Home again... Ahhhh...

More sleepy sea lions...

Made it home yesterday and immediately hit the sack... Man, it's good to sleep with my hubby and kitties in my own bed again...

I was supposed to head out to the rink for some skating, but I was absolutely wiped out... I ended up staying home instead and hanging out with my hubby...

Time to get started on the clapotis... I unpacked the yarn last night and I will be casting on today... Maybe....

Dinner deserves it's own post

The wharf at Santa Cruz... Great place to go check out Sea Lions...

Yes, it's my last night here... Stitch and Bitch grrlz, I really missed you tonight and I was thinking about ya while eating dinner... Looking forward to seeing everyone next Tuesday...

Made the decision... Since I didn't pack my size 8 circs, the socks won out...

Since I have FINALLY completed the audit and 90% of the problems were solved on this trip, I decided I deserved a REALLY nice dinner out... So, I made reservations after work and went out to one of my faves in San Jose, La Papillon...

Dinner started out with a glass of Champagne (yup, the real stuff from France) to celebrate all of the hard work I have put in over the last 2 trips out here to get this transfer to run smoothly...

Dinner was served with bread and the dining utensils were SILVER...They gave me a petit fois gras for an appetizer, free of charge (SWEET!) OMG!!! MELT!!! Yummy... The next course (again, freebie) was an anise/duck consumme (again, MELT...) For dinner, I had the wild mushroom open ravioli with a glass of chardonnay... This ravioli was TO DIE FOR... After taking 45 minutes to finish the entree (and savor EVERY bite of it) I went for dessert... They had a bittersweet chocolate mousse topping a crust of macadamia nuts... SHEER HEAVEN!!! The only way to describe this meal is a culinary orgasm... No kidding! Every bite was a flavor explosion in your mouth. Incredible... Unfortunately, KIP was IMPOSSIBLE at this place...

Mike, you missed a GREAT dinner... Maybe next time...

Now, time to go to sleep. Gotta be up and out of the room by 4am to catch a 6am flight back to Albuquerque... Yup, I was doing the "cabbage patch" down the hallway of the hotel this evening singing "I'm going Home!!!!"

"Fate must have a reason... Why else endure the season of Hollow Soul"... k.d. lang - been my theme song this week... Gonna do a figure skating program to this song this fall!!!

California, Day 9, almost done

Yes, this is what I drove through on Sunday morning to get to the beach in Santa Cruz to go look at the sea lions (the pic that I posted yesterday)... It was still snowing when I took this picture... Now, being from Florida, I am not used to driving through snow to get to the ocean...

I am going home tomorrow morning... WOO-HOO!!! Yippee!!! Unfortunately, no first class upgrades were available... Booo.... So, I need to head to the store tonight to pick up some food for the plane, since it leaves at 6:20 am and NOTHING is usually open at the airport that early...

Things I will miss about California:
Good Wine (and LOTS of it)
Sea Lions
Sushi in the cafeteria
Toblerone bars in the vending machine
Communknity
Green... All over...
Rain (and LOTS of it)

Things I am looking forward to in Albuquerque:
Hubby & kiddo
Kitties
Puppies
My own bed
Skating
Friends
Stitch and Bitch
My birthday next Tuesday (the 21st...)

Tonight, the packing starts... I picked up a duffle bag here at work so I don't have to worry about being over the 50 lb limit with all of the stuff I picked up this last week... Way too much yarn (is there really such a thing???) and wine... I have a 4 pack carry-on, but still need to pack 2 other bottles... Time to see if there is any bubble wrap around here that I can steal to wrap the wine bottles in... I have one last tool fingerprint to do then I can head back to the hotel and start packing everything and making sure the iPod is charged for the trip...

Now, the important question, start the clapotis or finish the socks on the trip???

California, Day 8

Here is one of the pictures of the sea lions that I went to the wharf to go out and see... Kinda feeling like this sea lion today...

Not much going on today... I did re-do my travel reservations... I am coming home on Wednesday now rather than Friday. I am looking forward to coming home, I really miss everyone... A 5 day trip is fine, but 10 days or 14 days really is way too much...

I made one last trip out to Communknity to get some more yarn... One of the girls there was working on a clapotis... Between her and Noelle, I am now going to try the Clapotis so I have a nice wrap for work... Someone thinks that it's OK to keep the air on FREEZING the entire day... I picked up some nice pink baby soft wool to make it with...

Still working on the socks... I am about to turn the heel on the Toasty Toes socks... Looking forward to that! I am hoping the pair will be done before I get back...

California, Day 7

OK, how much more freaky can you get??? Gentlemen, start your engines...

Today was a blast... Started out the day heading down to the coast to check out the Sea Lions... On my way, I ran into a snowstorm... Yes, snow.... Snow on my way to the beach... Made it through the mountains and got to the Wharf in Santa Cruz and checked out the sea lions...

After I got back, I headed up to Sonoma for some yummy wine tasting... Went out to two of my favorite vineyards, VJB and Ledson... Had ravioli at a great Italian place next door to VJB... Picked up a couple of bottles of wine and had a couple of others shipped home since I won't be able to carry all of the wine and yarn I pick up on the plane back home with me...

I can't wait to get home...