Google Calendar

Can I just say that I love Google Calendar? I know there are plenty of people who utilize and appreciate Google Calendar...but I just wanted to state for the record that I am a huge fan as well. Just today I was trying to plan an outing with a few people and realized that my life was made so much easier because I had access to everyone’s calendar via Google and well hey...everyone else seems to use Google Calendar as much as I do. I mean, I remember in the olden days when I would have to send a flurry of emails to try to plan an activity with other people and then have to wait for responses before rearranging schedules to then finally agreeing on a convenient time for everyone to meet. But now, with Google Calendar's capabilities (i.e. sharing calendars, having multiple calendars, allowing people to see your busy time/activities, adding guests to an event, etc.), things are great.

I’ve been consistently using Google Calendar for the past…like…three years. It is definitely nice to have a record to look back on, an organized way to keep my calendar of events, and a way to access my schedule from anywhere…with the ability to also check on other people’s schedule as well. As for sharing calendars, well hey, it’s a good, easy, and fast way to schedule things with other people without wasting a lot of time. And you all know how I am about wasting time…

It’s quite surprising to realize how much I rely on Google products on a daily basis. It’s quite scary actually. I use Google as my main search engine, I’m logged on Google Chat throughout the day, I frequently check my Gmail account, I upload all my pictures to Picasa to share with others (I used to upload a bunch of videos to Google Video before they disabled that function...boo), I use Google Maps whenever I need to look up a location or need driving directions, and am constantly referring to my Google Calendar when planning work/personal activities. I don’t think I noticed how much I use Google, specifically Google Calendar, before today. Google has taken over my world. What would I do without Google? I can only wonder…and hope that I don’t ever have to find out.

Feelings of Frustration

I need a vacation. And I’m not talking about one of those short weekend trips, I’m talking about one of those long ass journeys where I can immerse myself in a new place and forget about reality. I would love to go visit a place that I haven’t been to before, eat some new and exotic cuisines, and explore new scenery.

You know, for the past few days (maybe weeks), I’ve been feeling extreme, and I do seriously mean, extreme amounts of frustration…and maybe bits of dissatisfaction with things, in general. I don’t really know what’s causing it, how to get myself out of this rut, and how much longer I can last like this. Now, don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not talking about doing anything crazy, all I’m saying is that I just need to get my mindset back on track. I’m hoping that by writing, and voicing, my problems and frustrations that it will make me feel better. No such luck yet, but maybe it’s a little too soon for those results.

But, this is the same restless feeling that I had a few years back…which was instantly cured by a long international vacation. It was definitely a time when I was able to leave everything behind and explore some new and exciting places. It may be wishful thinking to think I could plan an international trip for this year…but definitely next year…I’m going somewhere. The place has yet to be determined…but at this point, I’m not picky. I’ll go anywhere.

But in the meantime…it has been quite some time since I’ve been this excited about a long, four-day weekend.

Burnt

After a weekend of gorgeous weather and spending time outdoors, I find myself slightly on the crispy side. My poor shoulders are burnt…thankfully, not as bad as when I was in Hawaii…but still somewhat burnt.

Since I’m a side sleeper, having both my shoulders burnt makes for an uncomfortable and sleepless night. I guess I should just be grateful that I didn’t burn anywhere else. I mean, there have been times that I’ve burnt my back, my neck, the tops of my feet…almost everywhere. So to have just my shoulders slightly burned, I guess I should be happy about that and consider myself lucky. I’m never that lucky…if I’m burned, I’m usually burned in more than one place…and it’s usually a bad burn.

Anyway, other than getting burned, my weekend was pretty awesome. The weather was absolutely perfect. I spent plenty of time outside soaking in the nice weather. As any Bay Area resident would know, warm weather doesn’t last very long since weather patterns change so frequently. So…when the area is graced with nice, warm, weather…it is to your advantage to enjoy it while it lasts. I mean, the weather was so perfect this weekend yet in San Francisco right now…it’s downright breezy and there are clouds and fog present. What’s that about? I heard on the radio this morning that temperatures have dropped 20 degrees in just 24 hours…that’s nuts. But, I guess, I’d rather have mediocre weather during the work week and have nice weather to enjoy on the weekend. So with the clouds and fog forecasted for this week, let’s just hope that the weekend will provide some nice weather again.

p.s. wow, did I really blog about kettle corn popcorn last week? Hehe. Must’ve been a slow week. :-)

Kettle Corn Popcorn

There is something amazingly special about kettle corn popcorn. I love kettle corn popcorn. It’s made from the best stuff on earth.

The salty goodness combined with the sugary sweetness…makes an amazing combination. I think I could eat this stuff all day (in case you haven’t guessed, I’m enjoying some kettle corn popcorn as we speak and it’s great). I still love regular movie theatre popcorn…but kettle corn popcorn is what I have now so…you’re all going to have to bear with me. Maybe if I had a decent lunch, then kettle corn popcorn wouldn’t have seemed like such a blog worthy topic.

You know, I used to eat popcorn with peanut butter. In college, I used to love to pop a bag of popcorn and then dip each kernel in peanut butter before eating it. Oh man, at the time that was the only way that I would eat popcorn. I haven’t done that in awhile…only because I think it takes so much work. And well, let’s face it…kettle corn popcorn is so much better.

Let’s see, what else can I say about popcorn? I never participated in stringing popcorn around a Christmas tree…I used to see that on television and in the movies…like a traditional thing families did together. I don’t know anyone who does that…but I never understood that one anyway. I mean, why would you string popcorn around a tree? Wouldn’t it get gross? And hello, isn’t popcorn made for eating not adorning? Because I think if I had to string popcorn on my Christmas tree, I would just eat it right off the string…like those necklace string candies.

OK this blog is random…I should stop now.

Some Improvement

Due to some persuasion from the boyfriend, I have been trying my hand at golf again. As most of you know, I was never really a big fan of golf. I always found the sport a little too slow for me. Watching golf was like a slow and torturous death, if you ask me. But I have dabbled with the sport of golf before…and by “golf” I mean, visiting the driving range to hit a bucket of balls, challenging people to a mini-golf tournament, and hitting the golf course to soak in the sights and drive the golf cart. But other than that…my golfing skills are…subpar to say the very least. But with the boyfriend being amazingly good and my competitive side/trash-talking-mouth having to be kept under wraps when we go golfing…it inspires me to try to get good enough so that I can take him on and kick his ass…although don’t tell him that. But it definitely is a goal of mine. :-)

Anyway, with all that being said, I spent some time at the driving range this weekend and had an awesome time. I mean, I always used to have a good time at the driving range, but unlike in previous visits, I did fairly well this time and was pleasantly surprised that I had so much fun doing it. For the past few months, the boyfriend has been nice enough to coach me and offer up some tips to help me…considering he’s been taking pity on watching me struggle through sessions, he really is a godsend. I mean, as much as I’ve always enjoyed the relaxation that the driving range provided for me…I’m not really good enough to appreciate the entire experience since I usually suck it up. Now, I’m not saying that I’m all that good now, not by any means, but hey, I did a little better this weekend.

The only bad thing about doing mildly better is I’m going to have to replicate my performance at some point. And as good as it felt to do better, I’m not sure I can do it again. It’s as if a magical force took over my body for a few minutes and made me do better, not that I had any direct control over it. I’m sure the golfing gods were just tired of watching me suck and make a mockery of the sport. But whatever it may have been…I’m tempted to head into an early retirement and just call it a day. Who needs a green masters jacket anyway? Haha.

But in all seriousness golf is slowly growing on me and I’m enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would…wait, did I just say that?

Let’s All Breathe

I can finally start to breathe again. Things are starting to gradually calm down and I’m feeling the belt of anxiety loosen a bit. I’m actually enjoying sitting at my desk and being in the office. Wait, did I really just say that? Haha. Wow, I’m almost as surprised as you are.

Since I spent last week (and some of this week for that matter) running around like a chicken with its head cut off, it’s nice to be able to be in the office with time to breathe and catch up on some work. I mean, without getting into an in-depth conversation about work, let’s just say that the things that I love about my job can also be the same things that I hate about it. Talking to massive amounts of people, going to plenty of meetings, and…generally, just having to be pleasant, helpful, and cheerful all day, everyday, is quite draining….take that feeling, multiply it by twelve to thirteen hour days, add four or five days in a row along with hectic consecutive weeks, and you get a total work-related headache. So, yes, I’m quite happy to be in the office for a change.

Last week was just completely crazy. I don’t know how I didn’t just lose my mind. I think I came close on Wednesday to slamming my head against a wall…or someone else’s head for that matter. And on Sunday (my first day off in about three weeks) I let the stress and sleep deprivation take over my good judgment and said some things I shouldn’t have said and regretted it later…yeah I should’ve just knocked myself in the head on Wednesday and gotten it over with. Feeling completely overwhelmed, over-worked, and under appreciated is a combination likely to drive anyone insane. But I digress…because things are good now. I’m relaxed, working, and happy. It’s nice...I just hope it stays like this for awhile.

With that said, I better get back to work. Hehe.