Jacksonville, Day 1

Hooray, time for a much needed vacation! It's not going to be a long one, but it'll be nice to get away for a little bit. I'm off to Jacksonville, Florida to visit my friend from undergrad Page. She purchased a house there, and I'll be hanging out with her until Sunday morning. It'll be an added bonus if I can see her brother (he was a freshman when we were seniors) and her father.  Page's mom, unfortunately, passed away back in the fall after a long battle with breast cancer, so it'll be nice to see how the family is doing.

After a short flight, Page picked me up at the airport and we went immediately to her brother's apartment high-rise. Wow, his place was decorated so nicely, like something out of a magazine. I was really impressed. And then I remember, ok, yes, Brightman is now an adult, not some college freshman anymore. It's appropriate for him to have nice matching, grown-up furniture.

The three of us walked over the bridge and towards Sweet Pete's, a confectionery. Wow, looking at all the different types of candy was a little overwhelming! We ended up getting a few boxes, and each of us got one of those specialty sodas. I went with grape, but they had things like bacon-flavored soda for anyone who's brave enough to try it. We took the skyway train back to the car and then Brightman drove us to dinner. I had a crab pasta dish that was delicious!

Then it was off to Page's place. She had given me a tour via FaceTime, but it was cool to see it in person. Her roommate was out-of-town for my visit, so we had some one-on-one time. I got my own room and bathroom, so that was really nice too.  OH, and her kitty is all grown up!

Dinner with the CrossFit Girls

Work out together, eat together.

I got a side salad and the meatloaf (which I got last time, but it was so good that I wanted it again). I didn't get a drink last time since they are rather expensive. I swapped it out for sharing dessert: slices of lemon cake and chocolate cake. Yum!

Delta Woes

On the way to CrossFit yesterday morning, the radio was saying that Delta Airlines was experiencing major delays and cancellations due to an outage. Oh great. How was this going to impact my trip to Atlanta??

I kept an eye on my flight information when I got home from the gym. Since I had the extra time, I went to Safeway to get some travel snacks. I went to the airport fully knowing that the flight would be delayed some more. Delta even went so far as to order what looked like 60 pizzas and popcorn for the people in the waiting area. Normally, I would be happy about free food, but I'm already kinda a nervous traveler and I just wanted to GO! Surprisingly, people weren't really visibly upset in the waiting area. I'm not sure if that's because of the advance notice of the delay or they were in a food coma (or both!).

I was supposed to get to Atlanta around 5 PM and meet my boss at baggage claim so that we could get dinner and go to the hotel. All that waiting resulted in me getting to Atlanta around 8:30 PM and getting to my hotel room at around 9:30 PM. Sigh.

Anyway, the meeting today was successful and my boss was happy, so that's really all that matters to me. I'm thankful this was a short trip! My boss said that Delta was going to give $200 travel vouchers to affected customers, so I'll be on the lookout for it and planning for a random fun trip in the back of my mind.

Happy Birthday, Hugo!

My cousin's birthday is coming up on Monday, but we decided to celebrate earlier. We went over for pizza and cake. He specifically requested a chocolate cake, which I baked last night. While I would have liked to have made the frosting from scratch, I haven't been able to master the right consistency, so I went with store-bought (heh).

Korean Lunch with Coworkers

I went with 3 of my coworkers to a Korean place for lunch. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. I got a rice bowl and you got to choose from a selection of things to add to it. I went with eggs (both sunny side up and omelet style), cucumber, and bulgogi beef for around $10. I would totally go to this place again, but there are other restaurants in the area that we want to try out first before circling back to this one.

Even though I went to CrossFit this morning, I still had gas in the tank to go to spin class tonight.

I went to my parents’ house afterwards and my sister and I split the last of the curry rice. Harry the Homeless Cat paid a visit, WITH A BABY BUNNY IN HIS MOUTH. It was still alive too! We yelled and chased him into the garden, hoping he’d let go, which he did. My sister went to pick up the bunny with an old towel and it leapt out of her hands. The scene was like something out of a cartoon: Harry chasing after the baby bunny and the sister chasing after Harry. We have no idea where the little guy ended up; I hope it’s still alive!

Payment in Macaroni and Cheese

As payment for watering her vegetable garden, my coworker Michelle gave me at tray of macaroni and cheese. This was a similar arrangement to when I did my first Craft Time with Tina with her daughter and her daughter's friend.

The tray was actually kinda heavy. I made sure to share a considerable amount with Julie because it would not be a good idea to eat it all on my own! 

Michelle lives near my parents' so this was really minimal work for food that will last me a few days. Sounds like a win to me! :)

Office Potluck Success

My hope was that I'd come home with an empty tray of banana pudding and enough dumplings leftover for dinner tonight, and mission accomplished. Other items that people brought in from the potluck were: deviled eggs, challah (OMG, this was my favorite!), shepherd's pie (also very good!), some sort of African rice, etc. There were also some sort bought desserts, but meh, not very exciting. I did have one of the red velvet truffles that someone brought in. It was tasty, but very rich. I'm glad I had the self control to have just one!

I set aside some dumplings and scooped up the last of the banana pudding to save for my coworker's kids (my banana pudding sous chef and her little brother). My coworker uploaded a video to my Facebook of them saying "Thank you, Tina!" OMG, yes! With that much cuteness and good manners, I will totally make you more in the future!