Sappy Pine

Ebe was visiting us on Friday...we had an Emmaus team building meeting in Ventura early Saturday morning and she was already in South Pasadena for work, so it just made sense to have her come over, enjoy the company and save herself a loooooong drive in the morning (she did still get the mileage in going home on Saturday night, but at least it wasn't in traffic!)

We (mostly I) did not put on the best hostessing show. I was late getting home from work, so they ended up going out for KFC (and a special stop at Chipotle for me since there isn't a single entree that I can eat at the jankety-chicken place). Dinner was served in front of the TV (we are still working through all of the I Love Lucy DVDs) and predictably enough, I fell asleep in the chair. Quite the evening out for Ebe!

I managed to wake up in time to join a conversation about fire pits, burning wood and smokey fires. Holly was recounting a time that she was at a party at a friend's house where the wood in the fireplace was creating so much smoke out the chimney, the fire department was called. We debated the reasons that this happened...wood too wet, wood too dry (is there such a thing?), and then David's contribution...sappy pine.

Perhaps it was the delirium of being too tired, but that hit my funny bone and we started using "sappy pine" in every context imaginable...with contempt, excited, scared, maybe even as a swear word. I don't think that it translates as well in writing, but I am telling you, we had a good laugh about it.

It was a sappy pine evening for sure!

Sorting the Dogs

Holly took the initiative to sort the laundry before I got home tonight, resulting in several piles across the family room floor. Our house is a pretty decent size, with plenty of places (and beds) for our dogs to lie and relax.

Why would it be that of ALL the places to flop down, they would all choose to do so in a pile of laundry? At some point in the evening, each one of the pups found a pile that they preferred and claimed it as their own.

Freddy and Penny are pictured here, but Charlie has laid claim to his own stack too.

I am going to teach all of them how to run the washing machine.

Swirling Sensation

Thursday was a long yet strangely satisfying work day at the yogurt place. (I avoid using the name, as there are a number of us at the office who utilize Google Alerts to search out Big-Brother style any news articles, listing or blog posts talking about our brand...separation of work and life, you know!)

We were invited back to the Santa Barbara Film Festival for the 3rd year in a row to hand out cups of goodness...I was recruited again because I have worked it before (you know, experience) and because since I am a salaried employee, the price is right (chances are, the real reason!)

After spending about an hour swirling, we got a triple shot cappuccino and walked across the street to get things started. The event started at 10 pm, and as the attendees started to arrive, the DJ got the tunes bumping and we were off and running! Eric and I entertained ourselves (and the people around us) by dancing along to the music. Maybe it was the caffeine, or maybe just our natural charm, but we did draw quite the crowd.

Giving away yogurt MIGHT have had something to do with the people lining up around us, but it is certainly fun to believe that it was our fine choreography that entertained the masses!

Be Well

I received a nice bit of philosophy from an unlikely source - a parking valet - while out the other night.

My car rolled up to the curb of the restaurant I had attended for a work function/dinner. I stepped around to the driver side to hand over my claim ticket and valet tip, and as the valet and I exchanged pleasantries, he sent me off with an unexpected, "be well."

it kind of took me by surprise (at least I was listening and it registered!), so I just said, "thanks, you too." and hopped in the car. Props to the valet driver for saying something that really stuck with me. I have no idea if that is something that he always says to people, or if it was my own special little message, but it struck me as a very authentic and caring thing to say.

That or he knows something about the food at El Cholo that I don't!

This Does Not Suck

I made mention in an earlier post that I had the opportunity to work from Santa Monica this week, in a converted house that is used for a multitude of meeting spaces. The house was built by William Randolph Hearst (of the Hearst Newspaper and self-named Castle fame) for his not-so-secret "companion" Marion Davies. That whole story is one sordid affair, so I will focus instead on the scenery.

I must give props to the City of Santa Monica for operating one great little area. We have actually used the whole Annenberg Community Beach House for a couple of past events and are signed up to host a conference here later this year. The space is so well integrated to the beach, it is hard to feel like you are really "going to work", it is far more a vibe of "I am at the beach and, oh yeah, I've got some work to do."

Easy to say when you don't have to own any content or sit in a meeting, I suppose. At any rate, I made the bold declaration on my Facebook posting Tuesday that working from the beach tops the list of things that do not suck. I don't think that many people would disagree with me there.

Clean Start

Yesterday was a very productive day, highlighted by the fact that I was able to test out a theory that I have had for a while...it is possible for me to work out at a semi-reasonable hour in the morning (as in, not before 5 am) and still beat the traffic to get into the office early.

I helped to coordinate a series of meetings off site in Santa Monica at the Annenberg Community Beachhouse, a state-owned, public space that can be rented out for meetings and events. We were over in the guesthouse, which opens right up to the beach. This was certainly an inspiring and enjoyable venue for the day, but not the secret to my productivity.

I have been thinking for some time that there has to be a way to leverage all of the gorgeous beach mileage along PCH for a run...the challenge is how I would shower, dress and get to work without going all the way home. There are surfer showers outside of the bathrooms along the beach front...the plan is brewing!

I had an early conference call, so I got up, dressed in my running clothes, packed my stuff for the day and drove to the beach. I took my conference call (notes & all!) from the parking lot, then when we finished up at 7:30, off I went. It was a great run (a fast 5K, I just did a 13.1 miles the day before yesterday), and when I finished, I changed into my flip flops, grabbed my towel, a bag with some shampoo and sauntered over to the showers.

If you have not ever stuck your head under a shower head at the beach on 60 degree morning, I might warn you to prepare yourself for the shock of the cold. I have no right complaining because our friends are in sub-zero temperatures back east and I CHOSE to shower at the beach, but wow. Cold is not quite the word that sums it up. This is a blast of icy that will make even the heartiest of ocean-swimmers hyperventilate.

The good news in this story is that I showed up to the meeting nice and clean (and wearing a fleece jacket, I am sure that several people were wondering why) and have decided that this will be a ritual that I repeat. I might, however, wait until things warm up just a little bit more here on the gentle west coast.

Snack Salvation

I am not one for squirreling away snacks - I am trying to do 6 small meals a day and as such, don't find the need for little treats too often.

Interestingly enough, I was searching in the pantry drawer for my trail mix this morning when when I found a bag of Dove dark chocolate. They are left over from Christmas (our delicious peanut butter blossoms got an upgrade this year from the run of the mill Hershey Kiss!) and because David & Holly are partial to milk chocolate, the dark chocolate sit unattended. I can't begin to tell you what I was thinking when I grabbed two squares - it was 4:45 am - and I threw them both into my purse without any purpose.

Enter the later part of the afternoon. I have successfully (perhaps relative, but for the sake of this conversation let's say it was successful) completed 6 of the 7 MUST DO tasks that I had upon my arrival in the office today. The last one looms and is going to take me a while...it is about 12 hours since that unconscious moment in my kitchen. I am sitting at my desk, trying to get my groove on, wondering what it will take to power through it when suddenly I remember...I have dark chocolate!

I am happily savoring the 2nd square now as I type this. I even had two different messages inside the wrappers...the first one said, "Do all things with love" - good advice. The second one was custom made for me - "Take a deep breath and exhale."

I did just that, chocolate breath and all!

The Season Has Begun

Sunday launched the 2011 event season in a very grand way...the Carlsbad 1/2 marathon. Dubbed my favorite course of all run so far, Kris & Elizabeth decided that they needed to check it out and see what all of the fuss was about. Lynne also joined us, a milestone because this was her first 1/2 marathon, with her longest run to date having been a 10K back at Thanksgiving.

The weather and course did not disappoint. It started out a bit chilly, but by about miles 2 or 3, we had all stripped off our gloves, sleeves and sweatshirts and were ready for some serious mileage. Lynne had a beeper thing that chimed at 4 minutes (running time) and then again at 2 minutes (walking time). We made it through what I think was about 12 rounds of that before we opted to just turn it off...it was far too much a distraction than it was helping and quite frankly, I think that it was putting undue pressure on the group to be structured. We finally settled in on a pace that allowed everyone to be comfortable and enjoy the run, or walk, or whatever you wanted it to be.

Things always get a bit grueling (in my opinion) after about 10 miles, and if you are experiencing any aches or pains (as Lynne was with her knees), they are magnified about 100 times at this point. We shuffled along a bit, chatting it up and trying to distract until we landed on the ultimate game...Better Than.

A friend of mine that we bumped into before the race talked about this game - when you get to the point where you are just about over the whole running/race thing, compare the things that your run is better than. We started out easy (being poked in the eye with a stick, getting hit by a car) and then we got incredibly detailed and specific (scalding your tongue on hot coffee and then getting a paper cut when you lick an envelope). The best part about our little game besides entertaining the people around us? The finish line was suddenly upon us and we completed our 13.1 miles!! Lynne cried a little bit.

The season has officially begun!

One Book, One Life

Last night, I went to a benefit show for a program called One Book, One Life. In addition to being a great show with 3 different bands, starting from the Youth band to our worship music director all the way to "Steve" and his daughter (I am sure that his band had a name, but I didn't catch it and everyone kept referring to how much they liked "Steve", so that is the extent of my education on who was playing). The point is that we had some great entertainment and spent a couple of hours with some great music - both familiar standbys and some new, original material.

Impressive to me is the formation of this organization - these are all what I would call kids (between 20 and 23 or so) who had a vision for making a difference in our world and took that vision to action. Most adults struggle to do something like this, making this even more special.

Each one of the 4 officers in the organization got up in front of the audience near the end of the concert and gave thanks and praise for the work that has been done so far, and it is clear that much more work will be done this year and moving forward.

I love to see how amazing things can happen with the right attitude and mindset.

Abundant

This has been a full week and admittedly it started out with my head in the wrong place - I was feeling cranky around how many demands are placed on my time at work and in that I was losing sight of everything else that I have going on and just HOW MANY great people that I have in my life to enhance, enrich and make it fun.

I squeezed in a dinner with my Emmaus peeps on Wednesday, had a couple of GOOD belly laughs in a few different quick conversations on the phone with David, Holly and a couple of other friends over the course of the week, I made it out to SOTHUMC Friday night for Centering Prayer and then met with some old friends for dinner and then I attended my first training of the season with the MIMs this morning!

Add to that a benefit show tonight, a 1/2 marathon in Carlsbad tomorrow, lunch with a friend and her kids, followed by a visit from an out-of-town friend...whew! There are a couple of key words that come to mind..Blessed. Lucky. Abundant.

There are a lot of great people in my life, all of whom add amazing diversity, dimension and joy to my days. If you are reading this, you are one of these significant people in my life, so thank you!