Shopping was fun! Went to Macy's and they had my favorite summer sale on: Shoes! Considering how much damage I did last year I headed straight for the racks. I was more restrained this time I only got two pairs of shoes I actually snagged a Joan and David pair of closed toe pumps for about $40! Let me say it again: J&D for $40! I was feeling pretty good it was basically a 77% off sale -- first reduced 50%, then another 50%, and take off an extra 10 - 15% if you use your Macy's card. Works for me.
Next I headed to the ladies clothes. By the time I got out of there I could barely walk because I was laden with so many purchases in the end I paid about 30% of the original price on everything. I was quite pleased especially when some of the items were Ralf Lauren and Jones New York. My mom would be proud of my frugality.
Enough of the girl talk. Evening goes smoothly I laundered and packed and am ready for today. I even do the dishes because I hate coming home to a dirty kitchen -- very depressing. Someday I need to explore that feeling with a therapist -- but not today. I get into bed at 11pm and watch this new ABC Family TV show called Fallen. About Angels that have fallen from heaven and are seeking redemption from this half angel half human teenage boy (a Nephilim). Pretty compelling and totally my kind of thing is is based on a series of books by Tom Sniegowski.
Time for bed, lights out, but sleep does not come. Ahhh! I hate this! I toss for a while nod off get waken by something or was not really asleep anyway and I look at the clock and another hour has rolled by. I got hot turned on the fan slept for another half hour here and there and before I know it is 4:00 am and I give up the fight and decide I would just relax this takes me up to 4:30 am and I finally get out of bed to write this blog. What I pain -- God help whoever is on the plane next to me because I fully plan on snoring for the duration of the flight. There is something about taking off that knocks me out -- hope it works this time.
My mom is convinced that Bruce and I got our insomnia from her. It is worse when I am about to fly out the next morning. I am always reminded of that sleep aid commercial where there woman is counting away the hours as they tick by. I do feel that way. I have tried the cheap trick of taking Nyquil or Tylenol PM. They both work but you have a dreamless and truly unsatisfying snooze. All you feel you did was close your eyes and woke up 6 hours later and the worst is they both leave you with this woozy groggy cobweb hangover for most of the next 2-3 hours after you wake up. Really dislike the feeling so I stopped doing that I rather not sleep than have that feeling.
On a bright note I got up early, wrote a blog and now I get to hop in the shower, get dressed figure out my way to the airport (I don't have a chauffeur this morning as John is in Chicago). It's all good. It is 5:00am gotta go. There but for the grace of God go I. Happy week all.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
August: Beginnings and Endings
I say August is the month for fresh starts and stops, beginnings and endings. It started smoothly enough because I was working at home for this week. Considering the amount I worked this week the weekend could not come fast enough.
As for other beginnings, John went to Pepperdine commencement on Saturday morning. I opted to stay in bed and try to put a dent in yet another book I started reading a few days ago. I am totally hooked on the books by Daniel Silva about this Israeli secret agent. I just finished reading The Messenger last week and started on The Secret Servant this week. John took pity on me and bought the hard cover of The Secret Servant because I was so close to the end of The messenger despite my weak protests that it cost too much.
Which reminds how we got to buying the book. I had a hankering for steak last weekend after reading the USA today article on steakhouses. I did not want us to drive to LA to eat at the highly priced Wolfgang Puck restaurant Cut, so I hunted with Internet ready finger for one close to home and lo an behold found Flemings Steakhouse tucked away in Fashion Island mall -- which 20 minutes from my house via the scenic Highway 1. Could not pass up the opportunity. The steak was lovely and everything was a la carte so we wound up spending quite a bit that I hate to say it out loud. It is a caution to everyone who reads the reviews that say it is a $$ steakhouse it is more $$$ because it is ala carte. I had the crab cakes to start, John a salad and we both got steaks and a vegetable. It was sooo much food that we had to take some home -- I guess in that case it is quantity for the money. When the waiter came by to ask us if we would like t desert all I could manage to get out was "coffee would be nice" I was so full.
After dinner, we noticed a B&N across the way. I wanted to go home John wanted to explore the bookstore. He won. At the end I won too because he bought me the book!
Now back to this weekend. While John was doing his professorial duties I got up and went to the Bella Terra Mall to get some coffee at the B&N and read some guide books to help our vacation plans. Our vacation is in two weeks and we have not yet decided where to go! Don't even get me started. I think I have already figure out the start to my travel book. "Our vacations always started out with 1 month of haggling and a mad dash two weeks before or our worst the day of GO." Our vacation is for another blog.
My move to the mall was strategic. I wanted to be there when John got off so he could meet me there and we could see the new Bourne movie opening this weekend (another beginning). It was first due to come out in July and because of competition, I guess, it moved out to August. I loved the last two so you can imagine I was not happy with the 2 week move! They have loyal fans here!
In my fashion moment of trying to select what purse to take I left my cell phone in one of the two other bags I was thinking of taking and only discovered this fact when I was at the mall. I was relegated to using the public phone at B&N to let John know where I was so he could meet me and I promised in my message I would call him again in two hours to see how he was getting on. The stuff for mere mortals! After all that, I took the purse I have been using all along and not the chic 2 smaller black purses I was eyeing -- what a nitwit. It took 3 purses for me to realize that I had a large hardback book that I did not intend to carry in my hand because I knew I would leave it somewhere. Like I said - I am dense.
Well, my ploy worked. John met me at the BT Mall we went for lunch at Kubuki my second favorite Japanese restaurant (I loved the bill) and we went to stand in the growing line for the 3:15 pm showing the Bourne Ultimatum movie. We wanted to make sure it did not sell out so we bought the tickets before lunch. I know there are some people who are balking that we stood in line for a movie but if it is a popular movie, you don't want whiplash, and you want to sit together, standing in line for a few minutes is no biggie.
The movie was great. I normally don't clap after movies but I did on this one. Some of the scenes were quite gritty and gave me the same feeling I got from watching the last James Bond movie Casino Royale. I will give no spoilers: the basis of the movie is Jason Bourne comes home to where it all started and the office bound CIA leads have no idea what hit them. the adage "This time it is personal" surely applies. The fight scenes are gritty and last for an age but they are so good and up close you almost don't want to watch. Of course there is a car chase and you think how can they do a car chase in New York? Well, watch the movie and find out. It was well worth the $10 each we paid and we actually decided to own the movie as we were walking out the cinema. We own the first one, the Bourne Identity and did not get the second one the Bourne Supremacy because she dies. Humph! Here are some reviews sites movies.com and rottentomatoes.com. Even Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 94% fresh rating -- that is as rare as chicken teeth!
After the movie came home. After spending a pleasant afternoon in air conditioning we wanted to repeat the same in our home. John mentioned a few days back that he shut off the air conditioning because it was making this strange whine -- it was fun hear him try to imitate the sound. We decided to see if it was something easy like the fuses had blown like they did last summer. John checked and fuses and they hadn't blown. I asked to hear the noise and the thing gave off this sickly whine like a hurt puppy. The repair man who took a look at it last summer had said it was not going to last for long -- I am glad it lasted for a year longer than we thought but it definitely sounded like it was down for the count (an ending). Now, I had to dig up the repair estimate our air conditioning friend gave us last summer: $1400 for furnace and new thermostat or $3900 for new unit! In such moments there is no wondering why you earn a salary but definitely a wondering why you bought a home. Between that, the damp sheet rock in the kitchen, and master bath toilet acting up, and the first installment of local property tax coming due I see $$$$. Oy! It's all well and good -- that's what you get. Oh yes, and one more thing the boiler in John's apartment in London did not pass inspection so it is time to change that too. So a whole lot of endings. In all my whining I thank God that those things did not break sooner and other things are running just fine. It is certainly glass half full. As for air conditioning that is what windows are for. :-)
Speaking of one more set of beginnings and endings, John headed to Chicago this morning for the Accounting conference -- he had no sleep and I got 3 hours. The flight was out of LAX at 6:15am we left home at about 4:30am and since there was little traffic, we made one of our best times to LAX: 33 minutes -- simply amazing. As for ending, it is the end of my week at home so I head off to SF to work on a 7:00 am flight tomorrow out of Orange County airport (much closer than LAX).
What will I do for the day? Why shopping!!!
As for other beginnings, John went to Pepperdine commencement on Saturday morning. I opted to stay in bed and try to put a dent in yet another book I started reading a few days ago. I am totally hooked on the books by Daniel Silva about this Israeli secret agent. I just finished reading The Messenger last week and started on The Secret Servant this week. John took pity on me and bought the hard cover of The Secret Servant because I was so close to the end of The messenger despite my weak protests that it cost too much.
Which reminds how we got to buying the book. I had a hankering for steak last weekend after reading the USA today article on steakhouses. I did not want us to drive to LA to eat at the highly priced Wolfgang Puck restaurant Cut, so I hunted with Internet ready finger for one close to home and lo an behold found Flemings Steakhouse tucked away in Fashion Island mall -- which 20 minutes from my house via the scenic Highway 1. Could not pass up the opportunity. The steak was lovely and everything was a la carte so we wound up spending quite a bit that I hate to say it out loud. It is a caution to everyone who reads the reviews that say it is a $$ steakhouse it is more $$$ because it is ala carte. I had the crab cakes to start, John a salad and we both got steaks and a vegetable. It was sooo much food that we had to take some home -- I guess in that case it is quantity for the money. When the waiter came by to ask us if we would like t desert all I could manage to get out was "coffee would be nice" I was so full.
After dinner, we noticed a B&N across the way. I wanted to go home John wanted to explore the bookstore. He won. At the end I won too because he bought me the book!
Now back to this weekend. While John was doing his professorial duties I got up and went to the Bella Terra Mall to get some coffee at the B&N and read some guide books to help our vacation plans. Our vacation is in two weeks and we have not yet decided where to go! Don't even get me started. I think I have already figure out the start to my travel book. "Our vacations always started out with 1 month of haggling and a mad dash two weeks before or our worst the day of GO." Our vacation is for another blog.
My move to the mall was strategic. I wanted to be there when John got off so he could meet me there and we could see the new Bourne movie opening this weekend (another beginning). It was first due to come out in July and because of competition, I guess, it moved out to August. I loved the last two so you can imagine I was not happy with the 2 week move! They have loyal fans here!
In my fashion moment of trying to select what purse to take I left my cell phone in one of the two other bags I was thinking of taking and only discovered this fact when I was at the mall. I was relegated to using the public phone at B&N to let John know where I was so he could meet me and I promised in my message I would call him again in two hours to see how he was getting on. The stuff for mere mortals! After all that, I took the purse I have been using all along and not the chic 2 smaller black purses I was eyeing -- what a nitwit. It took 3 purses for me to realize that I had a large hardback book that I did not intend to carry in my hand because I knew I would leave it somewhere. Like I said - I am dense.
Well, my ploy worked. John met me at the BT Mall we went for lunch at Kubuki my second favorite Japanese restaurant (I loved the bill) and we went to stand in the growing line for the 3:15 pm showing the Bourne Ultimatum movie. We wanted to make sure it did not sell out so we bought the tickets before lunch. I know there are some people who are balking that we stood in line for a movie but if it is a popular movie, you don't want whiplash, and you want to sit together, standing in line for a few minutes is no biggie.
The movie was great. I normally don't clap after movies but I did on this one. Some of the scenes were quite gritty and gave me the same feeling I got from watching the last James Bond movie Casino Royale. I will give no spoilers: the basis of the movie is Jason Bourne comes home to where it all started and the office bound CIA leads have no idea what hit them. the adage "This time it is personal" surely applies. The fight scenes are gritty and last for an age but they are so good and up close you almost don't want to watch. Of course there is a car chase and you think how can they do a car chase in New York? Well, watch the movie and find out. It was well worth the $10 each we paid and we actually decided to own the movie as we were walking out the cinema. We own the first one, the Bourne Identity and did not get the second one the Bourne Supremacy because she dies. Humph! Here are some reviews sites movies.com and rottentomatoes.com. Even Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 94% fresh rating -- that is as rare as chicken teeth!
After the movie came home. After spending a pleasant afternoon in air conditioning we wanted to repeat the same in our home. John mentioned a few days back that he shut off the air conditioning because it was making this strange whine -- it was fun hear him try to imitate the sound. We decided to see if it was something easy like the fuses had blown like they did last summer. John checked and fuses and they hadn't blown. I asked to hear the noise and the thing gave off this sickly whine like a hurt puppy. The repair man who took a look at it last summer had said it was not going to last for long -- I am glad it lasted for a year longer than we thought but it definitely sounded like it was down for the count (an ending). Now, I had to dig up the repair estimate our air conditioning friend gave us last summer: $1400 for furnace and new thermostat or $3900 for new unit! In such moments there is no wondering why you earn a salary but definitely a wondering why you bought a home. Between that, the damp sheet rock in the kitchen, and master bath toilet acting up, and the first installment of local property tax coming due I see $$$$. Oy! It's all well and good -- that's what you get. Oh yes, and one more thing the boiler in John's apartment in London did not pass inspection so it is time to change that too. So a whole lot of endings. In all my whining I thank God that those things did not break sooner and other things are running just fine. It is certainly glass half full. As for air conditioning that is what windows are for. :-)
Speaking of one more set of beginnings and endings, John headed to Chicago this morning for the Accounting conference -- he had no sleep and I got 3 hours. The flight was out of LAX at 6:15am we left home at about 4:30am and since there was little traffic, we made one of our best times to LAX: 33 minutes -- simply amazing. As for ending, it is the end of my week at home so I head off to SF to work on a 7:00 am flight tomorrow out of Orange County airport (much closer than LAX).
What will I do for the day? Why shopping!!!
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