Well, tonight was our first official game of kickball. We were up against a team that had at least 50% returning players—we had maybe 1 or 2 returning people, so the odds were not stacked in our favor, especially when you consider that this team won the division last year.

We went out there and tried our best—I only got to kick the ball once, and got tagged out on my run to first. Ah well. We made some good plays and have some good people on the team—I’m sure we will get better with some practice. Our games will probably also fare better when we play teams without so many accomplished players.

The games are short—no more than 5 innings or 45 minutes, but it’s enough to have fun. My right hand hurts from where a high-flying ball smacked it, and it probably didn’t help that it was a bit chilly so my hands were totally cold. Still, it was fun, and I wish I got to kick a few more times—hopefully next time.

Posted at 10:13 PM | (1)

Today I am here to talk about a condition that I seem to have developed that I have dubbed laptop leg. You see, while working from home, the most comfortable place for me to use my computer is to set it on my lap—I mean, it’s called a laptop for a reason, right?

Well anyway, my laptop is dual core and so it comes equipped with 2 fan vents to keep it cool. Sometimes though, I tend to let blankets get in the way of the vents and then the laptop becomes quite hot on the left side. On warm days, I of course like to wear shorts, and so the laptop sits on bare skin. There are times when I have noticed that the laptop is ALMOST too hot to tolerate, but I suppose I leave it there for so long that I just sort of get used to it. When I get up and move the laptop find that the area touching the computer is all sweaty and blotchy red from the heat.

I didn’t think too much of it, because it always went away, but a few weeks ago I happened to look at my left leg on a day when I hadn’t even had my computer on my lap and noticed that the spot where the laptop sits was noticeably darker than the other parts. Lest I think it was my own imagination, Ben had happened to glance at my leg that same day and asked if I had somehow bruised myself. So ok, it’s not just me. Since that time I have vowed to never have the laptop sitting directly on bare skin—if possible, I try to have several layers of blankets in between to act as a barrier. So far this has been working out, but I fear I will have to come up with a different plan come summertime.

I think my leg is slowly turning lighter. I am hypothesizing (hoping) that the warmth just affected the top layer of skin, and didn’t somehow cause deep skin cell damage or something. It is my hope that when all that skin finally sheds that I am left with a normal looking leg! That area of leg has been more dry lately, so maybe it’s almost like a sunburn in that you damaged it a bit and then it all just comes off.

Anyway I just thought I’d share as a bit of a cautionary tale. I mean, my leg doesn’t hurt or feel any different, but it has been a bit odd to look at this one giant dark splotch on my otherwise super pale legs. I certainly did not anticipate that this would be a hazard of working from home!

Posted at 3:54 PM | (5)

Last night I went over to the apartment of one of our newer book club members. She decided to host a girl’s poker night since none of us really play but thought it sounded like fun. There wound up only being 4 of us total, but it was still fun. We played several rounds of poker, ate appetizers, and drank wine.

I didn’t wind up doing too well—I came in last. Although, one girl had to rebuy in, so I guess you could argue that she did worse than me. We played for about 3 1/2 hours—mostly due to the fact that we would start talking about random things in between or in the middle of hands. I’m sure that if any males were playing that they would’ve been annoyed by the lack of actual playing for the most part. So I suppose it is lucky that it was just girls! :)

Anyway, it was a fun evening, and nice to get to hang out with some of these girls some more. I don’t always feel like going out dancing or something just to hang out, so it was nice to have a change of pace. This has been an unusually social couple days for me!

Posted at 9:14 PM | (1)

Last night we had another meeting of our bookclub. I had put out an ad back in January for new members, and a couple showed up last month. A few others said they couldn’t make it, but promised to come this month. I didn’t hold my breath for that to happen, since most people start out having the intention to come, but then the weeks go by and they just never come.

However, this time several of the people who didn’t make it last month came! We had 10 people last night, which is at or near the most people we’ve had at one meeting. It was cool to have the new people, and a lot of them had interests that overlapped with those of other members—as a result, we spent a lot of time talking about random job related topics, and the meeting didn’t end until 9:45, when it usually only goes until 9.

Hopefully all of the banter means the new people enjoyed themselves and will become regular members. So far my attempt to recruit new members who not only show up but return to another meeting seems to have been pretty successful—I will have to be sure to reuse that ad next time our numbers dwindle!

Posted at 5:22 PM | (2)

Sooo, I decided to join a kickball team. Some girls from bookclub also joined and we are all on the same team, so it should be cool.

Last night was an informational gathering and sort of practice session. We heard about the rules, saw all the other teams, and then formed random groups and got to practice manning the field and kicking. Sure there’s not a lot to it, but when you haven’t played since elementary school, it helps to refresh your memory. The other thing that is cool is that the entire league, with only a few exceptions, seemed to be comprised of people in their late 20s and early 30s, so it’s not like you’re competing against teenagers or old people or something.

I kicked a couple times—got to base each time, so go me! I also hung out around 3rd base and caught a few balls in the air, but didn’t get to chuck a ball at someone and get them out. There are some really good people on our team, so it looks like we should win a few games! Even if we don’t, it’s still pretty fun. What’s great about kickball is that the ball is so big, it’s super easy to catch. One teammate likened catching the ball in the air to “giving your mother a hug”. It kind of is! I mean, you hold out your arms and the ball just lands there and the player is out! Awesome!

Next week is the first real game, so we’ll see how that goes. We got our official team t-shirts last night, so we are in business!

Posted at 12:41 PM | (5)

Easter day was a pretty small affair as far as family gatherings go. It is normally the smallest of the holidays, but this year it was a lot quieter since my cousin with the 5 kids didn’t come. We still did an egg hunt for the couple little kids, making sure to only put the eggs out right before the hunt was to begin, to ensure that the plastic or the contents inside did not melt in the 95 degree sun!

Yes, it was indeed a hot Easter Sunday. You would’ve thought it was mid-July, not still March! Though small, it was still nice, and who doesn’t like coming home with a nice stack of Girl Scout cookies and Easter candy! Mmmm Cadbury Creme Eggs!!

Posted at 5:20 PM | (1)

Everyone knows that Peeps are awesome, and are very much a symbol of the Easter season. Demonstrating the greatness of Peeps, the Washington Post held a diorama contest in which people had to submit entries featuring everyone’s favorite sugar-coated marshmallows. You can view the top 37 submissions.

One of the entries. With temperatures expected to be in the 90s here tomorrow, I’m sure a lot of PEEPle would like to celebrate poolside.

Posted at 7:23 PM | (1)

So today is Good Friday. I didn’t think about it much because I didn’t get today off, but apparently some people did! Ben is still down south with his dad, but he’s doing well and is expected to come home tomorrow. When Ben comes back up depends, among other things, on if he has to work tomorrow.

At any rate, I’ll be down with my family for the Easter holiday. It’s been a few months since I’ve seen them, and who doesn’t love getting candy! :) If the weather is anything like today, it should be a nice holiday weekend.

Posted at 5:48 PM | (2)

Last night I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by donning a green shirt that I actually purchased in Ireland and headed to a bar for a drink with Ben and his friend. We made it back before midnight, and overall it was a nice evening and as always nice to spend time with him.

Today, however, was not the best day for Ben. He was going to have to travel north for work today, but instead wound up having to unexpectedly drive south. His dad had a heart attack this morning, and so he has gone to be with him. Thankfully, his dad seems to be doing well and if all goes as planned he will be released in a couple days. All the times I’ve stayed at his dad’s house, he has been so nice and always makes sure that everyone has whatever they need. I’m sure Ben gets at least some of his kindness and good-naturedness from him and so, if any of you out there want to send good thoughts his way for a speedy and full recovery, I’m sure it would be much appreciated.

Posted at 8:53 PM | (2)

Last night I met Ben for some dinner. Well, actually, I had already eaten, so while he ate dinner, I drank a glass of wine and ordered some dessert.

For dessert, I chose creme brulee. I had an Amelie moment as I took my spoon and hit the top layer of the dessert and listened for the cracking noise that the main character of that movie professed to love so much. It does indeed make a cracking noise when you hit it, by the way.

Perhaps as far as actual taste goes, it was the blandest dessert on the menu, but in terms of “fun”, I think it might win out over something like a mud pie. I’m pretty sure mud pies don’t make any sound when you hit them with a spoon…

Posted at 8:03 PM | (3)

My favorite local website is once again having its month-long contest to see who can determine the most locations of pictures that they post daily. They do a similar contest once a week, but during March, they do it every day, which is fun because they keep a running tally.

When it comes to guessing these pictures, I RARELY know where any of the locations are. As a result I am most often frustrated by my obvious lack of observation, and sometimes overly ecstatic when I correctly identify a location.

I’ve gotten Ben in on the excitement, which is probably a bad thing, because, well, he’s beating me! He has not shared his answers with me when he knows a location, which means that we don’t have to enter as a single entity. It also means, well, that he’s still beating me! Argh!

At any rate, looking at these pictures where I have absolutely NO clue where to even begin guessing, I realize that I really should take a look around at stuff when I’m out and about around town. I do tend to observe more when I walk places, but if I’m driving I seem to be on auto-pilot or something! Good for getting to destinations, bad for knowing where plaques and walls and archways and other things are.

Posted at 11:12 PM | (0)

We had beautiful weather here all weekend—it did get a little windy at night, but during the day it was really nice. Yesterday I went over to Ben’s to hang out by the pool.

I knew that the pool water would be cold, since they haven’t started heating it yet, but OH. MY. GOD. It was soooooooooo cold. I’m surprised I didn’t see chunks of ice floating in there, and I’m fairly sure that if I tossed in some ice cubes that they wouldn’t have melted. Needless to say, as soon as I resurfaced, I quickly exited the pool and headed on over to the jacuzzi.

After the pool we came back and got changed before heading out to grab some pizza and check out some short surf films that were submitted for a contest. We only caught the last couple and didn’t hear which film won because we left after the last one was shown.

All in all it was a nice way to spend the afternoon and evening—especially since we got that extra hour of afternoon sunshine thanks to the way early setting of the clocks for Daylight Savings.

Posted at 6:33 PM | (0)

Yesterday evening after work I met up with one of the new members of bookclub to join her, her bestfriend, and her roommate for some happy hour drinks. I only live about a block away from her, so I walked over and then caught a ride with them to Madison’s.

We had our drinks and got some soft pretzels and buffalo poppers as appetizers and then sat at an outdoor table for a few hours and hung out and talked. I had a decent time, and the girls all seemed nice. The best part of the evening, though, was the walk back to the car.

As we were walking down this sorta dark walkway, I happened to look at the pay phone on the wall to my right. On top of the phone I saw what appeared to be a few $1 bills. I grabbed the wad and examined it—there was over $20 there! Except for us, the area was totally deserted, so well, I sorta pocketed the cash. If there was someone around, or if the money was accompanied by a wallet or some other identification, I would’ve made an effort to determine if that person was missing some money and to return it to the rightful owner—much like I did when I was a little kid at Disneyland and found a $100 bill and a $50 bill tumbling along the ground. That time we WERE able to reunite the money with the rightful owners (and thus allow them to actually get to experience a day at the Magic Kingdom, which would have been impossible without the money), which is a good thing since that amount is quite a bit more substantial.

I do wonder, however, why the money was there. Was the person just using the top of the phone as a place to empty the contents of their pockets to search for something and somehow forgot to put back the cash? Was there some sort of shady deal going down where the instructions were to “leave a bunch of bills on top of the phone booth in the dark walkway”? Both scenarios pose problems though. If emptying pockets, that seems like too great a sum to forget about, and if making some sort of shady deal, the price doesn’t seem high enough.

I suppose I could’ve left the money there, but it seems that the odds are that someone else besides the rightful owner would have pocketed it. So, with nothing else to go on, I kept it. And, as a result, I made a profit of a little over $10 on my evening! Next drinks are on me, I guess!

Posted at 4:39 PM | (1)

For my bookclub’s next reading selection, I put a hold on the selected title at my local library. There were several copies available, and I thought I was requesting one of the regular copies. However, when I went to pick it up, I noticed that I was given a Large Print version! Maybe I requested the wrong one (I had several windows of all the available book options open), or maybe the wrong one was grabbed, but it is what it is and the end result is that I have this particular edition.

It’s weird reading pages where the words are so big. Not since those learn to read kid books have I read anything with such large print. On the good side though, I definitely don’t need to strain my eyes to read the words, and could probably even read in almost total darkness! Another plus is that there are less words per page, so I feel like I am getting through the book faster because I am turning like 5 pages a minute or something! Hmm, maybe I’m on to something! :)

Posted at 10:41 PM | (1)

Last night as I was about to fall asleep, I thought of some of the sounds I sometimes hear that are kind of annoying (prompted by hearing item #1, no doubt). In no particular order, I’ve listed a few of them.

1. The sound of someone on my floor coming home really late at night and slamming the door multiple times. Granted, the way these doors are made, it’s impossible to shut them quietly, but I just don’t get why they need to reopen and close them so many times late at night.

2. The barking of the yappy dog.

3. The sound of people rummaging through the trashcans outside my window and stealing all of our recyclable cans and bottles. The clanking of glass and crushing of aluminum drives me crazy. I don’t even think it’s legal for them to be doing this!

4. The guy in the next building over who always has to set and reset his car alarm a dozen times because it seems he either can never remember to take everything out of his car at once, or else does not trust people not to steal stuff in the 5 seconds he is away. He also likes to open and close multiple car doors in repeated succession.

Does your neighborhood have any regular sounds that drive you crazy??

Posted at 1:03 PM | (1)