I know that ...

my life is generally good and I am a blessed individual. But there are days ... there are just some days where while you know it could be a helluva lot worse, it could also be a helluva lot better. And I know that there is so much sorrow in the world right now but I'm going to allow me to have these moments of self-centeredness because in my ittybitty bubble, it's a little bit crappy.
I have been working long hours for work. It's my busy season and I fully expected to work long hours. Today was the end of my first week transitioning into this period and it ended with a doozie.
I got into a car accident.
I'm fine and the other person's fine. But with the point already on my record for a ticket that I evidently didn't clear (even though I did take traffic school), this will bring my insurance to an all time high. Of course, there are the repairs, too. We have a $500 deductible and tomorrow we will find out the grand total of damages.
I don't think I'm a materialistic person but I do like nice things. When it comes to cars, though, I've never driven a car that was anything special. Gertie was my first really nice car. And then I go and wreck it.
Someone just took a big fat dump in my cheerios :(
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9:21pm Update: Nothing like some of this to take the edge off of a suck ass day -

Yes, this has become a drunk entry. It was a rough day today. The Man likes NetFlix and had "Be Kind and Rewind" so while we watched that DVD, I had a lot a bit of this:

Yup. I'm drunk.
Because I felt so bad for all the added expenses I just put on us for getting into an accident and drowned my sorrows (and worries) in Riesling. Damn. I feel so bad because it just feels like I've been an added expense since we got married instead of contributing to the household.
Bummer, huh?
I love The Man. And I wish that I felt like I was adding something to this partnership but right now I feel like, I don't know, the third puppy or something.
Except I don't eat my poo. Thank goodness.
Anyway, here I am drunk but I don't think it's safe for me to bake. Because I love drunk baking (don't you know.) Instead, three glasses down, I thought wouldn't it be a magnificent idea to blog! That being said, don't be surprised if this entry is deleted tomorrow. Oh, and another expense is the rental car I'll have until my car is fixed. Sweet.

PS: The cherry on the top is that I got my driver's license today and it is fugly. Of course it would be ... why would I deserve a cute one?

Exactly one year ago

The Man knocked my socks off and surprised me with a wedding proposal.
I'm going to share a little secret. Well, obviously it's no longer a secret if I'm posting it on the world wide web. Anyway, a little over a year ago, I found out that The Man had bought my engagement ring. But I had no idea when he was going to propose. And no, he didn't know I knew and I'm not going to say how I knew. Because I cannot reveal my sources.
Had I seen it? No.
Did I know if it was even in the house? No.
And while it was wonderful to know 100% that he was serious about taking our relationship to the next level, this was also The Man who took over six months to ask me out. He had an infinite amount of what I had very little of ... patience. And can sometimes move as quickly as stagnant water. But who am I to judge.
I had no idea when he was going to propose. I figured he would hold on to it at least until my birthday, Christmas or even Valentine's Day because then he could get two events in one gift. Hey, I wouldn't have blamed him, it's the kind of gift you want to try and make stretch.
Because I am me, I had to share this huge secret that had to do with me. I told the one person who would understand and not judge my impatience - my Sister. I did NOT want to shout it from the roof tops. And that's because if it took as long as I thought it was going to take or if it never happened at all for some freak reason, I didn't want to feel stupid. That is why, around this time last year, one could find comments on our blogs or some of the messages on our myspace pages where my sister and I made repeated references to pants.
"What's the scoop on the pants?"
The pants are on back order. I think."
"How big are the pants?"
"The pants will probably need to be hemmed."
"Have your pants come in yet?"
"I have no idea when the pants will come in. Probably in time for New Year's."
"GD pants are taking forever."

Yes, Pants was code word for Engagement Ring.
I thought we were so clever because there we were, openly discussing this huge thing, this potentially life changing event, casually over the Internet.
I wrote a pretty detailed description of how The Man proposed to me so I won't reinvent the wheel. I will, though, repeat that he did a wonderful job taking me by surprise and I would have never guessed in a million years that he was going to propose that day. It was a Monday, for crying out loud! When I told him that I thought he was going to hang on to the ring for months before he would propose, he surprised me even more by telling me he had had the ring for less than a week.

Just when you think you know someone, he goes and pleasantly surprises you.
Eight months later, we had a truly beautiful wedding in Hawaii and a fantastic honeymoon. And a year later we are happy little newlyweds and six years (total) strong. Oh! And, as of last Tuesday, I am officially Mrs. Ramirez with not just the Social Security Office but also the Department of Motor Vehicles. What a pain in MY ass it was to change my name with the government. But it just goes to show how much I love him. And when I was at the DMV on Tuesday, I was told after I signed all the paperwork, "Get in line over there to take your picture." I must have had a puzzled look on my face because the DMV guy said, "New name, new picture."
Damn. So I had to take a new picture. Heaven help me when I finally get my driver's license in the mail.
But I do love The Man with all my heart so, yes, it was all worth it.

Sunday Excursion

This past Sunday, The Man and The Mrs. packed up the pups and decided to walk the Golden Gate Bridge. We wanted to walk earlier in the morning but couldn't wake up! We ended up getting there around 10:30am. Plenty of cars, cyclists and pedestrians. And, oh my, the tourists. But who could blame them? The bridge is a landmark, after all. As expected, it was quite breezy. The fog continued to roll in and our walk to Marin didn't have much of a view of the city. But the walk back to the San Francisco side made for a pretty stroll as the sun was breaking through the clouds.

This was taken after I waited in a long line to use the bathroom before we started our walk. Oh, talk about awkward! The women's bathroom had a long line and some women ahead of me had the brilliant idea to use the men's facilities. So a small group of us headed there. They had two stalls and two urinals. While we waited to use the stalls, I saw many a men and boys use the urinals. Luckily, their backs were to me but let me just say that they are disgusting. I saw guys who splashed the floor because they couldn't wait to aim their kibbles and bits into the urinal. Ugh. I was gone so long that The Man was getting worried about me. In the future, I will just wait in the women's line. Oh, and I totally rolled up my pants before entering in the bathroom. It was bad enough my shoes were touching the floor but I sure as hell wasn't going to have anything else. *Shiver*

It got a little humid on our walk, with the sun coming out and there being no shade on the bridge. Yes, even with the fog! The Man rolled up his sleeves and we stopped for frequent water breaks for the pups.

Behold! The glory that is Piko, The Man and Pili. Oh, and the Golden Gate Bridge :) Poor Piko. This pic really shows how she gets allergies when she goes outside and she just tears and tears.

This was taken on our walk back from Marin to San Francisco. If you look closely, you can see the cityscape behind me. And thank goodness I was wearing a jacket with removable sleeves. It was getting HOT! And I just realized after posting all the photos that Pili is camera shy! We'll have to make sure she looks our way when we take future pictures.

Lessons learned:
1. Pack snacks. While it's roughly only 1.5 miles each way, a person can get hungry and there are NO vendors on the Marin side. Just two sets of bathrooms. (Word to the bridge keeper uppers: that would also be great to have on the San Francisco side!)
2. Either wait in line to use the women's bathroom or hold it. At least until you are crossed the bridge and are in Marin where there are two buildings which both house restrooms. Ahhhh.
3. Go earlier in the day. It was crowded by the time we got there and the fumes from the cars can be a bit much. But we just about finished our walk when we passed a police-escorted protest which took up a lot of room on the walkway and caused traffic on the bridge. Bless the Bay Area and its' protests :)
4. Have wipes for Piko's bottom. Won't even go into detail about that.

I had a great time but The Man said it will be several months before we do it again. That's OK. He's so great to entertain me and my whims and I finally got to do something I've never done before. Can you imagine? I've lived in the Bay Area for nearly 30 years and never walked the Golden Gate Bridge. What a treat.

Physically a LAZY week

I've taken a week off of all gym activities. So no personal training Monday, Wednesday or Friday and no cardio on Tuesday or Thursday - no working out, period. I haven't been doing yoga for a few weeks now because both my Chiropractic Intern and Yoga Teacher advised me to take a break for a few months. Evidently yoga is awesome if all your muscles are in already-fantastic condition. Not so great if you have an injury. I've had this shoulder injury that I've kind of ignored for over a year (not a brilliant move on my part) so no Yoga for MamaLu ... at least, for a few months. Out of all the different things I do, Yoga is my favorite. It's not necessarily the most effective (cardio is the best and, of course, my least favorite) but I like that it challenges my flexibility, builds strength and is the closest thing to meditation I will probably ever do. I'm not a fan of the oms and stuff like that which is why I like "Power Yoga." So when I say meditation, I mean being in a headstand or arm balance and trying not to fall over. Not quite the same but close enough for me!
Anyway, lazy week. Probably not good for me but I keep squashing that guilty feeling that creeps up. I had one big meeting on Monday and I have two big meetings today. I also had a workshop on Tuesday where I had to give a short presentation. I just didn't feel like rushing after going to the gym, getting ready, scrambling to prep for these meetings and then rush to get there on time. Well, that the excuse I'm sticking with anyway:)
Today I'm driving my ass on over to Tracy for the first time for work. It's just become part of my new territory and I'm doing my best to embrace it. I don't think it's necessarily a horrible commute but I've never had personal business to do there and I don't even think I've driven through Tracy just to get to where I want to go. What I'm saying is that Tracy has never been a destination of mine. It's just not a place I ever visit. Ever. Hehehe ... but I do now! So wish me luck that the drive won't be heinous and will, hopefully, be relatively painless.

Nothing much ... how about you?

Nothing extraordinary or freakishly abnormal has happened to me lately so I don't have much to write about.
Still a very happy newlywed ... how long are we labeled newlyweds, anyway? In any case, the brand spankin' new marriage is still a sweet deal so no complaints there. He's a good guy who doesn't expect me to cook for him every night so what more can I ask for? Kidding, my expectations are a little higher than that. And he does exceed them :0)
There has been some hiccups regarding work (for instance, there is a salary increase freeze right now.) While it all really stinks, I'm very happy that we haven't resorted to rounds of lay-offs. The job market, hell, the economy is a very scary thing right now so I'm willing to ride this through. Of course, it helps out a lot that I still love my job and I'm pretty thankful for that. I have a mini-vacation to look forward to because we're visiting Sister at the end of the month - woot! The Man is turning 31 years old and since it's his birthday and I picked the location, this trip is on me. Little does he know we are going to be quite intimate with McDonald's and the fast food chains. Joke.
Oh yah! So I have to still deal with the DMV because I still need to change my name. So not only did I get kicked in the teeth with having a point on my record for the next three years but I have other business with that forsaken place. And now with all that's going down between the Governator and state employees, I hear the DMV is more effed up than ever. Damn! So what was an hour wait is at least double, if not more. The workers are pissed and I don't blame them. Oh you better believe I'm making an appointment! Unless ... can I change my name through the internet? I don't think I can do it without going in person but I thought I'd just throw that out there.
Volunteering a little bit of time for work at the Fremont Art & Wine Festival tomorrow. Wonder if I can have some wine while volunteering?? A gal can dream ...