:: Always the Freak ::

:: Sunday, September 25, 2005 ::

Birthday Week!

So, mom and I had a blast this past week. Here's the rundown:

Monday, we went to La Jolla and I showed her the Children's Pool which has been taken over by the Harbor Seals, we walked around and visited some shops and then went down into the La Jolla "Sunny Jim" cave. We headed north and had lunch in Encinitas, then headed to the Quail Botanical Gardens, where we spent the rest of the afternoon. We headed home for dinner that night.

Tuesday, we went to Balboa Park, since on Tuesdays they have free museum days. Each Tuesday, different museums are free. Our plan was to hit the Japanese Friendship Garden, the Mingei and the Timken, but found that the Timken is actually CLOSED the whole month of September! That was a bummer. We had lunch at the Prado, where I hadn't been but always wanted to go - it's one of the Cohn Restaurants and they are my favorite restuarants of all time. After that we visited the Balboa Botanical Garden, located in one of the world's largest lath buildings and spent a little time in the Museum of Man... then we were BEAT and headed home. My dad stopped by and we all went out to dinner. NOT at Rockin' Baja Lobster as I had planned, but at the restaurant that moved into the location where RBL used to be. It ended up being tasty so it was all good.

Wednesday, mom and I headed to Old Town San Diego to see where California got it's start. We also took the Old Town Trolley Tour around San Diego, with a stop at Seaport Village for a little shopping and some Ben & Jerry's. The thing that REALLY PISSES ME OFF about the trolley tour is you have on and off privileges, however, you can only make the circuit one time. I commonly take trolley tours in new cities I visit and no other tour I ever went on was restricted to one time around. I like to go all the way around one time so I know what is out there and then go around again, getting off and on at locations I discovered along the way. Anyway, it didn't matter a whole lot for us, since we only had time for once around anyway because we had to pick up Mr. San Diego at 5pm! We did that and then we all three headed downtown for the Taste of Downtown. YUM! We had a blast and were pretty exhausted by 9pm, but we only made it to about 20 of the restaurants. We definitely need more experience in THIS ACTIVITY! We were SO full after only about 10 stops! Next time we'll have a big breakfast and a very light lunch... making sure there is lots of room in our bellies! haha It was great, though. AND, I tried escargot, finally! It was nasty. But, I figure you really have to try something twice because the cook could have done a crappy job, right?

Thursday, you know... the BIG DAY, mom and I went to the Hotel Del Coronado for lunch and massages. Then we hung out by the pool and jacuzzi there. In the evening we met Mr. San Diego at Benihana's for birthday dinner. That was also a fun experience, none of us had ever been there before. AND, we made it home in time for Survivor! It was a good day.

Friday we were so wiped out from our busy week that we did a little local shopping in my town and then just hung out in front of the TV all afternoon. We ended the week with a little family get together yesterday for my birthday so that we could pig out on Costco cake.

It was a great week and now I have to return to work tomorrow. PHOOEY. Plus I'm coming down with some sort of chest cold... I guess it's good to happen AFTER my vacation for a change, though! Okay, sorry for the LONG post, but had to have it all down for posterity.

:: Jenn 2:35 PM [+]

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The Price of Beauty

So, I'm wearing a sleevless dress to a Luau on Saturday night. I think to myself days ahead... "My shoulders are just not all that nice looking... I need a tan!" I finally decide, after some research, that I'm giong to go ahead and give the "spray on" tanning a try. Basically, you stand in a booth either in a bathing suit or naked andyou are sprayed for 6 seconds with a tanning solution. The tanning solution contains some chemical that makes your skin darken temporarily and a bronzer that is more of a stain and helps with that "orange-effect" that self tanning can create. You stand there and let it dry and then go home, not showering for 3 hours or more. NO prob. I'm ready. It's only $25 and I can eat taht for lunch, right?

So, I get to the tanning salon and tell them what I want and the perfect little skinny, lightly tanned, blonde girl starts telling me about a brand new product they just got in that week. SHe used it herself the day before. Instead of tanning there, it is a spray can that you take home and do yourself. It is the exact same formula, it costs $10 more and you can get two whole applications from it. Okay, that sounds good. After lots of questions (apparently all the wrong ones), I buy it, grab some sandwiches from Quiznos next door and head home, planning to be tanned before Survivor starts.

I eat and then change into my bathing suit (Mr San Diego has a thing for tan lines, so... well, you know), I'm standing in front of my bathroom mirror, and I'm ready to start spraying. I think, mabye I better just read the directions real quick. Whew. It suggests standing in the bathtub for easy clean up. Um. Good idea. I get in the bathtub where I now have no mirror and start spraying my first arm.

Okay, the "fine mist" is creating a thick coating on my arm and it's DRIPPING. I do not want drip marks all over me so I try rubbing it in... great, now I have smear marks all over my arms!!! Okay, that's it I gotta start over. I rinse it all off completely and pat myself dry. I start over. SImilar results, but I only spray in really short bursts and move the spray can much faster... little better, but not much. I holler for the husband... "HELP!"

He comes in and helps and asks what that sizzling sound is.

"Well, it's my skin."

"Is it supposed to make that sound?" He asks.

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it is related to the burning sensation I'm feeling all over, too"

"Do I keep going?"

"Yup, spray my back... hold it 12 inches away, now my front"

"Um, the can is almost empty"

"It's supposed ot give two applications!!!" Oh what the hell, I don't care about my legs anyway. We'll just stop with the top... the arms are the most important part"

So I'm standing there waiting for this thick coating to dry... and waiting and waiting and the two minutes has passed and now I'm thinking that this burning maybe isn't normal and its becoming more and more uncomfortable. That's it, I'm rinsing... screw this no shower thing. I rinse it off, no soap or anything, but I gotta get it off! I pat dry and go watch survivor... thanks to Fake TIVO! WHEW... I would have been pissed if I missed it for that!

Anyway, I have a slight darker complexion on my arms and actually have some tan lines, but that product sucked! First, don't do it at home..... OH MY GOD! My whole shower was BROWN, so on top of having this crap on me, I had to clean the shower, which I'm not so hep to anyway. Second, just don't freaking do it unles you have someone experienced spraying you and helping you with it. UGH.

One more of life's lessons.

:: Jenn 8:26 AM [+]

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JUST IN CASE YOU FORGOT

It's my birthday month... it's my birthday month... WHOOOOOOOOO 6 more days to my BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And my post from last year, repeated, because I am fully lazy:

"Why September RULES. The thing about September is like ALL the cool people were born in September. Besides me on the 22nd, along with Joan Jett, Johnette, and a friend of mine, a lot of other cool folks were born in this, the best of months. Jimmie Johnson, my Nascar hero, was born on the 17th. I have a cousin with a birthday on the 13th, her dad is the 25th, and I have FOUR friends born on the 29th - one a mother and son! Keanu (cool cuz he was Ted and all) was born on the second, a boy I used to lust for was born on the 3rd and my blogging pal Tyler, with us in spirit if not in body, was born on the 4th, the same day as Paul Harvey. Patsy Cline's birthday is Septeber 8th and a favorite of mine, O. Henry celebrated on the 11th. See, LOTS of cool people were born in September... I'm just the coolest one. Oh, wait, but some NON-cool people were born in this month, too... we'll ignore those bitches."

SO as long as we're talking about my two favorite subjects... namely ME and MY BIRTHDAY, I thought I would tell you how totally awesome Amazon.com is. I have like this HUGE list and it works out good because a lot of my family (husband) and friends actually use it to buy me gifts. I use it A LOT to buy others gifts, so keep that in mind... MAKE A WISHLIST!!! Anyway, they set it up so that during your birthday month it doesn't show you what has been purchased, BUT if you pull up your wishlist without logging on it will only show those items that have not been purchased. Now, I do NOT like having surprises spoiled, so I do not look to see what has been (or hasn't been) purchased for me, but I'm not above seeing how MANY items have been purchased and SEVEN of mine have been purchased!!! I know my friend Keri sent me something because Mr. San Diego intercepted it, opened it and will be wrapping it and making me wait until my birthday to open it! Hey, I'm not going to lie here... I'm all over the present thing! hee hee

I have a tanning hell story to tell, but now I'm tired of typing, so I'll try to squeeze it in tomorrow.

:: Jenn 10:08 PM [+]

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My busy life

I feel sooooo busy right now. My weekend which consisted of THREE days flew by so fast I can't believe it. I purchased a couple of tickets to the Chargers/Dallas game which opened the Chargers' season on Sunday for my darling Mr. San Diego. He is a big Dallas fan and it's been years since they've been in California. How could I not buy these tickets even though I got raked on ebay?!? We had a blast! We were in the parking lot by 7am and hanging with a BIG group that included a motorhome (I COULD PEE!). I was amazed how fast 5 hours went by and it was time to head into the stadium. The game was really good. Mind you, I"m not a football fan, myself, but this was pretty exciting, what with the score back and forth and the last play the play with the win hanging over it... intense! OBVIOUSLY Mr. San Diego was ecstatic with the outcome and even though I showed up in Charger gear, I found myself rooting for "America's Team" myself! I usually root for Dallas and the Chargers, but I dind't know which way to go with them playing each other! We thought it would be fun for me to go Chargers, but I kept getting excited when DALLAS made a play! Silly me!

We had a ball and Mr. SD got over me purchasing a pricey gift for him and was very happy with his surprise.

I'd write more on life, but I have like 8 minutes to do my hair, get dressed and get on the road to work!!!!!!

BYE!

:: Jenn 5:47 AM [+]

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Time Flies!

Here it is. Time to go back to work again. I guess I'm mostly all healed up. I have an itchy belly and some pains on my side still, but for the most part, I'm all good. So, it's back to the grind. Of course, I'll only be working Wednesday and most of Thursday, then off on Friday, so I'm EASING back into it. I'm NERVOUS about getting back to my desk after two weeks away... it's going to be HELL! But, after having your guts ripped out, how bad can it be, huh? Oh yeah, plus I have a new employee who started when I left, so I need to work with her on some training... it's going to be interesting!

I think I might miss all the movies I have been able to watch lately, but that's the way it is for us working people!

:: Jenn 2:17 PM [+]

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