pictures pictures

so we're in. i'm rested, though busy so no time to type too much. it was GREAT to wake up in our new place. actually, we are DIRECTLY across the street from a catholic church - so i woke up to bells chiming. and when i say directly, i mean, i can see the stained glass windows above the alter from my window. it's a towering church that may end up blocking some sunlight from our front room - but the bells make up for that. it's a quiet street that has a real 'old boston' neighborhood feel to it. on 7th between otis and thorndike if anyone wants to mapquest it.

we spent the day making trips to his old apartment to collect our things, to target to pick up coat hangers, shoe racks, coffee makers, etc. then to home depot to get hooks and work horses (to make legs for the gigantic table we'll have in our office - an old door that the builders didn't want. the couch was delivered in the morning and comcast came in the afternoon to install internet, phone and cable. i have a landline now. (ask me for it if you're interested)

and at the end of the day, we moved his antique bed. (from 1653!!) it's a great bed, but it's a pain in the *ss to move. the kind of bed that could cause the demise of a relationship if it had to be moved more than 4 times in one year (we're on number 3). a real hum-dinger of a maneuvering job. we got it down in record time, and thankfully, it seemed to fit nicely into our new place - so we're ok and on track.

and now we can relax and focus on getting things organized - the fun bit!

here are a few pics ... i'll try to get a movie up shortly!

we're in!

can't type much more because i've been moving since 6.30am and it's now 10pm. i'm exhausted!

but we're in. the place is adorable, my knives are great (thanks dad!), the bed is up and i'm off to sleep. more from 7th street in my next blog.

i'm alive, i'm here, it's snowing!

dusted out the snowboots this morning to get to work, and looking out the window I face to see the flurries. it's a beautiful sunny day with snow that doesn't seem to stick. which is fine by me!

back in the office yesterday, and it's almost like i never left.

and still living with alex in his current apartment - and apartment hunting like crazy this week so we can get out of there.

and my job looks to be doing a 180 this week, with new roles, new responsibilities and new direction - all very exciting. (i think) PLUS - i won a scholarship to a 'foundations of leadership' 3 day training course in san diego in june - offered by the center for creative leadership. so i'm VERY excited about that. i've told the bosses that i want to get into more of a managerial/leadership role here (the soft side of HR, in a sense) so that will be a very helpful course.

i should have more of an update by the weekend, when hopefully i'll not be living out of a suitcase ANY LONGER!

so long, farewell

last night in san francisco.
i had one of those let's-use-everything-we-possibly-can-so-as-not-to-waste-it dinners. you can imagine. a broccoli, tomato, onion, black olive, jalepeno jack cheese, tuna, pasta dish. actually quite tasty, though i'd never serve it to guests. with a side of curly fries and a stella. (thanks whoever bought those last weekend!) not my healthiest meal.

then proceeded to pack up the apartment with american idol in the background. that really is a terrible show. and simon cowell seems to get ruder and ruder with each season. tonight he told a young kid that he looked like 'one of those big eyed animals hanging from trees in the jungle.' imagine the life of that kid now - humiliated like that on tv. 'you can't sing' is one thing. 'you look like a monkey' is an entirely different insult - totally unacceptable. for the same reason part of me cringed at borat - i am also disgusted by this. in protest, i'll not watch it anymore. that's 34 million viewers less one. start small.

and then another show about morbid obesity. oh god. my last night in the city and i'm really living it up.

so all in all - a reminder that TV is bad and a waste of time!

apart from that, i had a nice massage after work today at my gym. i had one free coupon left so i used it for that! slightly annoying that her phone rang during the massage and she answered it (!) - but for that, she gave me an extra 5 minutes, so it was OK in the end.

so long san francisco!

M minus 8

M being the move date.
back to boston a week from tomorrow. well, technically sunday since i'm catching a redeye so won't arrive until 5 am on sunday morning. i'm headed down to santa cruz this weekend - so not going to spend the last weekend in the city. i'm ok with that - i'd rather hang with family and friends down there anyway. there is part of me that feels like i checked out of san francisco weeks ago. maybe even months ago - since i've not really been here for 2 full weeks since october. i'm very grateful for the chance this work out in SF has afforded me to live out here. but now i'm ready to be in one place for awhile. i don't have any trips planned until april when i'm back to the UK for a wedding. (unless i get pulled into presenting a paper at a conference in dallas in march) - but otherwise, i'm looking forward to a few months away from security checkpoints, baggage claims and hotel soaps.

i know i keep harping on about how much i'm looking forward to being in one place and investing. but it dawned on me the other day ... i've set this little home/office space up here in SF, and i've been sitting at this same little square table day in and day out facing the cement wall of the building next door for the last few months (when i've been here). and WHY didn't i think to move the table so it was facing the window so i could look out on the city below? even if just to catch the sunrise in the reflection of the windows across the street? and WHY didn't i hang any of my own pictures up, even if it was only temporary? there's a great spot in her bathroom, next to the mirror that would've been a perfect spot for a daily reminder of my friends far and wide. so i guess i'm looking forward to making deliberate choices again. getting an empty slate and starting fresh. so many choices!

it's hit freezing temperatures here in the city. i guess that freakishly warm weather is over, and winter is really here. still, after the (mild, they tell me) winter in boston last year, this seems like nothing.

hope you're warm wherever you are!

another year, another list

it's a beautiful morning here in SF, despite the fact that i woke up feeling a bit sick. (run down, may be more like it) had a somewhat crazy night out with the girls on saturday night - so spent most of yesterday feeling very hung over. naan and curry sorted me out for lunch, and then my sister and i spent about 30 minutes wandering the aisles of safeway wondering what we should eat for dinner. we decided on a bag of instant stir fry (chicken terryaki) and a bag of seasoned curly fries. oh - and a 12 pack of diet coke, 2 bananas and the latest issue of 'in touch' magazine. (cam and JT are over, dontchaknow)

so what have i done in these first 8 days of 2007? another year, another list:

1. gym 4 times! i'm getting up to 45 minutes on the eliptical machine as the norm, which makes me happy.
2. shopping at my local corner store where i picked up the SAME ingredients for the SAME food - really i must branch out this year, cooking for 1 is so dull. (jalepeno jack cheese, spring onions, egg noodles, yogurt, granola, bananas, strawberries, brocolli, zuccini, half and half and milk) dull dull dull. perhaps i need rachel ray in my life?
3. decided i will become an automatic home-owner millionaire after reading david bach's book of the same name. it's so easy. property mogel-dom here i come. i might read his other books too (start late, finish rich) ha ha. it's all so easy.
4. also decided 2007 is the year of volunteering - so have signed myself up for orientations to Boston Cares - the local volunteer-matching organisation in boston, and also for an orientation at 'Big Sisters' - to be paired with a local kid for mentoring.
5. drank far too many margaritas on saturday night, combined with sake and saporo ... a bad mix!
6. went to glide but (my stomach) was not feeling it so left a little before the end. (or rather, my stomach was feeling it a little too much!)

all in all, it's been a pretty good year so far! hope you're experience has been the same!

'stuck at the airport' blog

yep, here it is. stuck in dallas.
i missed my connector last night because the flight from raleigh was delayed, so they put me up in a hotel near the airport and i'm now back at the airport, waiting for the final leg of my flight to SF. as long as they haven't lost my baggage, i'll be ok. i wasn't in a real rush to get back anyway, and was considering volunteering if they needed more seats. so no real harm done, apart from hassle.

got a nice reality check yesterday when i went to the ticket counter to attempt to get some food vouchers (they'd only given hotel) and began to make a small, but polite, stink about the hassle. the guy next to me was in the same situation, only he was in the service and needed to get back to base camp somewhere by midnight or else he lost a day of leave which meant he could not leave afganistan to get back to see his family. i must admit i felt very foolish arguing for a dinner at chili's. certainly put things in perspective. i hope he got where he was going!

so the new year starts today. it's january 3rd after all. i just remembered that right this minute so i'm not going to finish the cinnamon scone i got from starbucks. i'll get a salad with the rest of my voucher and get back to the gym as soon as i touch down.

hope YOUR resolutions are sticking so far!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

happy new year from north carolina!
hope all of you celebrated the midnight hour in style. wherever you may have been (lapland, berlin, cornwall, majorca, london, brighton, toledo, san francisco, santa cruz, boston, etc etc)i've been down here in the south for the last 5 days just chilling out with alex and his family. very peaceful and enjoyable - just what i was hoping for.

and i spent christmas in toledo with my grandparents and dad's extended family. i had a great time with them but ate FAR FAR too much. but i suppose that's what christmas is for! over the last week and a bit, i've ingested ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, saurkraut, kielbasa (polish sausages), shrimp cocktail, stuffing and gravy, pizza, sloppy joes, dudley's hotdog, iceburg salad, more ham, more turkey, cranberry sauce, lasagna, tortellinis, more pizza, eggs florentine, over-easy eggs and bacon, cookies, pies, fudge, ice cream, reindeer droppings (chex mix in chocolate) and copious amounts of coffee. i suppose this is what christmas is for - though thank goodness for new years and the resolutions i'll never stick to. at least i can try for a week! i have 2 1/2 weeks left in san francisco and i'm determined to get to the gym every single day. believe it or not, i was actually doing quite well before the holiday season.

they really ought to allow the new year to start on january 3rd. because it's nearly impossible to start resolutions on january 1. most people need a fry up to soak up the alcohol of the night before. hardly a way to start.

i did find the time, as usual, to sit with my journal and write out a few of my new years resolutions. the theme seems to be pretty consistent for me from year to year - be nicer, do more for others, join more things, get active, be happy, live in the moment. so i will continue to attempt those things (starting january 3rd).

so if you need anything from me before the 3rd, you'll have to call! after that, you should expect me to keep up with my correspondence, call regularly, send photos and otherwise be the very best friend one could ever imagine.

ha. here's hoping!