Cafe Azul

I'm sitting in Cafe Azule in downtown Santa Rosa, California.  It's a gorgeous rainy day outside.  This time of year is when I miss the rain.  It doesn't really rain in Colorado at this time of year....just snow.  blurg.

Anyway, here I sit.  Stealing a few moments to get some work done.  I love visiting family.  However, I don't get much work done, no matter how much I try to convince myself that this trip I will get some schoolwork done. So, I thought I'd take a few moments this morning to come try squeeze a few sentences on some paper.  And so, here I am.

There's a lot to catch you up on.  My computer sat in the shop the last two weeks of school (great timing Apple), which is why I couldn't update you further.  For this morning, I'll just fill you in on what I'm doing right now.  I'm here in NorCal visiting my partner-in-crime, who lives here and has a sweet job.  I drove here.  Yes, that's right.  I packed up my two kitties and drove 1200 miles across Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California.  It was fairly uneventful, except for a flat tire in Sacramento.  But, a few minutes later, I was on my way and home.  This is an exciting time to spend 3 weeks at my in-law's house.  Isaac lives here, his brother lives here, and his parents of course.  His brother and sister-in-law are remodeling their house and are also taking up temporary residence at the house.  Today, the youngest will be up from San Diego on break from school.  On Thursday, Isaac's sister and grandmother will also be here.  So, for a period of time, there will be 10 people in the house.  Party!!!!  And that doesn't count the animals. There will be two dogs, 3 cats, and 2 fish.  One of the dogs is a french mastiff.....that doesn't make a huge difference.  I just want you to get the full effect and a mastiff is a big dog.  They are all doing fairly well together so far, though there have been a few hisses and bites.  And I also found my youngest cat with his nose submerged in the fishbowl and 2 paws wet.  However, the fish still live.

So, you can see why I needed to escape for a bit.  I mean, I have to escape my own house to get work done.  And it is just me there.  There are far too many distractions waiting to get me off track.
That being said, I need to get to work.
Ciao.

Back to Reality

I just got back in town last night, after a really great trip to Houston for my sister's wedding.  It was a great time.  I got to see so many great people and spend some time relaxing.  After my last post, I pretty much did nothing related to school at all.  So, this post is not really school/dissertation related.  The only thing I'll say on that topic is that I have a meeting with my advisor tomorrow and I honestly have no idea if I'm supposed to bring anything in or have accomplished anything before it.  ooops!  I guess I'll find out tomorrow.  I was surprised to see that I even had an appt. with her on my calendar.
Now I'm back home, to dryer air. My cuticles are already starting to crack.  Ugh, just one more great thing about being in a place with a real winter. It is supposed to snow this week and I'm dreading that.

So, I thought I'd share my sister's wedding invitation with you all.  I had every intent to actually take photos while I was there.  I think I took about 3.  Good thing I dragged my camera and an extra lens all the way to Houston and back.  Anyway, this image pretty much captures the tone and awesomeness of their wedding.

They had a photobooth too, which was super fun! I have one shot from that, which I'll post once I scan it in.

Well, I'm off to take my computer somewhere to work. Then I have a pilates appointment with a new instructor, which I'm slightly nervous about.  I really loved Dana so much.  If you live in Evergreen, CO,  you should definitely go to Dana.  It will change your life.

I can tell I'm tired and not focused based on the schizophrenic nature of this post, so I'm off!  So much to do this week!

Vacation

I've been on vacation since July 29. It has been perfectly lovely.  I spent some time in New York City, speaking at a conference and visiting with my friend Abby.  It was absolutely delightful.  We at lots of food, spent time with friends, and saw some great parts of the city.
Now, I'm in California, hanging out with Isaac and family.  We've also eaten a lot of food, gotten some great workouts in, and spent time sleeping in.
What a breath of fresh air. I haven't thought about school, except when people ask how it's going. I'm heading back in a few days and still haven't worked up my motivation to return for the fall.  I'll work on that next week.