San Francisco Part II

Ahh...there it is. The photo that would not upload previously. Did I mention that I love this bridge? Yes, yes I did. I hope to go back to San Francisco someday and maybe bike across it and explore more of the city. I really liked what I saw of it. I also really enjoyed Pleasanton. It kind of just feels normal now for me to pick my life up and live somewhere else for days or weeks at a time so I felt totally normal being there, driving someone else's car on streets I don't know, and taking care of a 7 year old. I had fun exploring the area and playing "mom" for a couple days making lunches and driving her to and from school. The whole CA doesn't bus children to school thing just baffles me. Sure, it's expensive, but every single family driving a car into a tiny school parking lot every morning? Chaos. And school starts after 8 which is when most people would already be at work. And they have a late start day once a week. It just seems very challenging for families to work it all out. I'm thankful that I grew up in MN with a wonderful school system, that my best friend now teaches in!

I was traveling most of the day, got home to the rainy thunderstorming Twin Cities and went to the grocery store at 10:30pm because I have no food to take to work. I think I went to bed before 10 for the past 3 or 4 nights, so you'd think I'd be more tired again tonight but as soon as I get home I feel like I have a million things to do. However, it's 2 hours later here and I have to get up for work in the morning so I better get myself to bed.

San Francisco

I arrived at SFO on Saturday night and got picked up by my friends and they brought me to their town of Pleasanton, CA. Their downtown is adorable, and even at night I could tell while people like living in California. Yesterday I had a wonderful day in San Francisco. I had a 7 year old and someone I barely know as my tour guides, and we got a lot done in one day. We took the BART train into the city and bought an all day transportation pass so that we could take any trolley, cable car, or bus around town. The city itself reminded me a lot of Paris or other French cities that I have been to. We also saw a lot of French tourists while we were out and about. Anyways, we started off by taking the cable car up and down one of the giant hills. There were so many tourists crammed into them, my guess is people that live there don't actually use them for reliable transportation.

Our first stop was China town, which Esther was very excited about because she is from China. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant on the second story of a building with huge windows. Great view and good for people watching. Esther was delighted that she got to eat so much rice. And Marissa got 3 fortunes in her cookie!

We wandered through some of the stores and looked at the weird foods in the grocery stores. Then we hopped back on a cable car that took us down to Fisherman's Warf on the waterfront. It was pretty windy down there but there were a lot of people wandering around and there was a festival going on at the Ghiradelli factory. We got some ice cream from their little store and then headed on to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was amazing to see the bridge up close, I just think it is so beautiful. I've always thought San Francisco was gorgeous from all my days of watching Full House (which I actually watched today haha). I didn't get to see the Full House house or Lombard St. but oh well. We were all pooped by the end of the day and still had a long train ride home.

Ok, Blogger is taking forever to upload any of my other pictures...maybe I will try to put more in a separate post.

I was supposed to be a bride tomorrow :(

Well, it's been 5 weeks today and it's going fast and I'm feeling ok. However, tomorrow was supposed to be our wedding day. I would have felt more sad if we hadn't purposefully gotten legally married earlier before we knew about the deployment. We were able to enjoy that and happily say our vows to each other without thinking of the year apart looming in front of us. We didn't have to rush to get married before he left, and luckily we got almost all of the money back that we had down on the wedding. I am so happy that we are married and that it was just about us when we got married and we didn't have to stress about anything (other than me putting a wrong number in my ssn on my marriage application, oops!). But I am sad that we don't get to have our wedding tomorrow. Everything was going to be perfect and beautiful. It was going to be outdoors by a lake and tons of trees, and by the looks of the weather forecast, tomorrow's weather was going to be absolutely perfect too. Mid 70's and mostly sunny. Instead, my dress has to sit in the closet for another year, and I'll have to plan yet another wedding when he comes home. It's disappointing, but hopefully we'll be able to do something just as great next fall. We can renew our vows and finally be together. Please keep us in your prayers for his safety and my sanity and patience.

I won't just be moping around this weekend though because I am off to San Francisco tonight to go take care of my 7 year old buddy Esther for a few days. She and her mom are friends of our that are living there for a temporary work assignment. I'm excited to go somewhere new and to see Esther there (she has been back here to visit a few times). The weather is supposed to be great and hopefully I will be able to take in some of the sites.

Inhale, Exhale

One of the things I decided to do this year is take a Tai Chi class. I had been wanting to check it out for the past couple years, and while Will was home in July the two of us went to a free introductory class one Sunday morning. We both really enjoyed it and wanted to keep learning. Unfortunately we can't do it together any time soon, so he (if he has time) will be trying to learn it from books, and I will be taking weekly classes. Tonight was the first class of my 8 week course that I signed up for. I like that the instructor is British so his voice is very soothing with his accent. I also really like that Tai Chi is about relaxing and connecting all parts of your body and mind in order to free up your "chi" or energy throughout your physical and mental body. My instructor says you need to move below the speed of habit, and it's amazing how relaxing it actually is. Your breathing automatically adjusts to your body movements so you don't even have to really think about it. If you close your eyes it feels like your body is just effortlessly moving on its own in fluid motions. I think this is going to be really good for my energy and mental health since I often struggle with anxiety and can feel physically affected by my emotions. Tai Chi is also supposed to be really good for your joints, muscles, and can improve the functioning of your internal organs. I am excited to learn more of the forms. Maybe in a few years Will and I will be one of those weird couples doing Tai Chi by the lake :)

Book Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This book was very enjoyable to read. It is an interestingly written story about a writer from London who gets connected to the people of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society from the channel island of Guernsey. I never really even realized that the channel islands between England and France existed, but after reading this book they sound beautiful and maybe I will get a chance to visit there someday. The characters both in London and in Guernsey are so lovable and quirky. Their literary society (and it's strange name) came about during the German occupation during World War II. The story is actually a series of fictional letters written to and from the characters in the book and it's fun to get to know them each through their own eyes, and through the observations of others'. I love writing and receiving letters, and that's actually how I got to know and fall in love with my husband. Each page turned in this book was like receiving a letter from a friend in the mail. It's a quick read and the story made me smile and warmed my heart.

One last hurrah at the State Fair

Yesterday I went to the State Fair for the third and final time this season. It was a long and interesting day going with a group of 12 total family members including 3 in wheelchairs and one child. It was hard to stay together and get around, but we managed pretty well and everyone had a good time. I like going with my family because we can all get different food items and share. A bite here, a bite there is much better than say, eating a whole order or cheese curds by yourself. We had our favorites including cheese curds, onion rings, and Sweet Martha's and milk. I also ate some other things, like this:

That, my friends, is a deep-fried cheeseburger. Bun and all. The batter kind of tasted like onion ring batter. They should have put some fried onions in there too. While it tasted like a heart attack, it was good! I think after 3 days of the fair this year I got my fill of fatty food, people-watching, and looking at buildings full of crafts.

Side note: I finally heard from my husband! I got an email and a phone call on Saturday morning. I had not heard his voice in 4 weeks, it made me feel so happy but also made me miss him more.

Gaga Craziness

Megan and I went to the Lady Gaga concert on Tuesday night. The fact that tickets were ridiculously expensive, and the fact that Megan was starting her school year and me starting back at work at 8 am the following morning did not stop us from going and it was well worth it. We could have done without the opening act, Semi Precious Weapons, because they were insane and the singer was just a hot mess. He even changed his whole outfit (including his skin tight leggings) on stage, not kidding. But Gaga was amazing. That girl puts on a good show. It was kind of a storyline with elaborate sets and costumes, and it didn't even matter that most of the songs had absolutely nothing to do with the "plot" because it was all just so flashy and exciting. I think she changed her outfit during or in between almost every song, sometimes in about 30 seconds while still singing backstage. Impressive.

Even the set changes were entertaining. Of course it was weird and if you've seen any of her performances you know she does weird things with blood and strange costumes and such. That's all just part of her character.

Ok, so here's the thing about the show that we didn't like. We were sitting next to a family with children the approximate ages of 6 and 10. This show was NOT appropriate for children. Swearing (mostly from the opening act), sex, blood and gore are not things that you should pay for your child to see, especially on a school night. What are these parents thinking? The only thing that was in any way remotely appropriate for kids was her message about being yourself and loving who you are and not caring about what other people think. But even that was tied in to her advocacy for GLBT rights and support. She has a large gay following and her support for the community is part of the reason she has such dedicated fans. I don't even want to think about how many things parents had to explain to their kids after seeing this. For grown ups, it was a very good (in a weird way) show. As crazy as Gaga seems, she really is a talented artist. She writes all of her music and lyrics, always sings live, is an amazing dancer, and is so creative and unique that she has basically made herself an icon. And I think she is younger than me. Megan and I were trying to figure out who to compare her to. Elvis? MJ? Madonna? Prince? Maybe a combination of all of them, but she is in a class of her own.

I didn't get a whole lot of sleep after the concert because I was all hyped up and then all anxious about going back to work. By the time I finally got to bed I couldn't fall asleep. My first day back at the office was super busy. After a two month "vacation" a lot of things had changed and I had a lot of stuff to sort through and organize. I have a very long to do list and have hardly made a dent in it. Plus I have to change my name on everything, which is practically a job in itself. It feels good to be back and be more productive. These two days have gone so fast and I have worked 9-10 hours a day and had to cut myself off. I have a lot to do tomorrow before the holiday weekend so I better get to bed. Still haven't heard from the hubby :( Hopefully he will be able to contact me soon. I miss talking to him and haven't heard his voice in almost a month.