The Countdown...

Ten days from now I will reach a significant birthday milestone - 30. It's weird. I act really melodramatic when I talk about it to other people, like I'm facing impending doom, but that's mostly an act. I don't think it will bother me that much. Here are some reasons why:

1) People have to take you more seriously once you turn 30 - especially at work.
2) I think I've gotten more graceful with age (family members are strictly prohibited from
commenting on this statement) - maybe by age 40, my movements will be so smooth and fluid, I'll be ready to perform at Lincoln Center.
3) I also think that I have more poise than I did ten years ago (close friends are strictly prohibited from commenting on this one).
4) It's a liberating thing to finally face something that society has taught you to dread. It's usually anti-climactic, you wonder what all the fuss was about, and then.....you're free!
5) I doubt that I will feel any different on my actual birthday than I did the day before. To be honest, most days I still feel like I'm about 14 years old and there is that mantra about how you're only as old as you feel....

Aren't you glad I ran through that list? Me too. Now to other things:

This is me killing two birds with one stone. Now y'all can see the new hair cut (for a length comparison see pics below) and how big this new nephew o' mine is getting.

He smiles a ton! He's on my cute grandma's lap right there so he has a lot to be happy about.


I love this picture! He's a lucky great grandson, that's all I have to say.

So I haven't really touched much on the day-to-day lives of Atom and JZ. Let's see...poor Atom is at work right now. The video game he's been working on is due to be released this fall, along with the movie it's based on so that means lots of long hours and no time off til October. My work at the COB continues. Ironically July is my slowest month so I took advantage in small ways: leaving early on Fridays to hang out with friends who also weren't at work, catching a movie or two, etc. All while Atom slaves away. I try to make him feel better by telling him that I didn't have any fun at all and buying him ice cream (the man is an ice cream fanatic) - I think it works sometimes. Don't feel too bad for him though. We've both been able to log some decent poolside hours and we laugh and frolic as often as possible. Two of our favorite hobbies this summer: watching episodes of the West Wing (Bartlett for America!) and YogaBurn (do not try it an hour after eating - not good), and planning our future vacations! Finis.

Name Change

I had to change the name on this blog. I always had my doubts about it, namely because I've never been hard core (is that one or two words?) and so why even imply it? I actually have a lot of fears. When I worked at my old job, my boss used to tell me that my five biggest fears were spiders, sharks, snakes, bears and long-term relationships. He was right, although I guess I can finally remove long-term relationships from that list. To be honest, I think the moment that Atom fell in love with me was the night of our first date when I told him that if I ever ran for office, one of the highlights of my political platform would be to rid the world of sharks and create jobs at the same time. At least that's when I like to think he fell in love with me. I hope that I haven't offended anyone by my anti-shark stance. I try to view them as a beautiful component of the circle of life and then I read some article about a shark attack in Florida or Australia and I regress. It's rather sad because if I could be anywhere right now, a beach with soft white sand and crystal clear water is at the top of my list. I would still go in a heartbeat. I just wouldn't swim very far out......and never at dusk. That's my advice for the day.

Anyway, I'm not in love with the new name either so if anyone has any suggestions/feedback, I'm all ears. I'm trying to be better at posting on this blog. This week is birthday week for Atom and I. My brother's wife Tianna's birthday is tomorrow (Friday) and Atom's sister's birthday is on Saturday
so we're looking forward to a lot of good family time. I'll get to see my cute new nephew and go to the new Batman movie with Atom's family. Maybe I'll try to give a review next week......

Who says that?

It's been a while since I posted. I blame the fact that our laptop imploded about a month ago. I also blame my loose grip on reality. There are so many imaginary posts that I do in my head every single day. How am I supposed to remember that I never actually posted about the new shoes I was enraptured about for about a day until I realized they really hurt my feet? Or the the tribute to my lovely friend Ingrid that I had planned after the comments she left on my last post? Be warned, Ingrid...it's coming! The list goes on and on. So here it is, July 13th and now I will get to the meat of this particular post:

I got my hair cut. Not just a trim either - this was a full-blown transformation. My hair used to be well past my shoulders in length. It now barely comes past my chin. After I left the salon, things seemed to go well at first. I liked it, Atom liked it, Lis liked it. I went to work the next morning feeling simultaneously nervous and excited. Would anyone say anything? The first half dozen comments were all very positive. The world is rose-colored. Enter one normally very nice lady from finance:

finance lady: "You got your hair cut."
Me: "Yeah, it was time for a change."
finance lady: "Did you cut it yourself?"

Did I cut it myself? What??? Who says that?! All of a sudden thoughts are swirling around in my head. Does it really look as though I cut six inches of my own hair by myself? Is it because of my cowlick? I know what my hair would look like if I cut it myself because I used to do it all the time when I was about four. Now, I'm pretty sure that this lady did not mean to cause so much angst. Maybe she just didn't know what else to say and is trying make conversation. It gets better about four hours later:

same finance lady: "So, are you trying to look your age?"
Me: Well, since I'm turning 30 next month, no, I hope I don't look exactly my age."
same finance lady: "Some people were talking about your haircut. They think you look older."

Awesome. I look older. Again, not something I want to hear as I exit my 20's. And on top of that, people are talking about my hair out of earshot. Self-esteem plummeting.

You'll be happy to know that I've recovered and really like the new 'do. Like I said, I really don't think she meant any offense and hopefully this will be viewed as the humorous anecdote that I meant it to be. But still......who says that?

Misc.

Man, what a crazy week! Between my fabulous parents flying in on Tuesday, Atom working SUPER late this week, visiting my brother, sister-in-law and their new baby and celebrating King Kamehameha Day (yes I have to look it up to spell in every time) at work, I am spent, simply spent.

It's so great to have my parents here, though. I went to lunch with them the afternoon they flew in and it was just me and mom and dad. I was so excited thinking about all of the places I could take them, and where did they decide they wanted to go? Crown Burger. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a Crown Burger fan. Those french fries, the special sauce they put on their burgers....I try not to think about how I usually end up feeling after I eat there. Still, I'm a fan. It was just a slightly anticlimactic moment for me to hear their decision after imagining all of the places we could have gone. I digress. As I watch my mom cooking up fabulous meals for my brother and sister-in-law and I listen to my dad showing Atom his latest Linux gadget (I'm sure it has an actual name), I'm reminded of how awesome my parents are and how fortunate I am.

Another highlight? King Kamehameha Day at work. My co-worker brought in dark chocolate Mounds bars, I played the Hawaii 5 0 theme song for every person who entered our workstation - a fabulous day. I am in love with those Dark Chocolate Mounds bars! Buy them! You won't regret it.

Auntie Mame

I am a very proud auntie today! Not only do I get to claim these adorable tots:

But I now have a new one to worship! His name is Liam (I think - they were undecided for a while), and he was born on May 29th at 4:58 PM. He had a pretty rough time of it and spent the majority of yesterday in the NICU, but he is a fighter! He surpassed everyone's expectations and is doing great. My little brother is a dad! Weird, wild stuff....

Yeah, so, I've had ambitions of creating a blog for sometime only, I'm kind of a procrastinator so I was really proud of myself the first time I created a blog. Imagine my dismay when at work I find out that my blog page has been blocked due to a suspect key word. I swear I did not intentionally put this questionable word on my blog. I had to think long and hard about what could possibly have caused this problem. Then, my sister kindly pointed out that it could be the alias I gave myself. Who knew that she was more up on urban slang than her only recently married sister? At any rate, this is my second blog attempt and I sure hope you won't judge me. Il faut soufrir pour reussir!