Would you like to know how I’m going to do this? I’m going to JAPAN, baby!
Ahem.
So yes, a couple things came up with the personal life and it was one of those must do it or will be driven to the brink of freaking out. Therefore, this is personal. But I won’t be talking about the personal stuff here or on the internetz at all, really.
On the other hand, it IS Japan. So at the very least it will be an interesting trip. Thus I will focus on the light and nifty stuff that we’ll be able to do in Japan beyond the personal stuff.
…
Ah heck, I’ll just take lots of pictures and show you when I get back. For now, just know that I’m out of the country for a while. 
It was a wonderful trip to San Diego last week. Of course, I’m told it rained almost every day back in NJ while we were gone, so I shouldn’t have been surprised at the state of my gardens when I returned. But I was. Honestly, who could be prepared for this?
I poop you not, people, the weeds had completely hidden my vegetable garden in a knee high carpet of verdant light green. Obviously, there wasn’t anything for it but to wade in and do battle with the weeds. Here’s was the progress by noon of Saturday. (Hey look, there’s Thai eggplant and carrots revealed!)
And by the end of Saturday I had won back my veggie garden!
Sunday was a bit more leisurely. I was able to repot quite a few plants that were desperately in need of new potting. I was also able to pick some incredibly awesome sugar snap peas from my newly restored veggie garden as well as some nice string beans. The sugar snap peas are so much larger, sweeter and crisper than anything I’ve been able to get at the stores, even Trader Joe’s can’t match these.
The blackberry area was brimming with beautiful berries - enough for a couple of pies, really. The grapes are coming along nicely but not ready yet and the herb garden is beginning to grow in a bit more. I’m most excited about my blood orange tree which has set quite a few oranges. I can’t wait to taste them!
*Click on the small pics to embiggen. 
And the final chapter of the San Diego trip comes to an end.
Wednesday was a full convention day for me. I attended sessions, did some networking and caught up with colleagues I don’t get to see very often. In the meantime, the hubby hung out by the pool and had a great day in the sun. Catherine’s husband and kids arrived and apparently had a great time in the pool with Uncle hubby.
I got back from the convention center before Catherine and caught up with my hubby as well as her hubby and the kids so we took a walk around San Deigo in search of fun things to feed the kids. First on the list was Heavenly Cupcake, to amp the kids up on sugar, of course. This place had very, very good cupcakes. The kids enjoyed choclate frosted banana chip while I enjoyed a red velvet cupcake with the perfect amount of frosting on top and hubby had a vanilla cupcake drizzled with caramel. Very yummy. Afterwards,we all headed back to the hotel and then over to Seaport Village for corndogs for the kids and a random run around the park area by the waterfront. There were huge kites being flown on the edge of the park, lots of dogs and general fun to be had with the kids. Shoma and Sato are ages 5 and 3, so tree climbing was an activity, as well as general running and various shinanigans.
Wednesday night, the hubby and I were beat from all the after dark networking events. We were planning on staying in anyway, so when Catherine and David wanted to head out to a networking event, we offered to babysit. Shoma and Sato aren’t real used to babysitters when Away from home. Plus, I’m pretty sure Sato was running a slight fever. But feeling well or no, they settled in with myself and Uncle hubby just fine. We played with stuffed animals, watched tv and played helicopter. Shoma, the older, fell asleep first while Sato had a heart to heart with the hubby about why he didn’t like big dogs. Kid has his reasons, being licked in the eye being one of them. Sato climbed up on the bed with me after a bit and fell asleep. I took David’s iPhone and took pictures of all the sleeping boys, including hubby, who had fallen asleep on the floor. Good night.
Thursday was the final part of the conference. Wrapping up early, I joined the boys again for a breakfast over at Seaport Village and a long walk around the park teaching them the finer points of feeding birds. Shoma was unhappy that I could feed birds by hand but they would only eat his bread if he threw it. I also cheated on my puppies and petted lots of dogs. Hey, I figure Shoma and Sato could benefit from seeing how a person should always ask the owner first and then properly greet the dog, allowing the dog to approach and sniff and get to know you at his or her own pace (keeping eye contact with the owner, not the dog - in case the dog is an aggressive type. Eye contact can trigger a challenge). I was rewarded with lots of puppy huggles and kisses. One owner said his bulldog never presented his back to a stranger for butt skritches, so I must be extra good people to be so honored.
Once hubby and I packed and checked out, we checked our baggage with the front desk and headed over for the rest of the day at the San Diego Zoo again. Seriously, it sounds weird - but you look at the zoo with completely new eyes when you’re with kids. Shoma and Sato had their favorites, had their not so favorites and basically showed us what two boys at a zoo can do when they’re jet-lagged. Which is, enough, but not so much that all four adults couldn’t handle it. Scariest thing at the zoo for 3 year old Sato turned out to be the bus that took people around the zoo. You got it, we walked almost everywhere. That was quite the low impact cardio…turned high impact when you add pushing a stroller with a kid up a 45 degree slope fast enough to fit in the pandas and the koalas in the last 20 min of zoo opening. The San Diego Zoo, by the way, is a walking challenge wehen you consider both size and all of the steep slopes. Whew.
At the close of the zoo, we bid the family good bye and headed back to the hotel to squeeze in one more business dinner for me before heading over to the airport. It was a really good day, actually. The airport was fairly low fuss and the red-eye went somewhat smoothly in flight.
Now we’re home.
Wow, but the days have been going by quicker than we’d thought. Isn’t that always the way with time spent away from the usual routine at home?
In my case, Monday’s sessions at the conference were a mixed bag. The first regulatory session was extremely interesting for me. I had my reservations when I realized they planned to do an interactive case study in the second portion of the session but the interactive portion had surprising participation, was kept lively and interesting with a bit of tongue in cheek humor. I really valued that session. Unfortunately, the sessions for the rest of the day were less exciting. The information was quite good but the presentation was a bit hum drum and I also realized that a couple of the sessions I’d planned to attend had content that was a little different from what I thought it’d be.
There is of course, a very different story going on after convention hours are over. Monday night was the cocktail cruise around the bay hosted by my company. Both hubby and I were in attendance and we had a great time. It was a unique opportunity for the company employees to socialize, be candid and talk without the worries of organizational hierarchy. Our executive members are quite approachable and it was a lot of fun. Also, our client guests had the chance to relax, enjoy and also give us a chance to build better relationships with them. And finally, I have to mention that the food was delicious. Lots of chilled seafood, wonderful risotto made to order with various add ins such as fresh lobster or duck or truffles, pepper steak cooked to order and a wide selection of hot and savory puff appetizers. After the cruise returned to the marina, a few of my company colleagues returned to the hotel bar and continued with an after party. That was a late night.
Tuesday was a late waking morning. I also attended the conference in stealth mode, sort of being a loner. I was kind of hiding, honestly, because I just wanted to attend my sessions, absorb my info and then curl up into a little ball. :P Once my sessions were over, I headed back to meet up with a couple of clients and took them out to lunch. Of course, it was combined with a little jaunt out to Temecula Valley. Gorgeous vistas, lovely wine tasting and a great change of pace. I actually learned quite a bit of new information about how that company was doing and a few hints at plans for future development that might be a good opening for my company’s applications and services. So see? I was doing my job. Just enjoying it a lot too.
On the return, I was asked to join them at another sponsored event. Happily, the sponsors weren’t competitors - so I didn’t feel guilty. It was a fantastic cocktail and dessert event on the USS Midway. Hubby was able to attend as well, so we had a bit of fun in real Navy flight simulators. The particular simulators we were in simulated dog fight with the other people in the simulators at the same time as us. Hubby piloted and I was in charge of shooting. I managed three kills and we only died once in a chicken fight during the simulation but we took out our opponent with us. The ship itself was very interesting with lots of fighter jets, cockpits and various other Naval examples. The USS Midway is a real ship turned museum. The reception was also lively with bands, lots of fruit with chocolate fondue and various pastry selections. The night wrapped up with fireworks from the USS Midway itself, which were much more elaborate than I’d expected. A very nice night, and happily, a fairly early one.
Hubby and I have arrived safely in San Diego. We landed fairly early in the day and headed straight to the hotel to check in. We’re staying at the Marriott Hotel and Marina, which is a very comfortable hotel directly adjacent to the convention center where my business conference is being held.
I’ll be helping two session chairs during the conference and various other professional activities - but hopefully, hubby and I will have some time to relax and enjoy as well.
It was overcast and lightly drizzling when we arrived. Funny, that was the weather we’d just left behind on the East Coast. :P Happily, the hotel room was ready immediately so we were able to settle into the hotel room and then do a little reconnaissance. I figured out how I was supposed to get to the convention center and times for registration while hubby figured out how to get to the fitness center and pool. Obviously our priorities are slightly different for this trip.
We were also starving, so we walked a short distance along the scenic marina to the nearby Seaport Village for various restaurants and dining options overlooking the bay and some eclectic window shopping. Our choice for lunch had a covered outdoor patio that was really very pleasant. Hubby had a charred ahi tuna burger and I had a fresh escalar fish burger. I’d never had a fish burger before, but the escalar was a white fish with a mild, slightly buttery flavor and flaky, delicate texture. It was served with a sort of tartar sauce kicked up with stone ground mustard. It was really very tasty, excellent, in fact. I also had a tiny cup of she-crab soup laced with sherry, the perfect warmth for a drizzly afternoon.
Thus fortified, the hubby and I strolled about the village window shopping. He picked up a postcard to send to his mom - which I’m eager to see if he actually sends it. I think she’ll like it. There were sidewalk vendors along the bay side and I had fun watching people. There were fortune tellers. One in particular had surrounded her little area in huge parasol type umbrellas as protection from the gusts and drizzling rain. She also had the full set up with the various crystals, a crystal ball and a tarot deck. Plus, she was styling with an eccentric, huge, brilliant orange wide-brimmed hat. Another fun attraction was a gentleman with an array of parrots, cockateels, love birds and cockatoos all rescued - out socializing with people for donations. The guy was pretty entertaining and would randomly walk up and place a bird on various people for pictures, to say hello or just for kicks. The birds were also quite sociable and one said “hello” to me.
We wondered about the village, along the marina and back around the hotel for the rest of the afternoon before heading back to our room. After a brief rest, we re-emerged for dinner and enjoyed an excellent meal at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion. It was quite tasty and the service was very attentive. The favorite was shrimp lumpia - an adaptation of the Phillipine delicate spring roll in which a very generously sized shrimp was wrapped with various veggies in a delicate spring roll and served with a sweet and slightly spicy mango sauce with fresh mangoes diced in the dish. We were both happy with our fresh fish entrees. Hubby had the salmon and I had the pecan crusted trout. Dessert wrapped up the meal in the form of incredibly decadent chocolate molten lave cakes served with fresh ice cream. Yum. And of course, the whole meal was accompanied by a fairly pleasant red wine.
That was just about it for us - we were beat. We headed back to the hotel room and lazed about watching tv for a little bit and then fell asleep.
This morning, we virtuously hit the fitness center for a workout and are getting ready to walk around the San Diego Zoo. Woohoo. That plus I need to pick up my registration and badge for my convention and check in on the tuturials as well as meet up with a couple of speakers and colleagues.
It has arrived! W00t! And in very neat packaging too, I might add. First impressions are always interesting. Sleek, black boxing with a nifty black foam carry case.
Once freed from packaging, I immediately flipped it over in a nice safe spot and unscrewed the panel. It was super easy to swap out the RAM for a 2GB stick. Always nice when the laptop is easy to upgrade. The battery was then slid into place and I plugged it in to start charging.
Start up was easy - I opted for a Windows OS. It took some getting used to, using the touchpad and single button mouse combination.
Not too much bloatware on the netbook - it took a bit of time to remove it though. But then, I’m very detailed and like to restart in between removing several bigger programs. I’m going very light on this netbook and foregoing StarOffice or Microsoft Office in favor of Open Office. I’m also using System Mechanic for virus and firewall protection. The machine came with IE 6…I’m debating on whether to install IE 8 or some other browser.
The screen is small by necessity, definitely a fingerprint magnet, and the keyboard is compact for darned sure. But then, the entire netbook is sleek and compact and beautiful. I guess I don’t mind getting used to typing on it. It’s got a reasonable response time too.
Overalll, on the first afternoon of our relationship, I’m happy with my new acquisition. I’m very hopeful that my new netbook and I will become fast friends.
We went shopping for bridesmaids’ dresses today with the bride-to-be, hubby’s sister. Honestly, it was probably the shortest search for a bridesmaid gown I’ve had in all the weddings I’ve participated in to date. No kidding.
We arrived around 2:30pm and we were pretty much wrapped up by, oh, 4:30pm? Perhaps 5-ish. Not bad at all.
Also a pleasure, the bride’s taste was very reasonable and suited both the bridesmaids trying on dresses for her (that would be me and also another young lady). I think it was a good thing she had the two of us there trying on dresses because I’m a hefty girl with a whole heck of a lot of curvature going on and the other bridesmaid was slender and quite petite. It was good to see the styles of dresses on both of us.
We tried on less than a dozen dresses and only had to try one dress on twice. Honestly, by far the easiest experience I’ve had with bridesmaid dresses ever. Plus, we only had the one session - no going off to boutique after boutique every weekend for months. That could tell you something about what I’ve gone through in other weddings.
Ah well, the dress was chosen - a very complimentary style for all the girls. It was also very reasonably priced. Woohoo! I purchased my dress right away. Even if I’m going to be trying to lose weight between now and the wedding, it’s unlikely my bust size will shrink so I’d need the same size dress regardless. If I do succeed in slimming down everywhere else, the better I’ll look overall. But it’s nice to know that the dress is already flattering on me.
This will be the first black and white wedding I’ve been in and I think it’ll look pretty awesome. Also, it’s far easier to check and see if I already have a comfortable pair of black shoes that the bride will approve than go about finding a pair of shoes and dying them to match some other color and then breaking them in so I don’t go lame on the day of the wedding. Been there, trust me, this is much easier. Plus, the bride has only asked for a small preference: open toed with no bling. That’s a very easy style to match with plenty of room for individuality and comfort.
Quite honestly, I’m every bit as happy about this dress as I was about my own sister’s bridesmaid dress for her wedding - both could be worn again and are very complimentary. Yay!
(It’s kind of not right not to focus on the bride and groom, but I hope there’ll be a little time to get a couple of good shots of myself and hubby all spiffed up in formal wear at the wedding. I think it’ll look pretty darned sharp. Wedding photos come first of course.)
