Dinner at Ketchup with Robert and Czarina

Laura and I go to Lemonade in Beverly Hills

Is anyone still following this?

I sure hope so because I'm actually updating it for once.  I ended my "between jobs" vacation with a trip to San Jose at the end of February.  I went up for 5 days to visit some family and generally relax.  Who am I kidding?  There was nothing relaxing about it.  But I did get to spend some quality time with the family, and that was worth the drive...even through the snow.   

The Prius handles snow much better than you would expect.

The dogs drove with me, and when we arrived they were a little ripe.  They really stink up the car after a long ride, so they got a bath.

After the Louie family reunion on Sunday, it was a long drive back to Marina del Rey.  I wa

s really pooped out, and I had to go to bed early to wake up at 6:30am for my new job!

  

That's right, I was able to find a job (out of sheer dumb luck) at The California Endowment.  I'm working for my old boss at Time Warner Cable, and it's working out very well.  They certainly keep me busy and every day is an exercise in problem solving.

We've been exploring more around our local neighborhood, and we finally went into a little produce market down the street.  We were pleasantly surprised that all the produce is local and cheap.  

Take a look at this stuff!  I've been trying some new fruit (ambrosia apples) and we've been experimenting with some fresh veggies.

Life's been pretty boring for us.  We eagerly anticipated the series finale for Battlestar Gallactica, planted a basil and oregano plant in the backyard, and did our taxes.  Yep, we're pretty boring.  

T-Minus 10 days and counting

Yesterday I went to visit Mr. Mouse and had a California Adventure. It's been a good 15 years since I last went to Disneyland, and I had never been to the other park. With my good friends Britt and Jen acting as tour guides, I got to hang out at the California Adventure theme park for a few hours. The park wasn't overly crowded, and I had a great time. The "rides" were a lot of fun. They were so creative and interesting, that I forgot that this place was created for kids.

After my Disney adventures, I went to visit my friends Brian and Laura at the Yard House for happy hour. It's been a long time since the three of us have hung out, so it was great to catch up.

Today was a very busy dog-centric day. The dogs are pretty happy hanging out at home and sleeping, but I thought we'd do something different today. We drove down to Huntington Beach to Dog Beach. Charlie frolicked in the surf while Annie sniffed around the sand.

After the beach, we all went to the Park Bench Cafe. The waitress was nice enough to bring some water out for the parched pooches.

After all that excitement, the pooches were pretty tired. They relaxed in the car.


What they didn't know was that we were going to stop off at the vet for a weigh in.

Charlie = 12.8 lbs
Annie = 14.2 lbs

You might be wondering what the title of the post means. Well, I got a job. That's right...no more unemployment for me! My start date is 2/23...10 days from now.

Thank goodness we have a hybrid.

It was a weekend of reconnecting with old friends...

On Friday I drove to Chino to visit Sarah.  Some of you may remember her from the wedding:

We had a big date to see the movie He's Just Not That Into You and grab some dinner.  We drove to Claremont to the new shopping center called The Village in Claremont, which has some great new restaurants and a movie theatre.  It was great to catch up with Sarah and hear all about her new exciting news about becoming a mom again.  I don't know how she does it.

Saturday was a very busy day.  I woke up early to drive to Winchester, CA to visit my other close friend from college, Michelle Thornton.  She was also at the wedding:

I was in the area for Cheryl's bachelorette party.  She and Brian will be getting married in March, and the girls were out to drink some wine and celebrate.  We hit five wineries, and had lunch in Temecula.  Some pictures from the day:

Chris was recovering from his cold at home, so after the wine tasting, I drove him to pick him up to go to my friend Kelly's 21 + 10 birthday party in Playa Vista.  That goodness it was close to our house because I was getting pretty tired of being in the car.  I was pretty pooped, so we only stayed for an hour or so before coming home.

I woke up on Sunday morning with a craving for some corned beef hash.  We drove to Roll 'N Rye in Culver City.  I read a nice review of their corned beef hash, but alas, it was freshly made.  I really prefer the canned stuff because it reminds me of Louie family breakfasts at Paul's restaurant in Cupertino.  Oh well...

Sunday afternoon was spent in Palos Verdes with our friends from our honeymoon, Rusty and Donna.

They were nice enough to show us around Palos Verdes including visits to the Interpretive Center as well as the Trump National Golf Course.  I really wanted to see the golf course because I am weirdly intrigued by the Donald.

Monday meant that Chris went back to work, and I went back to looking for work.  I woke up feeling pretty awful, and I am afraid that I maybe coming down with ANOTHER cold.  I don't know if I can take all of this illness.  

Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating.  It is quite cold.  And when it is not raining, it is very windy.  The dogs don't like it, and I don't blame them.

For those of you wondering just how many miles I traveled this weekend, here is a log:

Round trip to Chino/Claremont: 118 miles

Round trip to Winchester/Temecula: 217 miles

Round trip to Rancho Palos Verdes: 45 miles

Total Mileage: 380

Dog days

Last Friday I woke up with a tickle in my throat. By the afternoon, the tickle had become a full blown cold. I was pretty miserable for about 5 days.

My parents were in town on Saturday so I surprised them with two dishes from my new Indian cookbook. They don't particularly like Indian food, so I didn't tell them what I was cooking until they came over. Muahahaha.

Monday was pretty rough. I woke up feeling awful, so I spent most of the day on the couch under a blanket. Thanks to the wonders of Tylenol, I feel much better now.

Tuesday started off as a pretty normal day. The dogs were calm and relaxed.
Charlie was in his normal routine.Annie's hip was still bothering her, but it didn't keep her from getting down to business. What she didn't know was that she had an accupuncture appointment later in the day.

3:00pm came quickly. Annie and I got into the car and made the trip to our fantastic vet, Dr. Shane. We were ushered into the back room with a couch, soothing music, and a big, comfy dog bed. Dr. Shane came in and took Annie to the back room. When she came back, poor Annie looked like a pin cushion.

She wasn't in pain, and actually laid right down on the dog bed to relax. After about 30 minutes, the nurse came in to remove the needles. Then we were on our way home. Poor Charlie was upset that he was left out of all the excitement, so I made sure to them both for a long walk. Since I'm still sick, even a walk out with the dogs makes me pretty tired. The dogs were fed, and I was back on the couch.

I'm starting to get cabin fever from being in the apartment so much over the last couple of days. The problem is that if I do too much, then I get tired very quickly. The good news is that I feel better every day. I'm sure in a couple of days I'll be back to 100%. The bad news is that Chris is starting to feel sick. Hopefully, we can nip it in the bud with some OJ and tylenol.

Hello Mr. Blog. Long time, no write.

Looking at the date of my last entry, it sure has been a long time since I've updated this thing. Let's travel back in time to reminisce over the last month.

December was pretty much a blur, and most of our readers were with us during that time, so I won't spend any time on the holidays.

Chris and I were nursing colds during the first week of January, and that was a tough way to start off 2009. We both went back to work and tried to get into a routine. Well, my routine didn't last too long. On January 14th at 5:00pm, I was let go from my job at Oakwood. I had been there for exactly 89 days, and it was a difficult time. I was dealing with an incredible amount of emotions ranging from sadness to bitterness to anger. After supportive conversations with friends and family, the best advice I got was to stay active and not to just lounge around the house all day.

I have spent a lot of my free time at the gym. The 24 Hour Fitness in Beverly Hills has some great cycling, pilates, and yoga instructors. I get up with Chris every day, get him off to work, and then hit the gym. It's a great way to channel my energy and get my mind off of my current situation. Not to mention I can get into better physical shape, and it doesn't cost any additional money since we paid for the membership up front.

I also get to spend some quality time with our two fur babies. The dogs have gotten some nice trips to the beach and the dog park in the middle of the day with my new work schedule. Poor Annie Bear strained her hip on our last big walk, and she currently has a limp. I'm sure the extra weight doesn't help the strain on her joints, so we've cut back on her food while she is on the disabled list.

Chris has been extra supportive as the bread winner in the family. Work has kept him busy this week while his team finishes up a big project. His boss was nice enough to give them some comp time, and he is looking forward to a long weekend. He will be catching up on sleep as well as tv. :-)

Not much else is going on with us. The next couple of weeks will be pretty uneventful. We are planning on attending a birthday party with a friend of mine from elementary school (you read that right...we've known each other for 23 years). We will also be meeting our friends Rusty and Donna for dinner.

That's all for now. I'm sure this doesn't do justice to the past 6 weeks, but now that I have all of this free time on my hands, I'll be updating this more and more.

Ciao for now...