and i have the sunburn to prove it

So, Jeff and Daniel, two of my good friends, had the idea to go to Stinson Beach today. We headed out around 11, and had a great time. It was quite relaxing, despite the large crowd. There is something very soothing about the sound of the ocean. Here are a video and some pictures from our fun day at the beach. I am particularly fond of me with my shirt and sunglasses over my face. :)

The question no one's asking

So, it's fabulous that Sarah Shourd has been released from her 13-month imprisonment in Iran, but what I really want to know is this; with so many prime hiking locations in the U.S., WHY DID SHE AND HER TWO FRIENDS GO HIKING IN IRAQ???

Moving on...

I just want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support over the past few days. More quickly than I thought (and mostly with the Lord's comforting hand), the sharp pain in my heart is fading to a dull ache. You can't argue or be upset with what Heavenly Father has planned for your life; all you can do is say to Him, "Ok, You know what's best - show me." Being at the temple last night was very comforting and helped me immensely.

I am glad that my dog has been officially adopted by the Athey family, and know she will have a happy and fulfilling life there, and am sincerely hoping that she entirely quits the indoor potty habit she had. I also hope that there are no hard feelings between any members of the family and me. Jen and Michelle, if you read this, I have some cute black & white photos of your boys from the BBQ after Benjamin's blessing that I would be more than happy to send you.

Thank you to friends for making me laugh, especially Sara last night who made me howl with memories of the inclining bed in our apartment in Barcelona, and ridiculous talk of intestinal discomfort and pneumonia.

E-mails

I buy stuff from the internet. You know, tickets, jewelry, etc. Doing this however, has put me on everyone's e-mail list, and despite repeated attempts to remove my name, I keep getting these emails! I get e-mails from Ticketmaster telling me about tickets on sale and specials for the week. They also send me presale offers, which rarely come in handy, since I have no interest in seeing say, Cap'n Joe & the Shrimp Shack Shooters on Sunday, May 15, 2011.

The SF Symphony sends me e-mails to spouting the virtues of their upcoming performances, and, more frequently, asking for a donation. The obnoxiousness of these e-mails is topped only by the weekly phone calls, which for some reason, always occur on Sundays.

Some bulk e-mails are okay: I like to know that Disneyland has a new "Big Thunder Suite" at the Disneyland hotel, even if I could never afford to stay in it. I do not want to know, however, that Disney Movie Rewards "misses me." Uh...how can an inanimate program miss me? What they are really saying is, "Why aren't you buying more Disney movies?"

Bottom line is, while I understand marketing, I feel like I am spending an inordinate amount of time hitting the DELETE button on all these e-mails. Make it stop!

Take me!

So, I was driving to work the other day and there was a boat on the side of 680. This gave me pause: how do these boats end up on the side of the freeway? I mean, is someone in a giant pickup towing his boat run out of gas and then decide to unhitch on the side of the road? What exactly was the thought process that occurred when they decided to leave their $100,000 boat sitting on the freeway? I mean, I could just come up and take it.

Winner Winner NOT chicken dinner.

Hello all! Mike and I have entered a contest that runs from today until August 25th. This is to win an engagement ring and an all-inclusive honeymoon from Diamond Nexus Labs. Vote for us early AND often at LOVE ROCKS! If you vote, you will also be entered to win a $1,000 gift card from them.

Who knew?

On Friday night, Mike accompanied me to San Francisco so I could meet a stranger and sell him the tickets I had to the Idina Menzel show. We got there earlier than the buyer, and parked on Franklin half a block from Grove just next to the Ballet. Little did we know that we would be in for a Jerry Springer-like drama....involving homeless people.

When we first pulled up, there was a homeless woman standing eating an apple next to her shopping cart, which was full of, among other things, bottles and cans. About 15 minutes after we got there, a pickup truck with tall plywood sides pulls up next to the woman. The man who got out of the cab was this big bald guy, and he loads the woman's cans and bottles into the back of his truck, hands her some money, and then she storms off, clearly irritated.

Just as the man gets back in his truck and is about to pull away from the curb, another homeless person, this one an African-American comes limping up the street with his shopping cart yelling at the guy not to leave. As the driver is unloading this shopping cart, yet another African-American street person rolls up with his. To make a long story short, he unloaded both carts and handed them money, and then the homeless guys started yelling at the driver. One of them got up in his face real close and I thought for a minute that we were going to see a fist fight between the homeless and their recycle manager. In the end, the driver was yelling, and he got back in the cab of his truck, slammed the door, and sped off. Who knew the homeless had so much drama?