Guinea Pigs 'R' Us

One of my least favourite things is miscommunication. Whether it's with friends, in a professional setting, or wherever, it's never fun and always hard to deal with. People naturally hear things very differently, and sometimes I have to force myself to listen to the EXACT words a person is saying, rather than hearing what I naturally would. I think between my friends and my marriage, I've learned an awful lot about communicating clearly, even though I still have TONS of issues with it. Case in point: I almost texted Nolan last night before he got home, "I'm experimenting with mushrooms!"...and then realized some things can have dual meanings.

We leave for Peru in 9 weeks (from tomorrow), and apparently there is a day that we spend with local villagers, learning Incan crafts and then eating lunch in their homes. The list from which we had to choose 3 workshops was:
• Ceramics
• Chocolate making
• Chicha (typical maize drink) preparation
• Bee keeping
• Flower growing
• Weaving
• Coffee processing
• Guinea pig raising

Yes, we could learn how to raise Guinea pigs. And Nolan was pretty excited about it, until I veered him towards more sane things. Like chocolate making, ceramics, and weaving.

fungi

It turns out that I can add yet another item to my list of irrational fears: large, raw mushrooms.

After having the fantastic grilled portabella mushroom salad at Samovar, I thought I'd try it on my own. So I walked into the market, picked up a couple of big ones, and dropped them again. I had to take a deep breath before pinching them with my fingers, throwing them into a bag and dropping it hastily into my shopping basket. Getting them back out was harder, but de-stemming them was the worst. I felt the same kind of feeling as if I were staring at a tarantula through a thin piece of glass. Whew.

Even Milo was a little hesitant:

thrifty?

Nothing like yoga class with friends after a hard few days of work - I'm loving this new hobby of mine, and it's loving me back.

Still on the hunt for new shoes. What's frustrating about having gift cards to spend is not being able to find stuff to spend them on. Seriously. The only time I can remember what I want is when I don't have the means to get it. Life is full of such little puzzles as these, designed to make us realize that we can't always get what we want. Either that, or it just likes to crap on our faces.

sparkly

Sunday was our last beautiful day before the bad weather set in again, so we lived it up by laying around in the park with some friends, and watching some guy play with a sparkly ball and roll it over every bodily surface. He also had shaved his chest hair into a perfect square, and by the way he was focusing intently on that sweaty, sparkly ball, I'm pretty sure he was on some crazy drugs.

Now we're back to the rain and cold...at least I have yoga tonight to keep me warm :)

Pallino

It's proven to be yet another gorgeous weekend here in San Francisco. Who knew the weather could be so nice? I actually got to go sweater-less yesterday, GASP.

So to celebrate, a few of us went to Crissy field on Saturday to have a birthday party for Tiffany and Brandon. The grass probably hadn't been cut since last year, and as a result, all the small dogs that were running around were often noticeable only by the stub of tail sticking above the grass. This, combined with the wind, made games almost impossible. So after a few rounds of the most ridiculous games of bocce ball ever (where is the pallino?!), some of the boys thought a good man-game would be to see who could drop a ball on their abs from the highest height. Since those balls are RIDICULOUSLY heavy, even for a bocce ball set, this sounded like a stupid idea. But let me just say that I don't get man-games. This is like when I was in Israel and the boys on our team thought of the best man-game ever: who could shut their fingers in the doorjamb the hardest. Hhhh. Needless to say there weren't any true winners there. But then again this could all be related to a man's sense of competition. Case in point: Tom's need to do immediate pull-ups in his room when he lost a game of Wii bowling in front of everyone. Anyway, the only good that came of this, was that it made for excellent pictures of the madness, of which I'll only post a couple:
Tom and the initial drop


And Brandon, after his higher drop, saying, "See? Dropping a giant stone on my stomach from 3 feet up is NOTHING." Hahaha.


More big news for me: a new laundromat was just put in RIGHT across the street - and it's new, shiny, HUGE, and has pink and white shiny chairs and music blaring and a giant TV with the news on. The tiles are shiny and clean and each of the washing machines is humongous and brand spanking new. I think I'm in love.

keys!

I was going to spend this post ranting about how terrible the muni is, since it took me an HOUR AND A HALF to get home last night...but then I found out it was because someone was hit by a train underground. So now I feel like a bad person for complaining and this post is already a downer. Sigh.

On a totally unrelated note: the weather was gorgeous today, so my coworker and I went out for a walk to get some fresh air and enjoy the sunshine! We found something interesting along the way:

Instead of bike stands, they have giant keys in the sidewalk all along this random alley that has a dead end. Waste of money or interesting detail?

Hooray for yoga tonight with Ash U!

Quote of the day:
me: "what? who died!?"
DG: "Jo!"
me: "who's that?"
DG: "JO MAMA!!!"
me: "hhhh."

great expectations

I hate it when you set your hopes on something, and then it gets dashed to the ground. Even if it is just a silent wishing, it still sucks when it gets ripped away. For example: today I wanted to go to our Community Days event at work. You know, hang out with coworkers, do some good for the community. But actual work always comes first, and I ended up stuck at the office doing that, while my nice new Community Days t-shirt sat forlorn in my locker. Now I'll feel like a poser whenever I wear it.

Another example? When the sun starts to come out in San Francisco. How many times have I thought, "Ahh, maybe NOW it will be sunny! Maybe I'll get to live in a sunny coastal town!". But no.

Still a little sore from yoga on Tuesday...guess my workout today will be intense stretching to try and work out this stiffness! Tomorrow: class # 2 of yoga with Ash U!

Warrior 2

Yoga yesterday was G R E A T. And just because I was so convinced how bad I'd be at it, let me just brag a second and say that I rock at yoga! The instructor told me I belong in the advanced class, so I'm going to one more of the flow yoga classes on Friday, and then moving on up to Ashtanga!

But I'm not going to lie and say it was easy, because it wasn't...and right now I have several muscles that are pretty sore that I don't think I've ever used before. I think I've found a new hobby (does that count as a hobby?) <3

You know how I know I'm lucky to have Nolan? Because he goes out of his way to drive me to work so I don't have to take the muni. It must be love.

Also: watched a Machu Picchu documentary last night with Ash U...if it's at all possible, I am EVEN MORE excited to go there in July! Click here if you are interested in taking a look - amazing how these people built such an impossible thing in such an impossible place.


Quote of the day:
DG: "I'm really not digging the new security setup on our floor. we should protest - march up to his office."
AC: "and fling the door open and throw a tomato"
DG: "how about we kick it in, then pee on his carpet."
AC: "that would teach him."

Om.

This past weekend was lovely, with me spending time in Placerville in the warm sun with my family, going on motorcycle rides...and then coming back to my wonderful husband and taking a motorcycle ride down the beautiful coast to Half Moon Bay and exploring seaside towns we'd never been to. Even yesterday was pretty decent weather. So I guess it makes sense that San Francisco brought gusts of wind and pouring rain today as a giant "eff you, Anneliese". Because San Francisco hates me, and that feeling is becoming mutual. And this morning I was walking to the muni stop, and had to sprint a block with my yoga mat and workout gear bouncing along to catch the train, and as soon as I got there, the driver looks at me, shuts the door in my face and drives off. Seriously? Next muni: 18 minutes. So I sit and wait in the rain. When I finally catch one, a HUGE man sits next to me/on top of me, and I'm crammed against the bar with my shoulders all pitched forward, while rain drips off of him all over me. I hate my life.

While walking home last night, I saw this picture painted on the side of a random building (?), and thought it sums up how I feel about the muni:

Dark, weird, and a little bit what I imagine hell to be like.

I also saw this in somebody's window:

Why?


Tonight I'm going to my first official yoga class with my coworker, and although I'm sure it will be fantastic and I'll immediately go home and buy a new yogamat on amazon, I'm feeling a little bit nervous. I can't help having these visions in my head of all these willowy, graceful people doing yoga, and me in the back with my hair in my face, sweating, and awkwardly sticking my butt in the air while the instructor rolls her eyes. Ommmm.

Biebered

Sometimes I develop weird little hobbies and likes, but I have to say that Justin Bieber is still not one of them. I can't help feeling like a perv whenever I watch him sing a nasty Usher song. He's 16! Hhh, sick. But: I WAS a fan of his April Fools' Day joke, which you can see HERE.

I wish I could swim immediately after eating.

Newsies:

I have been waiting to post this until it was official, since I often jinx myself:
We're (myself, Nolan, and the Sr. Caldwells!)officially headed to Peru on July 2, returning July 17! And this is official as in:
-have the tickets
-have peruvian permit
-have hiking gear
-approved with work
-feeling excited
Thank you, best mother-in-law and father-in-law, who are taking us with them!
On July 9th we'll be touring one of the wonders of the world, Machu Picchu! And there will be days and days of hiking interspersed with getting to know Peru and its lovely Andes!

This is me being really, really excited and overusing exclamation points!

Half-calf

This weekend I got to go watch my dear friend Sarah run her half-marathon that we had been training for. She was awesome! It was good to see her, too. And I even got to pass along the fantastic books I have been reading to her. Thanks, Ash U for getting that started! Here's a couple pics of Sunday:


I have almost always been the one running in races, so I never got to just stand by and watch, but I have to say that it's super interesting to see not only all the different body types (and I mean REALLY TOTALLY DIFFERENT), but also different styles. And since there was also a 10k going on at the same time, we saw people from an even broader spectrum. There were several very pregnant women running, a barefoot guy, a guy who was sooo burnt to a crisp from the sun (except his head), a girl wearing/carrying several ponchos, a man in a lobster hat, and a guy hunched over a walker. Yes. Let me just say that again: THERE WAS AN ELDERLY OLD MAN WITH A WALKER RUNNING A HALF-MARATHON. Now if that doesn't make you feel lazy, I don't know what will. Needless to say, I hit the gym hard today.

In San Francisco

I post stuff from San Francisco every once in awhile...yesterday it was the great meal at Samovar (though I had meant to post a picture of it's unique location, but forgot to take one). Today it's little treats that are pretty commonly served here, like mochi:

This is something I never saw until we moved here, and now I'm in love! Little rice marshmallows filled with tasty stuff (sugary peanuts in this case). Who knew?

Turkey

This past weekend at Easter, I think we actually took 0 pictures. With the exception of when we were leaving, and Nolan STOPPED THE CAR...because there was an impressive male turkey with his feathers up and all pretty trying to woo the ugly lady turkeys. But I've got a slow trigger finger, and so by the time I took the picture he demanded, this is what we got:

...which is: a few very unimpressive ugly turkeys running away.

Yesterday in SF, the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Bright and sunny, and perfect for sitting outside for lunch :) So I grabbed lunch at Samovar, a tea lounge here, with a friend, and captured a picture of the most delicious salad (and masala iced chai), with a giant grilled portobello mushroom on top! Behold:

Now THAT is my idea of how lunch breaks should be.

Caved!

Raisinets have been my downfall once again, although fortunately I gave half the box to my coworker, so I wasn't tempted to inhale them all...just half of them. Also I forgot to mention the name of the book I am into now. It's "The Chronicles of Chrestomanci", and let me just tell you: having a good book is the ONLY reason I look forward to the muni rides each day.

Love

Thanks to ylehsa, who begged me to give her credit (and I should), I have discovered a replacement for my white mochas...which I gave up for Lent and had a long and passionate romance with for Y E A R S prior to that. The answer? Skinny Hazelnut Lattes. No sugar, no fat, and d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. I think I'm in love. But this doesn't mean I'll be getting one everyday, so wait to be amazed by my self-control.

What's harder than this? Giving up Raisinets as Nolan and I are going back to a healthy diet. SOB.

Also new in my life: Ash U introduced Nolan and I to a new book yesterday, and so far I can't keep my eyes peeled away. Think Harry Potter with a dash of Twilight, a hint of Lemony Snicket, and a pinch of AWESOME. It'll be a while before Nolan can pry this one from my hands to read it himself.