HAPPY AUGUST BIRTHDAYS!!!!

A big fat shout out to Brother R (Aug 10), sis (Aug 11), and Mr Pooh (Aug 20) - HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you all! Hope you've had a fantastic month, and had great birthdays!

First, an earthquake. Next up, a hurricane

It's been a big fat bunch o' work that's been going on lately. The good news is we are signed off to go live!!!! It's paying off - and I'm BEYOND EXCITED to see this project I've spent a year working on go into production. The best part of the last 2 weeks was the day I got to hear the entire QA team go around the room and say they had signed off their pieces of the release, and then when I got to say "We're a go from business" - that feeling, it was good.

Last week was a pretty good week - I could tell we were coming into completion, and the pressure had released somewhat from having to be so anal about every little thing that was going on. On top of that, we had a group in from the SF office - we're already kicking off my new project, and they had come in so that they could meet everyone and so that we could do our actual kickoff. The week went super fast because of that.

Last Wednesday, I met the Blonde One at our local bar - we're headed to see the Jets/Bills game Thanksgiving weekend with our bartender, and he had our tickets we needed to pick up. We stopped in for a few drinks, which easily turned into Shit Show, volume Wednesday, edition #24023032.

Last Thursday, the offices were moved. We stayed in the same bldg, same floor, but everyone (except for me and 2 others) had their offices rotated around. Due to this, we were kicked out of the bldg at 4 pm. Me and 5 others decided to make the most of it and hit up a bar by work - we had a blast, and conversation ranged all over the place.

Then last Friday, it was off to the Bierhaus! A group of us from work had bought a Groupon - and it was $29 all you could eat brats and pretzels, with a liter of beer. The Bierhaus is by my work, and it's a new beergarden (obviously). OMG - they had sausages with cheddar stuffed inside. The sun started shining when I bit into that. And the beer.... oh so good. We had only meant to stay for 2 hours, but uh, it was longer than that. When we left, Blondie and I decided to walk across the island (2miles ish). As we were slowly making our way home through everyone that had just gotten off work for the day (hahahhahah! I was done 5 hours earlier!), we spotted a bar called "Point Break". We HAD to stop in - not only did it have awesome HH specials, "Point Break" brings back the best memories of Shelbs and Bbbb. After "Point Break", it was off to our local bar to round out the evening.

Saturday I laid in a ball on the floor all day, comforting my liver after 3 days of abusing it. And Sunday I drug myself down to the gym and had a pretty good run - my leg finally feels like it's loosening up in these new shoes. Which is relief.

After the run, Blondie and I caught a train over to Queens to watch a Mets/Brewers game! We had tickets to this game last year and it got rained out, so we turned our tickets in for this game instead. It was so much fun, and Blondie was rooting for his hometeam (Brewers) who actually won! It's not surprising that they won as they are really good this year, but it is surprising that a team we root for actually won. The game was fun, the weather was beautiful, and the Brewers won. Who can beat that?

On Sunday night, after we got home, I was talking to Blondie and within the space of like 5 seconds, I realized I was sick. I literally went from feeling 100% good to sick over the course of 5 minutes. I went to bed super early hoping to nip it in the bud, but that didn't happen. I've spent the last 4 days hacking my lungs out, wheezy breathing, snotty nose - it's been awful. And because of where we are at for launching my project next week, I've had to go into the office each day.

On Tuesday, we had a big earthquake hit - and par for the course, I didn't feel anything. Blondie felt it at the apartment, and even where I was at work, everyone else felt it - but not me. I sat at my desk through it and didn't realize anything was going on. A friend of mine was like "WHAT??!?!? How did you miss that!??!?! My chair was rocking, my desk was shaking!" and I was like "huh, not sure how I did miss that". Another friend of mine from SF had also pinged me - "did you feel the earthquake???" and this was before I knew we had an earthquake - I thought he was being fun that we had gotten approved for launching my project - like "omg! you're launching! the world is coming to an end!"

On Wednesday, our bartender called and it turns out he thinks he can get us all tickets to the Packers/Giants game in December! We got super excited about that - and we're keeping our fingers crossed that this comes through.

Today I have to go to work for a few hours, and then it's prep-time for Hurricane Irene. We're in a flood zone - but luckily, we're in a high rise. My zone is not mandatory evacuation zone, but we're 1 level away from it. I have to get a lighter today for candles in case we lose power, and we're going to do some light grocery shopping. Blondie is in charge of clearing off our patio, getting all the candles in 1 place, and filling up a bunch of water bottles. It's weird to be doing this prep work as it's a GORGEOUS day out today - sunny and beautiful, no clouds, and to think that tomorrow this time, the rain starts to hit, and by Sunday this time, the eye of the hurricane could be somewhere near us. It's a little unnerving.

Funny thing - I've always thought I would like to live in Miami, and Blondie has always nixed that plan - he doesn't like hurricanes, and refused to even talk about moving there. Hmmmm.....

Hope everyone is well, and that you are earthquake/hurricane free!

--K

Easy Like Sunday Morning

So jury duty ended - we came to our verdict on Wednesday, and we were out of the courts by around noon. It was a very interesting process - I learned a lot, and would sit through jury duty again if called (in 6 years). However, it ended on a very bad note - and I've never been so happy to get through the last 2 hours of jury duty in my life.

What I learned from jury duty:
1) All about semi-automatic weapons- how they work, how they fire, how the bullets are "designed", etc.
2) I need to carry mace at all times in NYC
3) I've been super lucky - I've lived in some very big cities (Dallas, San Francisco, NYC) and not been mugged/hurt/assaulted (knock on wood).
4) Everything I've seen on CSI is a lie (you can't separate fingerprints, unless the DNA from multiple sources is the exact same amount - you can't separate it, you definitely can't sharpen up video images/still photographs like they do on CSI).

The week went super fast also - the combination of jury duty and work made it feel like Friday before Monday ended. I had to work late both Monday and Tuesday, but then on Wednesday, I was a shaky wreck when jury duty ended. I called Blondie and he convinced me to take the rest of the day off. It was awesome, and exactly what I needed.

Blondie met me for lunch (White Castle) before we walked over to his bank. From there, it was a walk back up to Times Square where we tried to get tickets for The Lion King on Broadway but they were sold out. So we went to the movies instead and saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It was rocking good, but it did take awhile to get going. Once it did though, seriously fun movie. Also it was set in SF, and in 1 scene, you could actually see our old apartment building! After the movie, we hit up Dave & Busters for half-price game day (Wed). We played for about 3 hours for less than $28. We also sat at their bar for awhile and enjoyed a drink which was actually really cheap considering it was D&B in Times Square (tourist central). After D&B, we went for sit down mexican - I had carnitas in red sauce and Blondie had chorizo and potatos, and then we headed to our bodega for a 6-er before heading home to crash. All in all, a day that started shitty but ended awesome.

Friday I got out of work right on time and met Blondie for burgers and a beer. Our restaurant has a monster patio, and we enjoyed the beautiful weather for a bit. Afterwards, we started in the direction of our grocery stores, but stopped off before to split a bottle of wine and relax. Grocery shopping was then done, before we came home and collapsed.

Yesterday was low-key, very overcast and yucky, so we stayed in all day. I had to work for a couple of hours, and then I napped all afternoon. Last night, we caught up on our DVRs. Today I went and did a 3.1 mile run, and then finally put up all my clean clothes (go me! Only took me 3 weeks!) It's pouring rain outside today so I'm not moving from my spot.

I ended up starting Insanity again this week, and I'm going to stick with it for another round. However, I do need to run 2 times a week, so I think I'm going to take my Insanity recovery day and make it a running day.

--K

A 9 Times Production

What a week. I'm going to start with that. As fast as 2 weeks ago went, last week was 20x faster. To begin with, my worst fears came true as I was picked to be on a jury. Not only was I picked, I was picked *immediately*. The very first time they sat for a jury, I was picked #1. I can't say anymore, but when the trial is over, I will give generic details out.

Jury duty is hard right now because I'm very concerned about my project. Every hour I'm away from work makes me panic a bit more. But, having said that, I'm actually kind of entralled by the process I'm going through and how much I'm learning (stuff I'll never need to know again, but still) everyday I'm at jury duty.

So jury duty runs everyday but Thursday, and that's because the courts shut down. So everyday last week, except Thursday, I started my day off by a trip down to City Hall. The trip is ok as I can catch an express train in Times Square, so I'm usually to the courts about 30 mins after I leave our apartment. I also get to stop in at Starbucks for my daily coffee as opposed to the office Flavia machine.

Everyday last week also, except for Friday, I had to go back to the office after jury duty was done. So I would get out between 2:30 and 4:15, and right back to work. The nice thing though about City Hall is that it seems all trains converge there, so my train back to work is a 2 minute walk from City Hall. And everyday last week except for Friday, I was again at work until 8:30 - 9 pm at night.

Last Tuesday, we went out for my friend's last day at work. Way too much bourbon and wine ensued, but the food and the company were both excellent. It's sad to say goodbye to my 2 friends that have quit, but it's also a kick in the butt for me - the time on my contract is coming to an end, so it's very soon going to be up to me if I want to stick around or look for something else.

After my friend's party last Tuesday, I headed on home - got back to the apartment around 11 pm and there was no Blondie. I knew immediately where he was so I headed over to our bar and had a few drinks with him, and just relaxed.

On Friday, one of the jurors had invited everyone to his apartment for lunch. He lives very close to City Hall, so we went and enjoyed his rooftop patio - the views were f'ing amazing! Empire State Bldg, Chrysler Bldg, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn - it was a never ending party for the eyes. And after jury duty was done, I headed back to Times Square and met Blondie for an early movie.

We saw "Cowboys and Aliens", and it was really really good! I love Daniel Craig and to see him do a cowboy role (after James Bond) with an american accent was da bomb diggity. We had some snacks and enjoyed finally getting to see Blondie before 9:15 pm. After our movie, we headed over for Ethiopian food and split a bottle of wine before heading home to crash out.

Yesterday I had to work for a couple of hours, before Blondie and I decided to do movie day. It was rainy and overcast all day, so we opted to pick a movie-theme and hang out. I picked "Stars before they went off the hook" as our theme and we watched "Signs" (Mel Gibson), "Cocktail" (Tom Cruise), and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (Charlie Sheen - TIGER BLOOD!).

Today was some more work (about an hour) and now I'm watching reruns of my favorite Ginger Junk Conan O'Brien. No plans for the rest of the day - it's not raining today but it's definitely overcast. I have a glass of scotch, work is done for the day, I have courts tomorrow, and I have a cat curled up beside me. Could be worse people, could be worse.

This week was a recovery week from Insanity. I took Monday off from working out, did an Insanity month 1 program on Tuesday (and realized I needed a bigger recovery), took Wed off, did Yoga on Thurs, Core Cardio Insanity on Friday, took Saturday off, and did a 3.1 mile run/walk today. Tomorrow I hope to run again, before starting back up (including eating right) with Insanity on Tuesday.

In exciting news, Blondie and I finally booked our first vacation (just him and me, that doesn't involve visiting family ) for the first time since 2006. We're off to Barbados as a combination anniversary / my birthday gift at the end of October. 5 days in an all-inclusive resort - I absolutely 100% cannot wait.

--K

Fast week. Really fast week

I came off what felt like one of the fastest weeks of my life. I had to work late every night, but the week literally felt like it was over before it started. It was good in that anything that makes work feel like it goes faster is aok, but it was not good in that I felt like we barely got through 1/100th of what we needed to get through for this project.

In addition to it being super fast, 2 of my friends from work quit. 1 friend gave her notice and was gone 2 days later, and 1 will be done tomorrow. Just a really "not normal" work week last week.

Last Sunday, I took a rest day from working out finally, and just went and got myself a bright red pedicure. I like it, but it's very candy-colored and I don't think I will pick that color again. After the pedicure, I had to work some which wasn't the best way to end a weekend.

And I really honestly did work until about 8 - 8:30 pm every night this past week, except for Friday. And that was because on Friday, a bunch of us went out for a goodbye lunch and drinks for my friend who quit. That was nice, except I had the sleeps and when I put a few beers on top of that, it was literally all I could do to get myself home afterwards. I got home, stumbled into the bedroom and take a very deep 2 hour nap. I woke up feeling groggy and exhausted, but less exhausted than before the nap. Then I made the mistake of checking work emails - we had found a huge issue on Friday morning, but we also thought we found the fix. Unfortunately, the "fix" made it all 100x worse. Friday night was spent on a conf call rounding up people to take a look at the issue.

Saturday I got up and did my final day of Insanity, before heading into the office. I work from about 12 to 2:30, and then called Blondie. We couldn't decide on lunch, so we did a split lunch. He met me up by the subway stop and we headed for a slice of pizza (from a pizza place we had heard about but not tried). It was pretty good - Blondie loved it b/c the crust was cooked all the way, I could've used a little more doughy crust, but all in all, a really good slice.

Then after the pizza, we headed back towards our hood and ended up at a new mexican joint. We had a light snack and margaritas (for me) and bloodies (for Blondie). We sat outside in the shade and just people watched for awhile, before heading back to get our grocery shopping done.

Saturday night was spent calling everyone who needed to work on Sunday and getting them caught up to speed on the issues we were seeing, but then Blondie and I crashed out watching some movies. It was nice b/c I felt like we were on the go all day, so staying in on Saturday felt like a treat.

Yesterday I went for a run on the treadmill and did much better than I did 2 weeks ago - my left leg still feels funny in my new shoes, it just feels really tight and achy when I run. I'm hoping I can get these suckers broken in before too long. After my run, I caught a cab over to my office where 1 of the developers was also in for the day. I worked for about 3 hours before heading out to meet Blondie and the Dragon for drinks and lunch. A couple of hours, a couple of shots, many beers later, I had to go home and just collapse.

Today I'm off to jury duty - it couldn't have come at a worse time. I feel like I need to be at the office to get all these issues dealt with, and instead, I have to now head somewhere I have no desire to be. Yay.

So I just finished off my Insanity program. I think I'm going to go another round, but with 2 days a week running, and 1 day a week just off - so it would be 4 days of Insanity a week instead of 6. I still have to decide how I want to handle. I do really love the program though, and if I could just get my eating under control, I can totally see how my body would change.

Have a great week everyone!

--K