Man, I’m looking forward to unwinding with a glass of pinot tonight. During the week I’ve been doing job stuff at night and now I’ve signed up for multiple workshops and programs on “Uncovering Your Calling.” Yup, deep introspective, exploratory shit. Last night, I found some site with free online personality tests, and I took a gazillion of them back to back. All except one came back as ESTJ “Administrator.” One was ISTJ. I swear, those damn tests always recommend like the most boring jobs ever for my personality. WTF. I mean, come on: librarian, funeral director, corporate finance lawyer?? Oh well, I still eat that shit up. Anything that helps me classify people and things into neat little boxes, I guess.

Btw, John was telling me that his coworkers had some discussion about kids the other day. One guy said that within the first HOUR of meeting his newborn, he witnessed/observed a personality. And that personality has remained constant even as the child has grown. He claims that the personality will stay the same forever. That just blows my mind! Like wtf, really? But John said everyone who had kids agreed!! Is that possible? Shit, I was a cantankerous, temperamental, fussy, crybaby as an infant/child. But I’m definitely NOT that anymore… Anyway, I also came across this recently on Pinterest and again, I was kinda intrigued that parenting could be condensed into this simple little flowchart. Is this shit for real?

Our weekend in wine country was amazing– I’d say one of the best ever!! The Airbnb cottage in Sonoma was lovely, peaceful, quiet; the meals in Yountville were pretty fantastic (though I still think Bouchon Bakery and Restaurant are overrated). We had brunch at Auberge du Soleil– incredible view of the valley and tasty food (I heart duck confit!). We had dinner at Ad Hoc Saturday night. Yup, easily one of the top meals. Really unique and complex flavors– even the lemonade had some creative blend of magic crystals. Shit, my mouth is watering now just thinking about that meal. Yeah, we had like three super rich meals back to back. And well, Fitbit took a real beating this weekend. Oh well, vacation’s over. Back to the kickboxing gym this week. Blergh!

On Sunday, we hit the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa. They have this Good Neighbor deal where you get all-day access to their facilities for $40. We were there all day: mineral pools, wet/dry saunas, hot tubs, uber deluxe. I’m thinking to go back for my bday in June!

What else. Oh, so we got back to town Sunday night, and like authentic youngsters, we hit the Killers concert at Bill Graham. When we walked in, all these kids were sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the stage. I was worried, because shit, I swore I got us seats!!! I know, I am such a concert newb! Thankfully, we were early enough that there were stadium seats upstairs (with all the old folks) in the balcony. The openers (Felice Brothers) were blah, but shit, the Killers were REALLY good. And the acoustics were great! They must’ve played like 20 songs. Solid set. The place was sold out with a capacity of 7,000! Thankfully, the drug scene was toned down compared to the Fillmore.

Oh and by the way, Adam Levine is getting replaced. Haha. Too bad Brandon Flowers is Mormon and has three kids. Yeah, I already did my background check on him. Hehe. Whatevs, the music was superb. Now I’m on a Killers 24-7 binge. Seriously, I cannot get enough.

So yup, I was back to work Monday. Usually by the end of a weekend, I’m itching to get back into the office. This time, I probably could have used another day or two off. 🙂

Today I am home sick. Yup. Actually woke up with cramps and I needed to feel the heat from the mattress topper on my thorax. What a strange word, btw.

Shit’s been uber cray cray at work and beyond… Surprisingly, I’ve been able to resist plummeting into darkness and despair post Boston. Fucking insane world.

John and I were in SF Tuesday night– saw Beach House at the Fillmore. Last time I was there, I saw Sara Bareilles, and her show was amazing. They had the grand piano, and the acoustics were incredible (The show was even recorded and still plays regularly on the Palladium channel). But this BH concert? Wtf. Seriously. The drug use (pot smokin’) was ridiculous… I got a massive headache just off the fumes. Come on, people! Then the music– kinda Mazzy Starish– was all blown out with zippo clarity. Just an absolute drugged-out haze. Disappointing.

What the hell happened to that venue? It’s coming off my list. I mean, the audio was so bad that when the opening band introduced themselves as Holy Shit, I thought they said Holy Spirit. I didn’t even realize I had misheard until I looked at the poster at the end of the show.

Plus, fuck man, I guess we just aren’t cool enough for the scene. Oh well, it was an experience. On the drive home, we just laughed about how un-cool we are, esp in our old, pudgy, middle-age.

The good news is, the Killers concert is right around the corner. Super stoked. And I just scored tickets for OneRepublic at Mountain Winery in September. Yippee!

We got back from NYC late Sunday night. A very busy trip indeed. We hadn’t traveled with 3 of the 4 other people, so after the first day, we quickly realized that they moved at a very different pace, they didn’t like to plan things in advance, plus they had lots of dietary restrictions. P’s sister Z is super sweet (she visited last year and I took them to Napa), but she is an extremely picky eater with a very limited tolerance for different cuisines. So Hubs and I split off and just met up with them every day for dinner and post-dinner activities. It probably worked out better since my Spanish is still shite, and they didn’t have to keep translating stuff for us.

The AirBnb spot was a pretty good location around Hell’s Kitchen with lots of food options. Six people in a 1 BR/1 BA. Tight squeeze. Oddly, I got into a tiff with the owner: he taped down the deadbolt (I guess it got stuck a few times before) and basically told us to leave the apartment unlocked with all our shit in there because “the whole city of NY is very safe.” Uh, look dude, I’m not a dumbass who’s going to just invite people (in one of the largest cities in world) to burgle me by leaving my shit unprotected. Ludicrous!! As if other renters are gonna let that fly…

Also, he was gay (not that I care) and his wifi network was named Woodman (J says that’s his last name) and the pw was four sets of 69. Seriously? I mean, I know the gays are all sexually adventurous and liberated and all, but is that level of raunch really necessary? Yeah, and the apartment was arranged with two queen beds side-by-side in one bedroom. Then he made some weird comment like, “You guys all know each other, right?” I dunno, maybe I was reading too much into things, but I tell you, the apartment just felt dirty afterwards, like the place was used as some orgy meetup spot or something! Sketch.

Around town, we checked out the Empire State Building, walked the High Line, scoped out Rockefeller Center, saw the Brooklyn Bridge, caught two theater shows, did some karaoke, hit up the food scene for all the healthy stuff (pizza, burgers, bagels, challah bread, nougat, cannolis, etc…) Yeah, we clocked all-time records on FitBit. That said, I’m pretty sure even 24k steps/day aren’t enough to compensate for all the junk we crammed down our pieholes. I might need to do a detox this week.

So, the craziest thing. We went to see Mamma Mia on Broadway and lo and behold, my college roommate’s crush (one of them) played the lead male role!!! I saw him in the Playbill and immediately recognized him. Still looks the same all these years later. Fucking crazy! The Peruvian chicas were swooning big time. Btw, there are some hottie patotties in NYC. Must be the modeling/ad industry influence, because shit, they were high caliber. Just an observation. 🙂

So all in all, a good trip but very tiring. Newark airport is a total buzzkill. I have not sat in a security line for so damn long since I don’t know when. And Wrestling Mania was going on, so the city and Penn Station were especially mobbed. By the end of three days, I was ready to get back home. I so love the stimulation and hurried lifestyle of the big city, but I think living there would really turn me into a grump (well, a bigger one). Like on the subway, I have never seen so many frowning, miserable faces. Ah well, back to living in my bubble that is Silicon Valley!

Weekend was good: I was still riding out my AL wave… I went horseback riding on Saturday; we met up with some friends Sunday. I’m getting better with my downward transitions– going from fast to a cold, hard stop. The cowboy at work is gonna take me out to his ranch this spring. I can’t wait. I’m such a wannabe cowgirl.

What else. Oh, my bathrooms flooded while I was home alone. That was fun. After spending an afternoon wringing out a crap load of sacrificed towels, I then waited for the City to come save me. They broke up a blockage in the yard clean-out line. I thought the drama was over, and then the next day, both showers ponded. I didn’t want to be a helpless wussy girl calling a plumber for help every damn time, so Hubster bought me a snake and then I spent an inordinate amount of time watching YouTube plumbing videos. To my dismay, I found a site/channel called “Hot and Handy,” which annoyed the crap outta me. Plus, her video on snaking a tub is insultingly basic. Anyway, everything is running fine now, so the houseboat is back to being AirBnb ready.

Man, this last week has been such a blur! The east coast trip last weekend went unexpectedly well! We had a super tight itinerary visiting with my parents, my grandparents, his parents, his three siblings, plus a gabillion nieces and nephews… My 90+ y/o grandparents even taught John and me how to play Mahjong. Super fun: my own set just arrived today from Amazon. Hehe. 😉 Overall, I think my mental skills tactics helped keep my sanity. That or the secret is 48 hours in and out.

Funny thing: I realized that my parents buy bedding the same way they used to buy me clothes: a king duvet cover for a queen comforter over a full mattress. No concept of fit and size.

So of course as soon as I got home on Monday morning, there was no rest for the weary. Our friends who were house sitting said Remy puked twice on Sunday and then wouldn’t eat. When I got home, she still refused food, and she just looked really off and walked all wobbly. I took her to the vet, who suspected a stomach bug, but then her blood work showed crazy high liver stats. Ugh!!! So now she’s on a bland diet for the stomach thing AND she’s on antibiotics for possible liver infection (could also be liver cancer) AND he thinks she has mild spinal disease. Then the next day, Martin’s tummy started gurgling like crazy, and he stopped eating. They are both doing better, but I now have a fucking pet pharmacy on my kitchen counter. These dogs are taking years off my life. That said, I dunno what I will do when the time inevitably comes. 🙁

Speaking of the inevitable, I had my date with destiny on Wednesday. Seats sucked, but well, that’s what I get for vacillating on the buy. Otherwise, my buddy G and I had a blast. I am embarrassed to say that I went through a gabillion outfit changes before finally settling on something. I’m such a dork. The crowd was a weird mix of cougars, teenie bops, mid-aged couples, and families. Very mainstream. Like I said, the venue sucked. Acoustics were shite. The jumbotron screens were sometimes cheesy and overdone (although I did like the laser show). Ah well, those were all secondary factors anyhow. 😉 AL was smokin’!! (I have got to move that sleeve tat up on my bucket list.) Thankfully, G brought her camera. We got some nice shots. At one point, Adam and I were separated by a mere 50 feet. Yeah, G and I left our seats and stormed the aisle. 🙂 Sadly, no backstage QT or Freebie Five action. But lots of fond memories permanently ingrained.

When we got home, G went into the house first (I hid outside), and she told the hubster I was coming home later, because I was hanging with the band. He didn’t even flinch: just said, “Yeah, right” and then just started asking her about the concert. Fifteen minutes later, I emerge from my hiding place outside… Hello? Thanks for coming out to get me, guys. WTF.

A few weeks ago in mental skills training class, the prof was telling us about this elite group of Tibetan monks. Apparently, they had practiced autogenics (some subset of meditation) for like 15 years, and it gave them so much power over their bodies that they could essentially heat parts of their bodies through mind power. Every year, they would go on some pilgrimage to the mountains wearing their usual robe attire and sandals in the snow. Then, at night they would sleep in the cold. All of them would be fine, because they could heat their bodies on demand. So of course, I became totally convinced by this story.

For a week, I diligently listened to the autogenics track from the course materials. No on demand heating… On week two, the track started…. “Relax your right foot. Feel the heat starting at the bottom of your foot…” Holy shit, I felt the warmth!!

OMFG! Immediately, my brain started trash-talking the monks: “What the heck, man. 15 years to do this? I got it down in ONE WEEK!” As I started celebrating my victory, I realized that other parts of my body were also heating up, but the track hadn’t yet progressed to those areas.

Fuck. My heated mattress topper. GODDAMMIT.

I was a full blown believer too. What a buzzkill.