ClotheSwap and rafting

This weekend rocked. Well, it started with dinner at my parents' house on Friday where they had over my sister and her boyfriend and his whole family. Dinner was pretty uneventful, but always nice to see the fam and have my parents' home cooked food. yumm...

Then Saturday was the ASEDA whitewater rafting trip. I had never been before, so I'd been looking forward to it for a while. I drove up that day (rather than camping the night before) with Aimee and Meghan. We got there just in time for lunch and to hit the rapids. I was a little nervous since I'd never been, but we had a good guide, and it was a lot of fun. I lost my oar a little past halfway down the river, and then about three quarters of the way down fell (read: was pulled) out of the raft. a couple bruises, but otherwise unharmed, we finished up the rapids and met up with the other dancers at the end.

We drove back, and took a little while to shower and get ready, and then headed to Taco Cabana for Shoe's going away party. sadly, she's moving away .

Well Sunday brought it's own adventure. In the morning I went to Ethan's place and he took a bunch of photos of me for use next month (stay tuned for why). And then in the afternoon I hosted my second annual clothing swap.

Basically, everyone came over and brought all the clothes (and shoes and accessories) they hadn't worn in the past year, and once everything was laid out and organized (yes, this is ME we're talking about), it was a free for all. If two people found the same thing and both wanted it, the rule was that they both had to model it, and everyone else voted on who looked better in it. I think everyone got at least one grocery bag full of "new" clothes, if not more. Here's a picture of everyone wearing or showing some of their new finds. I actually gave up the dress I was wearing in that picture, but got plenty of other things. It was fun =)

but now the work week calls again, but not before I hit the dance floor tonight!

San Francisco

Being in California over the weekend gave me the opportunity to take off and spend a couple days in San Francisco. Still on Atlanta time, I got up at 6:30 Saturday, and got out and to San Fran by 9:15 am. I checked into the hotel and spent the morning being a tourist. I worked hard playing pickle with parking spaces (at $7 an hour!!) and meanwhile walked through Union Square, Chinatown, Lombard Street, Coit Tower, and through Fisherman's wharf.It just so happened that Ben D. was in town for the weekend celebrating his sister Shana's housewarming, and so he met up with me in the afternoon and we hung out for the rest of the day. We walked from my hotel all the way to Golden Gate park, and all around there through Haight and Ashbury. We discovered the public toilets in San Fran that apparently clean and disinfect themselves and have a 20 minute time limit. I opened the door to one, and I didn't see the disinfected inside. It pretty much looked like a dirty public bathroom. We got some Ice cream at Ben and Jerry's, and then met up with Shana and her friends. We went back and saw her new condo which is really cute, but unbelievably expensive! I guess that's how the city is. We chilled at her place until around 11:30 when I went back to my hotel and they went out to the bar.

Seth came in late Saturday too, and so we spent Sunday morning (again, starting really early) being tourists. Before we checked out, we had a coupon for free breakfast at the hotel for one. well, one breakfast at the hotel was $18, so we figured if we only got one free, it'd be cheaper to go find breakfast elsewhere and pay for both of us. We gave the voucher to a couple in the lobby who were thrilled to get it, and then ate yummy breakfast sandwiches at a place on the corner and got a delicious cinnamon roll to go. We still paid only $10 total. We meanwhile discovered that in California they only charge tax at restaurants if you eat inside, but if you get something to go, it isn't taxed! We later found out that if you go to Subway and get your sandwich grilled, you pay tax, but if it's cold there's no tax? We went straight to catch the famous San Francisco street car to Fisherman's wharf. By the time we got through the line and to the wharf, it was almost 10:00. We walked around the old ships, and took some pictures, and then headed over to Ghiradelli Square. It's just a bit down from the wharf, and the setting of the old chocolate factory. Seth and I immediately made room for their famous warm brownie hot fudge sundae...mmm....

One of the things we noticed all around the city was the exorbitant number of homeless people EVERYWHERE. We went past a playground that had a sign that said "No Adults allowed without child supervision". We thought it was a cute sign, but then found out that those signs were there to keep out the homeless and drug traffickers.

We quickly realized that it was starting to get late. We walked uphill to get to Lombard (the crooked) Street. Out of breath and sweaty, we made it to the top and got some pictures before catching the streetcar back to the hotel. We called Ben and as it turned out, we were meeting him and his family later in the afternoon, so Seth and I got back in the car and headed across town to see Golden Gate Bridge up close. Seth navigated really well - even though we drove on Scott Street, we didn't get too lost ;-) - and made it to the Bridge in under 1/2 an hour. We got out of the car and walked around and took some pictures and witnessed the brutal destruction of a pigeon's leg and a lot of feathers when a cyclist ran over the pigeon. we heard a crunch and saw a bunch of feathers flying and then a pigeon get up and hobble up to fly away. My first thought was of the Seinfeld episode when George hits the pigeon and is mad that the pigeon didn't follow "the code" to get out of the way when we're coming.

I called Ben and sure enough he and Shana were on their way to Oakland - which was our cue to leave. We all met up at their parents' house and then left on their sailboat for the rest of the afternoon. It was my first time on a sailboat, and it was really cool. I even got to take the wheel for a while and drive. It was much more difficult than I anticipated, and took a lot more muscle. At one point, I got tossed across the boat when we hit a big wave and some strong winds. It was a lot of fun though, and nice that Ben's parents let us come along! It was really nice getting to catch up with Ben too, since we realized we hadn't seen each other in almost a year!

We got back pretty late in the evening, and after dropping Seth off, I headed back to Modesto so I'd be back in time for work in the AM. It was a good time in San Fran, and great getting to hang out with Ben and Seth for the weekend.

Wine and glass

Oh my! I had no idea that it'd been so long since I posted! As projects at work were winding down, I thought I'd get a quick breather, but as it turns out, I am back on a new project, and out of the paper factory. I am now on two new projects, one in wine bottling, and the other in glass bottle blowing. I was excited to be put on these new projects, but meanwhile, I had a vacation coming up. How wonderful. Right now, both upcoming projects are in stages that I’ll be working for the most part out of Atlanta, with a few trips back and forth to the plant in northern California for meetings. As a matter of fact, I am in CA now.

Before I left for CA though, I took a long weekend with the family in Perdido Key – a suburb of Pensacola, FL (I guess you can call it that, though I am not sure that cities like Pensacola have suburbs). We drove down on Friday, and I flew back late Tuesday night. Saturday and Sunday were overcast the whole day, though we still managed to get some sun on our skin through the clouds. Monday and Tuesday though were nice and bright, and about 90 degrees. It was nice to have the weekend off to relax, and although we could find about 10 available wireless connections, none were strong enough to get a good signal long enough to check mail, so I couldn’t even worry about work even if I wanted to. While in FL, Josh had mentioned the Flora-Bama bar was near where we were staying and that we should check it out. OK, first off, my mom claims to have never been in a bar, and neither of my parents drink, but somehow I convinced them and my sister to go out, and check out this bar. We agreed that we'd go at dinner time sunday and just check the place out. There was a cover at dinner time, and 2 bands playing! It was hilarious seeing my mom completely uncomfortable at the bar, but I think we all had a fun time. When I had to head back home to Atlanta though, getting back was a long night of time in airports and Marta stations, and when I finally arrived home, I had 6 hours to pack, sleep, shower, and get back out to catch a plane to CA. I did it, but arrived quite tired in time for a meeting. 15 hours of "work" straight. yowzers.

I am taking off to San Fran for the weekend, and I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully Seth will meet me out there since he gets to fly for free. Otherwise, I am just going to be a tourist for the weekend. Unfortunately, Ben, who lives out here in SF is in Atlanta for the weekend! what a shame!

Meanwhile, out here in CA, I have been enjoying myself. The plant is really cool, and I am awed at the proecesses. I feel like a little kid every time I see a new manufacturing plant. I managed to find my way on my own, through exits with no numbers, and streets with no signs, and plants with no name. Now I'm a pro. I ate my first In N Out Burger on my way in, so that was pretty cool and now I can say I've done that.

I am sufficiently tired right now at 10:00 though since I haven't fully changed time zones (and even if I did, I have to get up by 6), so I am going to head to bed. I'll keep posted on stuff going on here, and when I get a chance, I'll post pictures.

Project Picnic Table

The co-ops were given a task a few weeks ago to build a picnic table. They were given a budget and a goal (to seat a minimum of 10 people). I was the "project manager" through whom they had to clear all project plans.

They had to go through the process that all our projects go through of creating a scope, schedule, and budget for their project. They created all the documentation, procured materials, and executed the project. When the "customer" changed tehir mind in the middle of the project, they asessed a Project Change Notice where they showed what the change would cost. At the end, they had a lessons learned session with the customer, and an end of project celebration.

THey saw a picture online of the table they wanted to build, and with one measurement given (the length of the tabletop), they designed the whole thing in AutoCad, and built it. Here are the pictures of the table during the celebration. Great Job Co-ops!

Pillow Fight.

I went to the dentist yesterday morning, and was reminded of one of my lifelong pet peeves. I hate it when the dentist or hygenist talks to you and asks you questions that can't be answered with a yes or no (or uh huh or uh uh). THey're fiddling around in your mouth, and they want you to answer back?? arggh...

Anyway, David's been hounding me already for 2 days for these pictures, so I had to post the pictures of David with 4 girls in his hammock, and the other of the girls having a pillow fight. Really.

10K Complete.

The race went well. I looked back and it was actually a little under 64 minutes that we did the race last year. This year Nick and I did the race together again, and I finished in 62:31. Along the way on the sidelines cheering and afterwards I saw Cathy J., Nat & Jeanette, DZ, Andrea, Ethan, Matt, Caroline and Jana, and Brent said he saw me but apparently I ignored him. Of the runners, I saw Adam, Becca, Jason, Cara, Bill, Adam, Beth, Leah’s parents and aunt and uncle, Mike & Margaret. I think I am forgetting a few people, but man, there were a ton of people there!

We didn’t drink any beer during the race this year (which might be the cause of our 90 second decrease in run time), but we did still get some cool stuff – teeshirts and such along the way.

I spent the rest of the day BBQ hopping – First to Marilyn and John’s over at piedmont park which was great, especially since I hadn’t seen them in forever; and afterwards to DZ’s place for the rest of the evening. I was initially planning on going to Decatur to see Moose and the dance crowd as well as my parents for the fireworks, but I was exhausted, so I didn’t end up driving down there, and instead went home.

All in all, it was a lovely 4th of July, and a nice break from work during the week!

Prepping.

"Good stories only happen to those who can tell them well" I heard that quote the other day, and really liked it.

Just food for thought

Meanwhile, the weekend was fun. Atlanta Brewing dance rocked. It was fun to see so many people attend the event I planned. It's an easy venue, and people enjoyed themselves. I can't wait for next month's dance.

The reason I like it so much is that as opposed to all the other dances I attend, this one is more public (meaning people can accidentally happen upon it). I like that it's public because
a) friends of mine who have no idea that I dance or have never seen me dance have a chance to come out and see why I am always ditching them to dance.
b) it shows people how much fun we have dancing, and hopefully get them interested in trying it out too!

Anyway, it is the first Sunday of every month, 5-7:45 at Atlanta Brewing Company.

I am about to head out and go dancing again tonight after going for a refreshing run. Today was my last running day before the peachtree road race. I am excited to see if maybe I beat last year's time.

Last year I did just under 62 minutes - start to finish. I would like to do it in under 60 this year. Last year however, included in those 62 minutes was stopping to get a Moe's teeshirt (which I have since lost), catching a Mellow Mushroom water bottle (which I have since lost), and saying hi to a family friend on the side for a few seconds and getting my picture with them. I still plan on running the same way this year, being a fun part of the crowd, but I'll do it faster ;-)

I'll keep you posted on how that ends up going.