Hockey, Hockey, and More Hockey!

Lennie, my parents, and I have just returned from a whirlwind trip to Vancouver, BC for two days packed full of hockey fun. You'd think that we were hockey fans with all of the hockey that we watched! (Actually, the sum total of my hockey information comes from Disney's "The Mighty Ducks" movie, not good...) It was a lot of fun to see my nephew play in the tournament, and overall he and his team did really well. In addition to going to the team's game on Saturday, we went to see my nephew play in the "All Star" game on Saturday night, and after that we trekked across the parking lot to see the Vancouver Giants play against a team from Kelowna. Good times were had by all, although I've never taken in that much hockey in one weekend, let alone in my life. Phew!

We took quite a few photos of the adventure, which you can view here. I'm glad that we went up to join in on the tournament fun, and it was cool to hang out with my brother for a little bit. Now I'm looking forward to hanging out in the condo and bringing in the New Year. :-)

Why is it...

Why is it that every time I go to the dentist, my teeth hurt afterwards? I actually like going to the dentist (I'm a little weird, I know), but it seems that my teeth ache or "feel funny" after going there, even if it's only for a cleaning. I consider myself "dentally fortunate," in that I've only had one filling in my life and I've never had braces. But I still want to know why my teeth feel funky after a simple cleaning... I can't seem to figure this one out! :-)

Merry Christmas!

Happy holidays from our house to yours!

Unwarranted Dread?!

Have you ever seen an e-mail pop into your inbox and you've just dreaded opening it, for fear of the body of the message or how you will react to it? Well, I had that happen this morning... the message was sitting there staring a me, and my brain was totally twisting around all of the options and my potential reactions. I went out of my way to avoid opening the message, just knowing that the message was going to make me cry or something. I practiced the art of avoidance for a little while, letting the dread build up in my system.

And all of it was for not. The tears never came, and actually, the message made me smile and do a little happy dance in my office (it's early, so I can do the happy dance without my coworkers seeing me and knowing that I'm weird...). The message had the absolute opposite reaction than I had anticipated, the dread was totally unwarranted.

So, are there things in your life that you're dancing around because you're dreading the reaction? Take it from me: you might be better off just attacking it head on. After all, your reaction may be WAY more positive than you think. It was for me, the unwarranted dread just turned out to be a waste of brain cells, and the happy message made my morning bright. Welcome to another great day!

Sometimes, You Just Have To Take A Day Off.

It was a super-busy weekend. Friday night took us to dinner (yum!) and then the Nutcracker by the Pacific Northwest Ballet with friends. It was a fun night out, but reminded us why we're not really "artsy theater" people. Although, we enjoyed it.

Saturday took me to the spa with two of the greatest friends in my life. After being wrapped in mud, massaged, and getting a facial, I feel refreshed and rejuvenated. This Christmas tradition was born 6+ years ago as a way to treat ourselves and to give each other the gift of time and relaxation. I look forward to this time with friends, and can't wait to get back to the spa. (If I could, I think that I would live in the spa!)

The office holiday party was Saturday night. I'm pretty proud of this event from start to finish. We had a great venue, good food, great tunes to dance to, a packed dance floor, and many co-workers in attendance. I'm pretty proud of this event, and I think that everyone had a great time.

With all of that said, Lennie and I just had to take a day off on Sunday. We lazed around the house, did some laundry, addressed some Christmas cards, watched the DVD "SiCKO" (great movie, I think you need to watch it!), caught up on television shows, and generally didn't leave the condo all day. I needed to take a day off from the world, that's for sure!

Back from Paradise

Wow, what a week! We had a great time in Cabo San Lucas, soaking up the sun, relaxing, riding ATVs, and generally being tourists. I highly recommend taking a vacation between Thanksgiving and Christmas... this is the second year in a row that Lennie and I have taken vacation during this time, and once again we missed monumental weather in the Seattle area, and we had a great time unwinding.

Here are two photos from many (see the complete set here) that we took on vacation:




I don't know if I'm ready to get back to reality, but it sure is coming fast... back to work bright and early tomorrow morning. (Oh, and who turned the temperature down here in Seattle? Brrr!!!)

Travel Photos

Apparently I haven't downloaded photos from my camera for a while... so, here are some of the photos from our trip to California (Yucaipa, San Diego, etc.) in September to see family and for a little work too.... oooppps for not getting to these sooner!

Hmmm...

... it's snowing outside (hello, I live in Seattle, it't not supposed to snow here!) and I'm packing my bags full of shorts and swimming suits. This doesn't seem right, and yet, it seems perfectly right. Go figure. :-)

(Vacation, here I come!)

Simple Pleasures: Friendship

Last night I had the opportunity to get together with some great friends to share some laughter, conversation, good food, and fun times. During the course of the evening, I was reminded of a few great life lessons, including:

• Don't let your job or career define you. There is more to life than what you do to earn your paycheck.



• Laughter really is the best medicine. When you're tired and worn down by the little things in life, spending time laughing with friends can really turn your world around.



• It doesn't matter if you get funny looks from one or two other tables in the restaurant as long as you're still with good friends and having good clean fun.



• Our famous parking lot post-event conversations are a lot shorter when it's literally freezing outside. (I think I'm okay with this life lesson!)



• You shouldn't underestimate the value of friendship. A good friend will be able to pick up conversation with you after not seeing you for weeks or months, as friendship will stand the tests of time.

I'm so grateful for good food, good friends, and good fun. It's good for the soul. (That's a lot of good!) :-)

Accents

What kind of accent do you speak with? Apparently, I'm a neutral American speaker...

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Neutral You're not Northern, Southern, or Western, you're just plain -American-. Your national identity is more important than your local identity, because you don't really have a local identity. You might be from the region in that map, which is defined by this kind of accent, but you could easily not be. Or maybe you just moved around a lot growing up.

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