Sweet Little Emma

I'm an Aunty! We're not related by blood, but her momma has been my BFF since we met in Kindergarten in 1983, she knows all my deepest, darkest secrets and she was my maid of honor. She is family. I remember when she called me to tell me the news that she was pregnant, I was excited for her but also couldn't help thinking that everything would be different. What about crazy nights in Vegas? What about girls nights in Laguna Beach? What about going out to the bars? Does this mean we have to start growing up???? Rosa is the first one of our group to have a baby and we all kind of figured she would be. She was well trained (7 brothers and sisters!) and born to me a momma. Now I see that we're still gonna have our fun but its just going to be a different kind of fun, and that's ok. Little Miss Emma was born on June 28th and last weekend I finally got to meet her. I'm in love....she is the most perfect little creature I've ever laid my eyes on. Her momma is so good with her and her Daddy is so proud, they are the perfect little family. Jeff and I call her The Little Nugget, I'm sure she'll go through many more nicknames through the years. I am hopeful that Rosa never tells her that Aunty Katy and Uncle Jeff used to refer to her as "the fetus." I can't stop thinking about her and I can't help but think she's gonna need her a bff...

Sleepy Girl

How Cute is she with her daddy?

Her Grumpy Mug.

Deadly Sins

There are seven of them. My two favorite are sloth and gluttony...As mentioned in my previous post I love being lazy. I also love to stuff my face and drink a days worth of calories (I'm exaggerating). It takes a great amount of effort to resist these two deadly sins. I've always been an athlete, I ran track from elementary school until my sophomore year of college when I decided that beer was a lot more fun than triple jump. After college I always kept in shape by running, lifting weights, going to bootcamp class, etc... As much as I love food and drink, I've always kept close tabs on what I intake by keeping a food journal and would write down every calorie I consumed. Sometimes I would slip and take a few weeks off from diet and exercise but would always get back into my routine and that was that. Well, last year I fell off the wagon beginning with our October trip to Boston. Shortly after Boston was New Orleans followed by the holidays and pretty soon my new routine was being a sinner. I just kind of fell off the wagon and got used to my new routine. Now, 10 months later I am finally realizing how much I've sinned! I've had so much fun eating and drinking and being lazy but I realize how much I miss feeling fit. I haven't gotten fat or anything, but I don't feel as firm as I used to be and my clothes are starting to fit differently. Yesterday I bought a memo book and started writing everything down again and yesterday I started running again. I'm looking into joining the gym and even taking some exercise classes. I miss my old routine and what better motivator than Hawaii in November? I want to wear nothing but bikinis and sundresses that whole week and I want to feel confident again. So here is to a new routine!

Life as of Late

I'm a Taurus. While I don't really believe the day to day horoscopes that promise "love and happiness are coming in the week ahead because Saturn is in retrograde, blah, blah" I do find the characteristics of each sign to be pretty spot on for most people I know. Virgos are organized and tidy, Libras are social and outgoing and Tauruses are stubborn, lazy and like routine. I am a Taurus through and through. I am stubborn, ask Nate. He is a fellow Taurus and we've always been two peas in a pod in the fact we both always think we're right. Years of friendship have taught both of us how and when to concede, but I still love to prove someone wrong. I am lazy. You can say laziness is my hobby. My dream weekend is one in which we have absolutely no plans and I can forgo showering and getting dressed and lay on the couch all weekend catching up on TV and watching movies. I live for those weekends. Routine is my friend. I don't like surprises or disruptions, I'm not all that eager to try something new or out of the box. I like the feeling of comfort the expected brings me. 2 weeks ago all my comfort zones were tested when I had to report to jury duty downtown. Those bastards call me every year on the nose. And every year I park at work and walk the 5 blocks to the courthouse with a bag full of trashy magazines because lord knows how long you will sit in that god forsaken jury lounge until they herd you like cattle into a courtroom Every year I sit in a court room and every year I don't get picked or I get excused because of my profession or my friendships with officers. This year was different. In the jury lounge (where there had to be 200 of us) they announced there was a 4 week trial. I wasn't worried. What are the odds out of all these people I'll get picked? They called several groups of people before me and I was beginning to think they might pick all the jurors for all the cases before they even got to me. Finally they called my name and I followed my group and immediately was called to be juror #3 and lucky me it is the 4 week trial. So the last two weeks have consisted of me getting up at a different time, walking to court, finding new spots to eat lunch (I usually work at lunch and eat at my desk), finding new and interesting ways to stay awake and attentive, heading to work after court at 4:30, working a few hours to make sure all of my crap is being handled and then getting home a few hours later than usual. This sucks! I know it's my civic duty, but this whole change in routine thing is killing me! The good news is is that we should begin deliberating on Monday and it appears we'll finish a week early and then I'm off the hook for 3 years. And then...I get my life back. On top of jury duty I had a whirlwind of visitors last week. It began with Cyn and Nova on Saturday for the Elton John concert, followed by my mom, Linda and Michelle, followed by Amanda, Kiya and Brendan followed by Rich and Steve! I just love company, but it just worked out that they all chose the same week to come stay with me. I've never washed so many sheets and towels or cleaned the bathroom so many times in so few days in my life! I'm really looking forward to peace and quiet and usual work stuff. Sometimes I love a boring day....

Our Kitchen,From Before to After

The only way Jeff and I could afford a home in San Diego was to buy a fixer. As an HGTV and DIY channel addict, the thought of buying a house and putting some elbow grease and transforming it so that it was a reflection of 'us' was very exciting to me. We loved the location of the house, the bones were good and it was bigger than most of the houses we looked at in our price range. But, it was a foreclosure and the family that lived there before us had 'questionable' taste to say the least. The former owner was a carpenter and our kitchen was a hodge podge of recycled cabinets of varying colors that he had no doubt salvaged from some of his jobs. There was a home made island and a hideous peeling paint job that one could only describe as the color of puke. Even though the kitchen was gross, I could see the potential and had a vision immediately. Last weekend we got our countertops done which was the final step in making our kitchen complete. Below are some photos that show the transformation and Jeff and I are very excited that we have 1 room in the house that is completely done and to our satisfaction. We can now move on to other things...and there are many!

We removed the hood and replaced with microwave. Notice the different color cabinets.

Puke colored paint. We replaced sink, faucet, mirror and painted walls and cabinets. Replaced the outlets as well.





After we painted cabinets, installed microwave, installed new sink and faucet.


The countertops getting refinished.

The final product!

Jealous?

Beautiful Oahu!

Some people dream of going to Hawaii, some people have been once and then there are people like me who have been 6 times. It has however, been 4 years since my last trip in which I introduced Jeff to the magic of Oahu. I occasionally check Hawaiian Airlines for rates and always cringe a little knowing that I used to fly there for $250 round trip and now they want over $600. Each time I check the fares I sigh and tuck my wish of returning back into the filing cabinet of my mind in the overflowing 'wish list' file. Strangely though, in just the last week two opportunities have come our way. Our dear friends the Colemans purchased a time share at Ko Olina beach club on Oahu last year. They went in November (my favorite month to go) and of course I told them a few of the mandatory things they just had to do while on the island. Most important was the drive around the island to the North Shore (and they even stopped at Giovanni's shrimp truck on their own) and a cocktail at sunset at Duke's in Waikiki just to name a few. Recently at one of our Happy Hours (they all kind of blend together nowadays) Andrea mentioned that they wanted to plan a trip this November and that their time share sleeps eight and how fun would it be if our whole gang went!?! Well, the ball has started rolling and now I get to go to Oahu with some of my favorite people ever! I get to return to my beloved Oahu and share my favorite spots and even check out a few places I haven't been to yet (like Lanikai Beach ). Because of the generosity of Jamey and Andrea the accomodations are taken care of, Jeff and I will take care of car rental and then it is just the airfare. The timeshare has a kitchen so we'll be purchasing provisions at the nearby Costco. I am so excited! Then, strangely enough, we may have another opportunity to go to the same resort in 2011. So, as I plan trips 7 and 8 to my lovely Oahu I have to ask. Are you jealous?

Sunset at Duke's

View of Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach from Duke's








http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-photos/hnlko-marriotts-ko-olina-beach-club/







http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com/tips/10_best/beaches.html

How Stinkin' Cute is This?

Just ordered these from paperstyle.com. Since we moved almost 3 months ago I guess I better let everyone know where we're at. I'll be mailing them soon!

Things to do this Summer

Make use of the lemon tree in our backyard.....

And make strawberry lemonade to drink on warm summer nights!