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whappy happy nea land! |
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My own spot to rant about my day.
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wSunday, June 29, 2003 |
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So I should really post about Canada. What can I say? We had a really nice time. Basically, we picked the direction we were going to circle the provinces in, then drove as we pleased. If we liked a place, we stayed longer. If not, we drove on to the next one. In each province we'd pick up tourist stuff and do whatever looked interesting. Some of the stuff (Like seeing L.M. Montgomery's home and getting a tour from her cousin, eating cheap lobster) was really neat. Some of the stuff (like paying $5 to go up Magnetic Hill, where the magnetic forces pull your car) was kinda cheesy. But it was nice to just be away from everything, set our schedule as we pleased, and just hang out. The canadian dollar is still in our favor, though not as much as before the war, so we could afford to do some pretty nice stuff.
Being back has been crazy. I learned that the meeting my boss went to on the afternoon before I left on vacation ended up lasting three days. Plus he had to take over all the mundane stuff, like faxing over audit reports and depositing checks, that I take care of. I could tell he was relieved to have me back. It's nice to be appreciated. However, there really is more than enough work for two people. So I spent the week working my butt off on stuff, trying to get things caught up. I think I'm looking at increasing overtime in the weeks to follow, in order to try and make some of the new goals we talked about this week.
Dave made a really tasty lunch and dinner today with stuff we picked up this morning:
Lunch
Ahi tuna sashimi with dipping sauce
Spicy tuna on top of leftover fried rice
Strawberry cream pops
Dinner
Salad with roasted walnuts, figs, and goat cheese
Seared albacore with magno salsa
Dessert is going to be a berry thing. I like when Dave goes shopping and gets into cooking. Yay tasty food at home!
posted by
nea at 9:01 PM
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wWednesday, June 25, 2003 |
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I'm back. I've finished checking e-mail and wanted to check in. I will do a longer post on each of these things from our trip some time soon:
Flying and watching kids, kittens, and air sickness.
Providence
Being in Jersey
NYC and changes from last year
Thanksgiving at the Lobster Shanty
A full service retirement community
While we were gone, I got the job offer I was hoping for. Yay new job! I got offered $36,000 a year, which is a good raise over my current salary. But when you add in free insurance for Dave and I, plus a walking commute that will keep my new car in great shape, it's really a much larger raise. Woo-hoo! Yay turning in two weeks notice on Monday and causing pandemonium in my department. Okay, no, it won't be that crazy but it is going to be a change for the department. I've been setting mental goals on what I need to do in the next two weeks to make leaving as smooth as possible. There's a lot, but I can do it. I'm excited.
posted by
nea at 12:31 PM
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wMonday, June 23, 2003 |
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We're back! Being in Jersey and the Maritimes was good. Woodbridge is slowly starting to feel like another home to me. I have some of the streets/locations of things down now. In New Jersey, Dave and I learned that men don't get manicures and that most girls have fake nails, so getting a manicure on your actual, real nails, sucks. We both got crappy manicures, but we needed to do it for the wedding.
Greg and Jen definitely had a very impressive wedding, as expected. Black tie, full of society types and family. Lots of old NY families in fancy black dress. It was pouring right before the wedding, and turned to a wet, muggy, almost unbearable heat by the cocktail hour. Everything had to be moved around at the last minute, but it came out beautifully. Jen's hair and dress were perfect for her. She was trying hard not to be upset about all the changes going on, but pulled through. I think the most excited person at the wedding, though, was Greg's brother Hank. He was running around with a huge smile on his face, laughing and hugging everyone. It's nice to see someone so excited on what can be a harrowing and chaotic day.
The ceremony and dinner were right next to the monkeys, and the cocktails were served by the seal pool. Yep, right in the midst of the animals in the Central Park Zoo. I have now finally been in Central Park, after at least five trips to the city. The reception was at one long table, beautifully decorated with silver candleabras, silver candlesticks, and bowls and vases full of fruits and flowers. It was absolutely beautiful.
The service was not so good, for all the expense Greg and Jen put into everything. They did the placards backwards, so instead of being at the start of the table, Dave's 90 year-old grandmother had to walk to the end of a 200+ person table. She was so unhappy and tired out from the walking, so we didn't get to stay for dancing or dessert. Boo. But it was already past 11, and we had a real nice time. I put this huge dallia from one of the vases in my hair, so I smelled all pretty the rest of the night, with this big fluffy thing sticking out of my head (see the first pic from our Canada pics to see what I mean.)
The rest of our Jersey/NY stay was pretty uneventful. Mostly hanging out, running errands, and visiting with a few of Dave's friends.
Post on Canada forthcoming.
posted by
nea at 7:32 PM
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wWednesday, June 11, 2003 |
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So we are officially on vacation now! Yay! Dave and I are getting picked up by a limo tomorrow morning (cheaper than parking) and heading down to LAX, where our flight leaves at 9 am for Newark, New Jersey. We're going to be staying with Dave's mom for a few days, and attending his cousin Greg's wedding in the Central Park Zoo. Both Greg and his fiancee are hella rich, so it should be a pretty impressive affair. I'm looking forward to it.
From Jersey, we're going to head up to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and wander around the eastern provinces for a week. I've never been to Canada before, so it should be pretty neat. I reread the Anne of Avonlea books that we own to get in the mood, and have been checking out tourism websites/books to learn all the stuff to do. It should be a great trip. Unfortunately, with the economy sucking ass, the exchange rate won't be as good as it was, but it's still cheap for Americans to go to Canada.
Why do people think SARS is deadly? Healthy people just get a cold. Not a big deal at all. It's infants and elderly and the like that really have problems. I've had a few people surprised that we were going to leave the country. Whereas, I figure Dave and I are two healthy people, we might as well milk the SARS thing for any travel benefits it has.
posted by
nea at 7:49 PM
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This week on the vending machine (taped to a bag of peanuts):
"These nuts are stale and expired. Give me back my money.
-Juan x.222"
posted by
nea at 7:43 PM
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wTuesday, June 03, 2003 |
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OK, in two days the weather has gone from 90 degrees, hot enough to give me a sunburn walking back and forth to work, to gray and drizzly. I drove the half-mile to work today because the weather just sucked and I didn't want to get caught in the rain. I always feel so lame driving to work but oh, well. Wet work clothes are no good.
Spent the day working through all sorts of stuff. By the end of this month, I may have us close to caught up on all the outstanding audits. I didn't think that I'd be able to say that until near the end of the year. It also means that there may be a point where we won't have five year-old audits sitting on our books. Yay. It's nice to have a job where I feel like I'm being productive and moving towards some good goals.
posted by
nea at 9:49 PM
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wSunday, June 01, 2003 |
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So nice to be out and about in the sun! I think the worst part of having a job is in the summer, when all I want to do is go the beach on nice days. Yesterday we went swimming, and today we are going to 3rd Street Promenade, so at least on the weekends I'm getting some sun. Today, I also spent a couple hours watching "Surf Girls" on MTV, so I got a little ocean that way too.
Last night we went down to OC for sushi and random Laguna Beach clubbing. We went to Monsoon on PCH for sushi- not bad, but kinda pricy. The spicy stuff was actually really spicy, which I appreciated. The clubbing down there is different from what we do in LA-- older people, more casual, and very different demographics. Long night but I had fun roaming around and hanging out with people. We started at the club upstairs from the sushi restaurant, but one of our group couldn't get in because he was wearing sneakers, so we then headed down the street to the White House. By midnight, the place was crazily packed (way over their 182 fire code max), and going outside wasn't so great because the patio filled up with smokers. Bleh. Dave got tired and sick of the loud thumping, but I had a pretty good time.
posted by
nea at 1:31 PM
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