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Friday (12/14/12)

Hair and Wine

Well this week was crazy.  We just got back from Virginia on Monday night.  With maybe three hours of sleep, I went into work on Tuesday.  Starting so off  of our routines, just caused the week  to continue with us just trying to survive at work and home without everything going to crap! Well we did it, we made it to Friday without anything falling apart.  So, I headed over to Mystique Salon and my friend Tanya lightened my hair. I had wine and laughs with her, I always have a fun time getting my hair don.   Afterwards, Joe came and picked me up and we headed out to dinner.

As much as I try to stay away from franchise restaurants (I prefer the uniqueness of the locally owned places) we headed to Macaroni Grill.  The wait wasn’t bad and the food was tasty.  When the waitress asked what I would like to drink, I simply said a bottle of cheap wine.  I knew it was going to go fast, so no use in purchasing anything too expensive.  We ate and chatted.  I really do enjoy Joe’s company; he is truly my best friend.  So to get to sit down and just talk about work and life was nice.  Afterwards we headed home.  It was a simple but rewarding end to a frustrating week.

Saturday (12/15/12)

Shopping   Cleaning   Drinking   Christmas Party

Saturday started early.  We decided to hit the mall early to avoid the crowds and grab presents.  We did end up getting presents for my sister and her husband.  However, that is where Christmas shopping for others stopped and shopping for us began.    We headed to some of our favorite stores.  Joe got a whole new outfit for his Christmas Party. Which I might add he looked very handsome.  I got accessories to go with my dress.  Basically, a Christsmas Shopping Fail!!!

We got home and milled around the house, even though we had approximately two hours to get ready before we had to be at the restaurant to meet with Joe’s friend and his wife for drinks and appetizers before the Christmas party.  It was at this time I decided the house was too dirty to get ready in.  So I started sweeping and vacuuming the whole house.  Joe was very patient with me, but he didn’t think using 45 min of the 2 hours we had to get ready was the wisest choice.  Needless to say, we were an hour late or pre drinks.  But, no worries.  When we arrived we found out that Joe’s friend had arrived only minutes before.  Whew! Thank goodness.

We had dinner at Bill Lees.  It is the funniest little Chinese food place with a total 80’s feel. We had drinks, actually quite a few drinks.  We knew we were going to have to socialize with all kinds of different folks.  What is the easiest way to relax before doing something out of your comfort zone? Drink! Of course.

Us at the Christmas Party 2012

We headed on over to the Christmas Party.  It was in a theater with a large room in the back where the guests ate.  NOTHING WAS VEGAN!! So while our friends ate, we took embarrassing pictures with the props around the party.  By the time everyone was done eating and chatting we all met in the Cigar Tent.  It is a place where everyone smokes.  Normally, I don’t like the smell of smoke.  But, I appreciated the relaxed atmosphere of the tent and was happy to see everyone in a more informal environment.  We laughed and socialized and drank… and drank.. and….    Well as you can guess we needed to head home earlier than most people.  We flagged down the nearest taxi, grabbed bean and rice burritos, and passed out.  Not the best, but definitely not the worst Christmas shindig!

Sunday (12/16/12)

Kennel Cough     Websites      Naps     Blogging

Sunday was just a typical Sunday.  We headed out first thing in the morning and grabbed a few burritos for breakfast.  We headed to CSUB (our local university) to eat, since there is no one there on a Sunday and the grounds are beautiful.  It was really beautiful and quite and provided an excellent opportunity to reflect and think.  We will definitely have to do that again.

We did some grocery shopping, picked up the car and dropped it off back home, and headed over to Tanya’s to grab some medication for the pups’ Kennel Cough ( a result of taking them to a boarding facility while we were in Virginia).  While we were there we saw our friend Mikey.  He told us of his effort to eat Vegan when he could.  He warned me he would be texting me for meal ideas. I was happy to know I might be able to help.  I was born a helper, and any time I get a chance to help it makes me feel complete.  As we drove away, Joe told me someone at work had asked his advice for veggie meal options too.  So I thought, people in our little town need resources to be veggies.  I will start a website: Bakersfieldvegan.com

So now I am super excited to get this started! I emailed a friend and asked if he would help me set up the website, and he agreed.  The ideas just started spinning in my head.  I could create a meet up.  We could have potlucks and events.  I could sponsor a local baseball or soccer team to get the word out about my website.  Basically, being vegan is the one decision I have made in my life that I am truly proud of.  So, I am so very excited to make this website and share  something that I am passionate about!   All in all, good weekend!

Friday- WE’RE All SICK

I took the day off of work.  I have a lot of kids this year, no regular aid, and a few kids that make the days pretty tough.  So when I noticed the makings of a sinus infection, I called in sick! It worked out fine.  The sub ended up helping out one of the 6th grade teachers and my kids stayed with their general education class.  We slept, had

lunch at Nature’s Food Market and Juice Bar, and headed to the doctor.  I got a Z-Pack for the ol’ snozola and Joe was told to try and suck it up (even though he still has a f
ever, can’t breath, and won’t stop coughing…)  After that, it was off to the vet.  Patch and Mango  got their vaccinations and their temperature taken rectally (which is always uncomfortable to watch!).

Patch was 7 pounds, Mango was 5 pounds, they are both 3 months old, and got a clean bill of health. After the vet visit, we all slept for the rest of the night.

Saturday- SANTA MONICA!

Even though Joe was going on his second week of being sick and I had not even filled my prescription, we headed out of town.   We made a quick stop at Wal-Mart to grab a cooler to keep our Vegan goodies fresh and some batteries and a memory card for my camera since my interest has swung back to taking photos.   First stop in Santa Monica was the Golden Mean Café.  Joe’s scramble and my Rueben were pretty good. We agreed that we would both have given it a 3 out of 5.  After that, we headed over the Whole Foods on Wilshire.  I wanted to see if I could spot any celebrities.  But, I just gave up.  Honestly, if they are not on The Office, Parks & Rec, or 30 Rock, I am not going to recognize them anyway. We picked up some Vegan supplies we can’t get here and some fresh fruit.  Next on our adventure was Jamaica’s Cakes, which has the best Vegan pastries and the friendliest staff. I love going there!! After stocking up on treats, we finished our adventure at Native Food Café! We were both much more fatigued by the trip than we had anticipated, and after we got home we slept the rest of the afternoon and into the night.

Sunday- APPLE STORE, PORTLAND, & BLOGGIN

Early Sunday afternoon, I mustered up the energy to indulge in some self-torture and do some work at home.   However, when I opened my laptop I realized it was having a back light issue that was distracting me and I HAD to go the Apple Store. An hour, an external hard drive, and a new Iphone app later I decided I could live with the backlighting issue and no fix would be needed.  When we got home, Joe started looking at train tickets to Portland.  This started a 3 hour online exploration of dates, costs, and timelines for a week long Portland adventure.  We decided on the dates, and I am actually pretty excited! Fingers crossed that we actually follow through.  After our Portland trip planathon I noticed Joe looking through old photos on his laptop.  It was nice to reminisce about all of the fun things that we had done over the last 10 years, a lot of it I had forgotten about.  So I decided to get back on my blog and start writing about the fun things I do.  I don’t want to write about my every movement on the weekends, I really only want to write about my new experiences.  I kind of want to make it a separate part of the blog.  But, right now I don’t know how to do that.  So instead of letting that stop me, I will just get started and decide how to spruce it up as I go along.