creamer, flavored creamer, etc. Just straight back, like my dad had.
And grapefruits. Ugh. So tart. But I am peeling it like an orange and eating it that way rather than scoooping it into a bowl and adding tons of sugar. I've kinda got in the habit of eating the grapefruit as my snack after the gym when I finish my cardio as I'm driving home to do the P90X. But, much like my dad, I am grapefruit straight - no more sugar or salt.
I have managed to make it all week, 4 days thus far, eating under 2000 calories and doing cardio/P90X. Tomorrow I break the routine due to girls night. But I should be back to it on Saturday/Sunday.
But for now, I'm oh so tired...off to bed!
]]>I have the great job with the great box with an extremely complicated box *but* my supplier is in Clearwater, FL...
After this past year I was so traveled out but when all you do is day trips to/from DC, Albuquerque and New York who can blame me? But with as traveled out as I am, I am now scheming ways to come back to Clearwater as often as I can.
The humidity isn't even that bothersome. My coworkers and I arrived early last night so we drove to the beach before supper and took a walk, barefoot with pants rolled up, feet in the water and enjoyed the sunset. Then supper outside on a patio. And an amazingly comfortable bed.
Life is good... Now if only I can avoid the 12 hour design reviews that make me sit in the front and hurt my poor head...
]]>We met up on Monday night to have supper and some window shopping in downtown Mountainview. Robyn had to show me the 'ugly' clothes that everyone is into in the bay area. Picture vintage, eclectic second hand shops only brand new... We walked about a mile to the Italian restaurant which was super yummy. I had a rosemary chicken and risotto dish that stuck with me all night. I swear i could still taste the rosemary as i was falling asleep. We then ended up at a pub to finish the evening with a beer watching the broncos lose. We discovered that both of us are going to be in Bon Aire scuba diving next April, fingers crossed we are there the same week!
Then on Tuesday night she invited me to join her running club that meets at a local shoe store in Redwood i think. They run 2 miles from the store to the Bay Area walking path. The path then runs another two miles along the bottom part of the bay and ends at a bird sanctuary. The members of the runnign club vary in skill so some run 4 miles, some run 6 miles and the super, crazy men run 8 miles. Well Robyn and I did a little over 6 miles broke down as follows: drove 4, walked 2, ran about half a mile. It was super cool. Because of the time change it was dark out so we could see the lights reflecting in the bay. And it was a very nice, quiet evening that we of course enjoyed with her dog, chatting all the way while the real runners passed us. Then we met up back at the store to change and head out to supper at a sports bar and grill place called Sneakers. We had about 25 runners that night and probably close to 20 people show up for supper. Robyn and i got a table full of men and it was really super cool chatting with all these people who enjoy running. Very encouraging and up beat peeps.
Before running club we stopped by her house to change. She has a super cute little 400 square foot house. By house I mean like garage house just out back of the main house tucked nicely away in an alley. She has a car port and a pretty decent sized yard for herself and her dog.
On Wednesday the other two girls on the trip with me went out for supper with Robyn and myself. We ended up in Palo Alto at a quaint little european pub tucked in between two roads in the corner of a parking lot. Was a much needed drink after the surprise phone call my boss gave me that day.
My boss had a 'plan' for me, and his boss had another 'plan' for me. But they were trying to work out the details and i knew which each of their plans were for me. Both options were good career moves for me. It took them a while to work out the details and they finally finalized everything. Only, when he called me, neither of the plans they had been working for me earlier was what i ended up with. Rather than a more complicated electronics box, they gave me the most complicated electronics box that i had been helping another engineer with. He in turn is taking one of the other boxes my bosses-boss had wanted to give me since they figure that is going to be a major headache area going forward. I'm still a bit shocked because this is beyond a 'stretch' assignment for me. So the beer was very welcome.
After beers we went to a Cajun place called Nola. It was decorated with New Orleans flare and we ate in a courtyard under space heaters. Only it wasn't cold outside so I sweated beyond hope as I was right under one of the heaters.
After supper I tagged along with Robyn to her softball game to watch them play. She got center field and made some awesome plays. She even got a base hit. But they still lost 18-5. What can I say, I'm bad luck.
So after a fun filled week, I flew home today and am looking forward to the weekend. But first, i am looking forward to bed.
Sweet dreams!
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Went to the hockey game tonight. It was Redwings vs Aves and we unfortunately lost 3 to 1. But I had a feeling that we would lose before the game so I only wore my Redwings T-Shirt instead of my in-your-face jersey. We had nosebleed seats, but the good ones over center ice so you could see the entire game - not just the corners.
Then wings score first and my inner hockey fan came out and I was screaming my head off. I forget that people in Colorado didn't grow up with me because when we finally sat down again, Chris, Therese and Kelly all looked at me like I was foaming at the mouth. They also mentioned that they didn't realize I could scream that loud. *grins mischeviously* I miss the good old days of watching the SDSU Jacks playing club hockey at midnight, screaming my head off for my boys. Fortunately we only scored once so I won't be hoarse tomorrow.
It did crack me up because T was so worried that the wings fans would be in her face when we scored but it was she who did the Boo-Yah dance in my face when her team first scored. I of course called her on it and she sheepishly refused to admit it :)
After the Aves tied it up 1-1, I decided to let them score another time for Kelly since she was having a bad night. And they did.
But I do have a bone to pick with the Wings head coach. With 2 minutes left in the game I told T that they would probably pull their goalie with 1 minute left so we could have 6 on 5 and try to score to tie it back up. Which they did pull their goalie and someone got a game stopping call to face off in the Aves side. I was going to lean over and tell T that they probably will start with the goalie in the net again because they'd be an idiot to have an empty net for a face off. Well, they were idiots. Aves won the face off and the puck went into the empty net with about a minute left in the game. *smacks head*
So yeah. We lost but I knew it going into the game. But you do have to admit, the Wings are much better at passing and play a far better game than the Aves. It's the same almost every time I see them play. We own them on passing and offense, the Aves just got lucky tonight. So I've seen them win 4 out of 6 games in Colorado.
Go Redwings!
But for now, here is Kelly, T and myself after the game...
See how happy my gnome is! He is excited for winter too!
