teresa

Things are shaping up rather well.  Reflecting on the last week – life is pretty good.  Our second week of work was better.  I finally have the temporary desks situated where I can get into my files, and I have spread out where I can work without feeling cluttered.  We bought a bookcase and table from IKEA, which allowed us to put some of the filing up and the table and chairs make the large empty open space look a little less lonely.  I ordered a water jug with blue and red spigots for water which is a big hit – at least for Elliott.  Overall things are shaping up nicely.  Pete, our proud president was in the office.  I heard him make a few phone calls I think he really enjoyed telling people he was in the Pleasanton office today.  He bothered me about the furniture not being delivered, after the 5th wise crack I finally fired back a response that let him know I was tired of hearing about it.  I was the one living everyday without the furniture, and life was going on.  When it got here it would be right, it would look nice, and it will have been worth the wait – I was tired of taking crap about it.  That was our only rocky moment all others were pretty good.  Our 3rd employee finished his first week, he is quiet, but seems very good, he has already dove into our first project, it will be a real test for him, and for me – I hope we both pass.

Home is good.  Every box has finally found a home away in a corner or shoved up in one of the two closets.  We have hung some pictures and a new light from IKEA, the apartment feels pretty good.  We converted to natural shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant, Elliott just finished reading Living Green which inspired us to rid our routine of some of the known or strange ingredients in everyday products.  The bathroom smelt great this morning, with lavender soap and pomegranate shampoo, being green never smelled good!

This week we made a trek into… the city!  We took the BART into SF Friday night.  It was a spur of the moment decision, a little scary and exciting.  We looked on our phones along the way for a restaurant.  I found a few, Elliott shot down a Mexican place, then I found a tapas place, ever since going to the tapas and sangria spot with Krista I had wanted to share something similar with Elliott.  We hopped off the BART at Powell and strolled the streets with the others, I wondered if they were mostly tourists or locals – hard to tell.  We passed by the shops, the tall buildings, the homeless… oh the homeless are everywhere… then we finally found the place.  There weren’t any tables open for another hour or two so we found a cozy seat at the full service bar.  Elliott ordered a mojito, I scanned the menu for sangria, all I found where drinks that I think were at least related under a section titled, Bubble Bath.  Sweet, wine type drinks, with added fruit or something, light, bubbly – perfect!  We enjoyed a few cocktails, and asparagus salad, crab cakes to die for, and a scallop dish that was delish!  We finished it off with a peanut truffle cake with chocolate ice cream that was unbelievable, expensive, and worth every dollar.  We strolled back to the BART station.  A homeless man spotted us from a mile away and caught up with us egging us on by signing Sinatra…  and the way you look tonight…  Elliott having had a couple of cocktails played with the guy, when I sang along he said you know this song, I looked at him puzzled, surely he had heard it too, he was using a little sarcasm that I didn’t know he had in him.  The man then said – you know who that is – Frank Sinatra, do you know what they called him?  Old blue eyes, he answered his own question.  Do you know what they call me?  Old brown eyes said the man really turning on the charm, all that was missing was a drumroll finally – budunt-chhh.  He did eventually “sell” us a newspaper for $1, just trying to earn an honest buck he said, hell I thought he deserved it, he had a pretty nice voice.  A few blocks later we listened to another man playing the “drums” on old pails turned upside down.  He tapped in a perfect rhythm, practically running in a circle, tapping everything from the newspaper dispenser to the street light.  He yelled, Tuesday night I will be on TV, America’s Got Talent, don’t miss it.  I liked that these guys had a sense of humor.  We didn’t give him a dollar, although I thought he deserved it too.

In addition to our trip to the bay Friday, we filled this weekend by rollerblading tonight in the park and we took a friend visiting from Sacramento to downtown P-town (that’s what hey used to call Pleasanton years ago) and enjoyed a coffee drink, browsed through an antique store, it almost feels a little normal here.

I talked to Mom tonight, I wish she didn’t have to be going through her own trek right now.  I wish she could be here, riding the BART into the city, going to the beach, enjoying coffee drinks downtown.  But all in due time, I expect to see her here rather soon, I think she will love it here, watch out Las Vegas, she may even want to move.  In the meantime we will uncover the local hotspots preparing for everyone in the family to visit at sometime or another.  Spending time with friends and with Elliott outside of work is what makes this place feel more like home – come visit us soon!