April 2010
1 post
Working Girl
The other day I was thinking about all the things I like about my job…
Feeling respected
Feeling like my needs as an employee are attended to
Having a lunch break
Working less than 12 hours
Being paid for my work
Being thanked and recognized when I do a good job
Not fearing Mondays
Not praying that closing time will come so that I can feel happy again
Feeling that my hard work is...
March 2010
2 posts
Team Work
After coming home from a weekend away from my love, I walked into him making dinner. A total sweetheart. He went on to tell me about the dish he was making:
Him: “Several years ago (back in ‘98) when I was interning in New York, a girl taught some of us this amazing Italian dish. I’ve tried it 3 times including tonight and I mess it up EVERY time. I’m even messing it up...
Woman in Training
I’m turning 31 in just a couple of days. I don’t remember thinking much about what it would be to be ‘in my 30’s’. I was always ‘in the moment’ of my age. Except for when I had a freak out about turning 20. Yes, 20. I was scared to change decades when most of my friends were a year younger than I as I started college a little later. I don’t know what...
February 2010
2 posts
change
The other night, after learning that his father would be going in for a long awaited kidney transplant, Allistair said, “Honey, we handle change pretty well, don’t we?”
At this point, we like to take bets on what life has to toss our way. We know it will always be the unexpected. over the course of the last 7 months, we moved in together; spent the summer with his sister; he got...
The past few weeks—
- started a job. love the job, love the people, love the location
- allistair got a job. starts tomorrow! long commute, good pay, good job
-started training for a half marathon. a little behind but determined to finish.
- my neck went out a WEEK before my insurance kicks in! ugh. out of pocket expenses. thank you numerous car accidents and chronic pain. it is awesome
...
January 2010
2 posts
School Night- Day 1
Tomorrow, after 4 months of unemployment, I return to the land of the salaried. I now have an official schedule to keep and responsibilities to fulfill beyond showering, cleaning my house, caring for the cats and job hunting. I’m looking forward to the pay check and know that I am very fortunate to have found a gig relatively quickly. The economy really is as bad as the media makes it seem...
Welcome to 2010
The best way to start a new year? With your beloved boyfriend, great friends, yummy appetizers and Beatles Rock Band? Why, yes, yes that is the best way to spend the eve of 2010. It was a simple night with pretty frocks, hair did and make up applied. Allistair and I had our first official party in our new apartment and fit about 15 of us in here for treats and Beatles music.
Who is that cute...
Xmas '09
Well, life doesn’t always go as planned. Allistair and I had hoped to make it to Eastern Washington to be with his parents and sister for the holiday but the whole not having a job yet thing just kept getting in the way. Instead, we spent Christmas Eve with my bff’s family which is our surrogate family up here. It was a wonderful evening with great food. I was recovering from a sinus...
December 2009
6 posts
Love times two
Um, why are baby cats so wonderful and warm and cuddly? That is the question we have to ask ourselves now that we have adopted this:
We knew we would adopt another baby so Knubs would have a play mate- especially when we are both at work, etc. We found a rescue shelter that has a no-kill policy just up the street from us. It was such a great experience that included seeing cats, learning a bit...
Gobble Gobble or The Great Cat Road Trip
Allistair, Knubs and I took of last week for a great weekend in Corvallis, Oregon with the Cary folks. Did you know that our cat can hang with an 11 hour road trip? We didn’t either! What a good baby-cat! We enjoyed the scenic drive through northern California and Oregon and commented frequently on how beautiful and green it all was. Can you tell we were in Los Angeles too long when the...
Birthday Madness
When we moved up here, I knew I would have to start plotting a birthday extravaganza (or small outing at least) for Allistair’s 32nd. He almost lost out on all the great birthday fun when he got on my nerves by stating ‘I decided that I was only celebrating every 5 years. I’m too old for birthdays.’ Yeah, that was annoying enough that I almost returned his gifts and...
November 2009
6 posts
The Mediumest Loser
I love ‘The Biggest Loser’. It is an inspirational show that transforms lives through exercise, nutrition and getting at the root of what caused their obesity in the first place. And there are a lot of tears. Every episode there are cry moments- victories over the pounds, the completion of contests of endurance, being sent home. And I cry right along with them. I love to see how they...
babies →
Making myself depressed looking at cats that are declawed and/or special needs. poor babies. meow.
Free!
That’s the key word when you aren’t working for the money. Allistair and I have a friend here in the city that is on a sabbatical so we are always looking for fun things to do on the cheap. I have become the team’s event planner and we have been busy the last couple of weeks exploring museums, gardens, and science events for free or for next to nothing.
Coit tower with a...
Chasing Demons
Do you ever get the itch to dig into the past? You know, start searching, googling, contemplating the evils you finally got the gumption to rid your life of? I hope I’m not alone in this. Every now and again (and thankfully, rarely) I feel the need to investigate where people are in this world that I no longer have any interest in speaking to again. My ex, my love’s ex, former friends,...
A month in the life
It’s been a month now and we finally got to the point of the moving process where we no longer take daily trips to Costco, Bed Bath and Beyond or The Container Store. We have hung some decorations and look forward to purchasing some new pieces. Books and DVD’s have found their homes and every single box is unpacked with the items placed in their appropriate spot. We genuinely wondered...
October 2009
5 posts
First roast made. Yummy. And we will make a sauce for it and the veggies mañana. Yes, I’m nesting.
Delish dinner and a Silence of the Lamb on blu-ray viewing. A typical night in the James/ Garcia-Cary home.
Life
Life is this crazy, mixed-up thing that gets all unpredictable right when you let yourself get comfortable. This is when I learn the most about myself and others, but it can really throw me for a loop. It get’s dirty and scrambled in all the areas you thought were sealed tight enough to hold on tightly.
The last few years for me have been filled with turmoil and self-understanding. And one...
The Bravest Thing I've Ever Done...
Just a couple of weeks ago, Allistair and I did the bravest thing we’ve ever done- picked up and left Los Angeles with savings, personal belongings and a cat in tow. No job. No exact plan. No precise destination other than the apartment we had rented. The morning we left I was nervous, excited, scared and was leaving behind the city that had been home to me for the better part of thirty...