Today I had a conference in downtown San Francisco, well Nob Hill to be exact. Now, I really hate driving in San Francisco because it is just a crazy place, especially when you don't really know where you are going. So when I got the invitation to go, I flip flopped about it all weekend. The topic was going to be interesting and best of all there was catered breakfast and lunch. You can't really beat that and I decided to go.
Let me start out by saying I Hate San Francisco. The hills, the unpredictability, difficulty of navigation. It was torture. New York is so much easier to drive in. It is a nice grid and things are well marked. I also had to pay $36 for parking. I was only there for about 2 hours. What a rip off! Let's not even mention the freezing wind and the homeless panhandlers. It is all very unpleasant. So, once again, New York wins my vote and there are no annoying cable car tracks in the middle of the road.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Downton Abbey
The latest craze! Downton Abbey is a show that runs on PBS that has taken the town by storm. It is a Masterpiece Theater production that is set in England and follows the lives of a wealthy family and their house help.
Since everyone was talking about it, I decided that I would give it a whirl. So I watched the first episode and as with everything I fell asleep about 3/4ths of the way through. I wasn't that impressed. The first episode is mostly introducing characters and I found that I bit boring and labored. So I spoke with a couple of friends and they told me that it gets better and juicier as you continue to watch.
I can know say that I am on Season 1 Episode 5 and it did get better. It is no Eastenders but it is fun and interesting all the same. I will continue to watch and look forward to the next season which is supposed to be more fun than the first.
Since everyone was talking about it, I decided that I would give it a whirl. So I watched the first episode and as with everything I fell asleep about 3/4ths of the way through. I wasn't that impressed. The first episode is mostly introducing characters and I found that I bit boring and labored. So I spoke with a couple of friends and they told me that it gets better and juicier as you continue to watch.
I can know say that I am on Season 1 Episode 5 and it did get better. It is no Eastenders but it is fun and interesting all the same. I will continue to watch and look forward to the next season which is supposed to be more fun than the first.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Compliments
I got the most wonderful compliment the other day from my friend Mike. He called me up last week and said one of his co-workers was having some IT problems and thought that I could help. He said that he told his co-workers that I was an IT Expert and if anyone could figure out the problem, I could. I was so flattered and it totally caught me off guard. What a nice feeling! I
T is one of those thankless jobs. Most of the time all you hear is complaints or people blaming you for equipment errors or the reason why they can't get on the internet. You rarely get a thank you once the problem is resolved or an apology for the rude and nasty comments they made while you were trying to fix the problem. For one of my friends, whom I do not work with to acknowledge my hard work and skill was truly a highlight. Yay! It made my day!
T is one of those thankless jobs. Most of the time all you hear is complaints or people blaming you for equipment errors or the reason why they can't get on the internet. You rarely get a thank you once the problem is resolved or an apology for the rude and nasty comments they made while you were trying to fix the problem. For one of my friends, whom I do not work with to acknowledge my hard work and skill was truly a highlight. Yay! It made my day!
Kindergarten
Ori will be in Kindergarten next year! Wow, time flies. So, I began the process of trying to figure out where we wanted to put her for her first year of real school. Of course, as always we had a bunch of factors that was complicating the whole decision making process. As time went on we decided to go ahead and start the process crossing our fingers that we would hear something before we put actual money down and had to make a commit.
We had two options. One, continue sending her to private school with a hefty tuition or try our luck at the local public school. Ori is doing exceptionally well at the private school. She has learned so much and each day she constantly amazes me with the concepts that she is learning. I also like the fact that it is a religion based school and that she is getting a foundation in religion that I think is important. The two big factors here are the tuition and whether or not she is accepted in the program. Currently, the preschool is releasing 71 preschool student to kindergarten this year. There are only 2 Kindergarten classes with 40 available spaces total. There is no priority given to preschool students. However, there is priority given to students who have an older sibling that already attends the school.
Our second option was public school. We are lucky in the fact that the public school that she would attend is a very good school with great scores and excellent word of mouth recommendations. My issue is that the parents really push the kids academically to the detriment of other activities that I believe makes the student well rounded. Ori loves school and I would hate for that love to be squashed by a highly competitive academic climate. I would like her to excel in academics, sports and other extra-curricular activities as well.
So, I decided to start the process for both schools and pray for the best outcome for Ori. Little did I know that both processes would be difficult in their own way. Her preschool director suggested that all students who want to enroll in the Kindergarten be at the school at 3am to wait in line to register. I was taken aback. 3am!!!! for Kindergarten? Really? Unbelievable. So of course Quick was out of town and it was left up to me to go and make sure that our daughter got in! The night before they had a Kindergarten registration orientation meeting to go over the requirements, introduce the teachers, take a look at the classrooms and learn a little about the curriculum. I made sure I got there early so I could scope out the crowd. I also spoke to the Dean of Schools to let him know that I really wanted my daughter to get in and I was gripped with anxiety over the 3am time to get in line. He tried to assure me that it would all work out and not to worry too much but how could I listen? In the end during his speech, he told us not to lose sleep over this and not to camp out overnight. Basically leave it in God's hands.
With that advice, I decided that I would get there about 5:30am. I arrived and there was quite a line but I was well within the 40 person limit. I only hoped there were no twins or too many sibling applications. The lady who was first in line had her husband there at midnight! Now that is hard core. The atmosphere was light hearted and the school brought in donuts and coffee to help the mood. It was fun talking with all the parents and seeing some people from my past experience at the school. We were all hopeful and when the office opened at 7am, the registration session went fast and efficiently. We were told that we would find out in 2 weeks whether the kids would be evaluated and then accepted.
Then the next day, I decided to see what was going on at the public school. Much to my dismay, they were already accepting applications. I actually went on registration day. So I picked up the packet and proceeded to get all the information required which is a ridiculous amount. They need way more than private and it is a bureaucratic nightmare. Do you know they want a doctor and dentist sign off or evidence of an appt before they will even accept the registration packet? Well, it took about a week or so to gather everything and turn it back in. I wonder do these people know that I have to work too. It is like it is a full time job to get your kid into the basics of kindergarten and you need a PH.d to navigate the system. I am not a fan.
I felt pretty good that I had a Plan A and B but I was still plenty nervous. About 3 weeks later, I got an email stating that Ori got an evaluation appt for the private school. I thought, "This is a good sign, right?" The school never mentioned anything about what it meant or anything and of course I started speaking with some parents at her preschool and some had been told that they were in. I began to get nervous again. Luckily, Quick was home to take her to her evaluation, which was IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY! Where is the consideration for us working parents? So I told him to ask about her status to see if he could find anything out. I think it was good that I wasn't the one taking her since I was a ball of nerves. Turns out that the evaluation took all of 15 minutes to complete and Quick said he didn't think it was a good idea to ask too much about her acceptance. I was bummed. All that anxiety for nothing.
We fast forward to last week, and we got an ACCEPTANCE letter from the private school! Yippeee! Now I can relax. Next worry topic, coming up with the money for registration and finally tuition. I'm bleeding money again.
We had two options. One, continue sending her to private school with a hefty tuition or try our luck at the local public school. Ori is doing exceptionally well at the private school. She has learned so much and each day she constantly amazes me with the concepts that she is learning. I also like the fact that it is a religion based school and that she is getting a foundation in religion that I think is important. The two big factors here are the tuition and whether or not she is accepted in the program. Currently, the preschool is releasing 71 preschool student to kindergarten this year. There are only 2 Kindergarten classes with 40 available spaces total. There is no priority given to preschool students. However, there is priority given to students who have an older sibling that already attends the school.
Our second option was public school. We are lucky in the fact that the public school that she would attend is a very good school with great scores and excellent word of mouth recommendations. My issue is that the parents really push the kids academically to the detriment of other activities that I believe makes the student well rounded. Ori loves school and I would hate for that love to be squashed by a highly competitive academic climate. I would like her to excel in academics, sports and other extra-curricular activities as well.
So, I decided to start the process for both schools and pray for the best outcome for Ori. Little did I know that both processes would be difficult in their own way. Her preschool director suggested that all students who want to enroll in the Kindergarten be at the school at 3am to wait in line to register. I was taken aback. 3am!!!! for Kindergarten? Really? Unbelievable. So of course Quick was out of town and it was left up to me to go and make sure that our daughter got in! The night before they had a Kindergarten registration orientation meeting to go over the requirements, introduce the teachers, take a look at the classrooms and learn a little about the curriculum. I made sure I got there early so I could scope out the crowd. I also spoke to the Dean of Schools to let him know that I really wanted my daughter to get in and I was gripped with anxiety over the 3am time to get in line. He tried to assure me that it would all work out and not to worry too much but how could I listen? In the end during his speech, he told us not to lose sleep over this and not to camp out overnight. Basically leave it in God's hands.
With that advice, I decided that I would get there about 5:30am. I arrived and there was quite a line but I was well within the 40 person limit. I only hoped there were no twins or too many sibling applications. The lady who was first in line had her husband there at midnight! Now that is hard core. The atmosphere was light hearted and the school brought in donuts and coffee to help the mood. It was fun talking with all the parents and seeing some people from my past experience at the school. We were all hopeful and when the office opened at 7am, the registration session went fast and efficiently. We were told that we would find out in 2 weeks whether the kids would be evaluated and then accepted.
Then the next day, I decided to see what was going on at the public school. Much to my dismay, they were already accepting applications. I actually went on registration day. So I picked up the packet and proceeded to get all the information required which is a ridiculous amount. They need way more than private and it is a bureaucratic nightmare. Do you know they want a doctor and dentist sign off or evidence of an appt before they will even accept the registration packet? Well, it took about a week or so to gather everything and turn it back in. I wonder do these people know that I have to work too. It is like it is a full time job to get your kid into the basics of kindergarten and you need a PH.d to navigate the system. I am not a fan.
I felt pretty good that I had a Plan A and B but I was still plenty nervous. About 3 weeks later, I got an email stating that Ori got an evaluation appt for the private school. I thought, "This is a good sign, right?" The school never mentioned anything about what it meant or anything and of course I started speaking with some parents at her preschool and some had been told that they were in. I began to get nervous again. Luckily, Quick was home to take her to her evaluation, which was IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY! Where is the consideration for us working parents? So I told him to ask about her status to see if he could find anything out. I think it was good that I wasn't the one taking her since I was a ball of nerves. Turns out that the evaluation took all of 15 minutes to complete and Quick said he didn't think it was a good idea to ask too much about her acceptance. I was bummed. All that anxiety for nothing.
We fast forward to last week, and we got an ACCEPTANCE letter from the private school! Yippeee! Now I can relax. Next worry topic, coming up with the money for registration and finally tuition. I'm bleeding money again.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Best eating week!
This week I got to eat at a Japanese Steak House and a Creole restaurant. Two of my favorite types of food. I feel completely spoiled.
For Valentines day we went out with a group of friends to Hisui in Vacaville to celebrate a birthday. It was a crowded and crazy night and our group ended up waiting 1.5 hours for a table even though reservations had been placed over 2 weeks ago. They were so unorganized that they had a ton of people milling around in their lobby complaining about reservations, and where they were in line, etc. Sheer pandemonium. However, the food was fair in the end. I mean after waiting that long we were all starving and anything would have been mana from heaven. In anycase, we got the standard japanese steakhouse fare. I got the shrimp and steak combo that came with soup, salad, veggies, fried rice. It is all cooked in front of you in a sort of show format. All very entertaining and the you get to eat in the end. Perfect. I was stuffed!
Then the day after Valentines, I decided to treat myself to a long overdue massage. And boy was it glorious but I stopped at Nola's in Palo Alto for a little nosh before hand. Now, I love creole food but it is a bit hard finding the authentic kind that is on par with a trip to New Orleans. I have been to Nola's before and remember not being too impressed and I can say again, it was okay. It did not hit the spot though. I opted for the mixed green salad and the chicken and andouille gumbo with okra. Athough, I was impressed that the okra did not make the dish into a goopy mess, I was a little disappointed to the overall taste. I think the roux could have cooked a little longer to develop the taste and the gumbo lacked a spiciness that I look forward to in good creole food. The gumbo also was not served piping hot which was also a little disappointing in addition, the tiny pieces of andouille did not allow for the nice smokey flavor that I was craving. I will give Nola's another try mostly because there are not that many creole restaurants around and perhaps that was not the most popular dish. In any case, it was a little bit of New Orleans charm that I have been missing. Next time I will try the etoufee which has got to be my all time favorite dish.
Now to the best part...the massage. Watercourse Way is one of the best places for a massage in my opinion. I am the type of girl that is just as much about the service as I am about the atmosphere and this place has both! The massage was so relaxing that I actually fell asleep twice! It was the best 5-10 minute naps EVER! Better than a full nights sleep. I will definitely be going back and I wonder why I stopped going in the first place.
For Valentines day we went out with a group of friends to Hisui in Vacaville to celebrate a birthday. It was a crowded and crazy night and our group ended up waiting 1.5 hours for a table even though reservations had been placed over 2 weeks ago. They were so unorganized that they had a ton of people milling around in their lobby complaining about reservations, and where they were in line, etc. Sheer pandemonium. However, the food was fair in the end. I mean after waiting that long we were all starving and anything would have been mana from heaven. In anycase, we got the standard japanese steakhouse fare. I got the shrimp and steak combo that came with soup, salad, veggies, fried rice. It is all cooked in front of you in a sort of show format. All very entertaining and the you get to eat in the end. Perfect. I was stuffed!
Then the day after Valentines, I decided to treat myself to a long overdue massage. And boy was it glorious but I stopped at Nola's in Palo Alto for a little nosh before hand. Now, I love creole food but it is a bit hard finding the authentic kind that is on par with a trip to New Orleans. I have been to Nola's before and remember not being too impressed and I can say again, it was okay. It did not hit the spot though. I opted for the mixed green salad and the chicken and andouille gumbo with okra. Athough, I was impressed that the okra did not make the dish into a goopy mess, I was a little disappointed to the overall taste. I think the roux could have cooked a little longer to develop the taste and the gumbo lacked a spiciness that I look forward to in good creole food. The gumbo also was not served piping hot which was also a little disappointing in addition, the tiny pieces of andouille did not allow for the nice smokey flavor that I was craving. I will give Nola's another try mostly because there are not that many creole restaurants around and perhaps that was not the most popular dish. In any case, it was a little bit of New Orleans charm that I have been missing. Next time I will try the etoufee which has got to be my all time favorite dish.
Now to the best part...the massage. Watercourse Way is one of the best places for a massage in my opinion. I am the type of girl that is just as much about the service as I am about the atmosphere and this place has both! The massage was so relaxing that I actually fell asleep twice! It was the best 5-10 minute naps EVER! Better than a full nights sleep. I will definitely be going back and I wonder why I stopped going in the first place.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
