*1167 - still tourists

We've been living here for over half a year, and our default answer to "Oh, have you seen/done the (insert prerequisite touristy icon/activity) in San Francisco??" was an embarrassed "Uh, no ..." We've done a few things, of course, but there are some things we just never made the time for.

Well, some of that was solved when the fam was here! So here we go. Lombard, the "crookedest street in the world" and also the most ridiculous street to actually live on.

Squint and you might see a little head sticking out of a car window and a hand furiously waving from the driver's side.

And Muir Woods, just gorgeous and a good hike to the top! It's very different hiking in cool, dry climes rather than sticky and buggy humidity with leeches everywhere waving their heads around in the mud. Shudder.

*1166 - life choices

These days, I find myself both in a panicked frenzy AND falling asleep with my eyes open at work at the same time. How is that possible and what can one do when one only has that many hours in a day? What a struggle to have to choose between life essentials such as work, sanity, nourishment, and sleep. Sadly, the first never goes as that cannot be compromised; the second is not always within my control, the third is not a question because I'm a pig, and the last is the first to go for me, usually. (To explain myself, taking a two minute break to pen this falls under the category of maintaining "sanity".)

*1165 - Poka's magical space

Fur-lined shelves we built specially for her, a garden we grew with birds for her to catch, and poofballs to keep her entertained.

*1164 - giant paper flower tutorial

Can someone please make me some larger-than-life paper flowers? Just gorgeous. I love whimsical, Alice in Wonderland, teeny or enormous, and kooky proportions.

*1163 - mid-flight predictions

This is maybe my third time using Wifi while flying 10,000 miles above ground. I am documenting this because it still seems so revolutionary to me to be able to be connected, chatting with colleagues, doing work, etc. while in an aeroplane. And this is one of the things that I know I will look at in a few years and SMH over how we all used to survive without this technology readily and cheaply available. For now, I will bask in the terrific-ness of not being 100% out of pocket when flying for work and hence the reduced panic after landing.

*1162 - almost 24

We're getting to the stage of life where friends of our age are getting engaged left right center. Though not quite attending friends' weddings yet--that will be a whole other stage of life!

*1161 - here in SF again

The fam is here and the sis is getting married. What a luxury it is to see them for the second time in less than half a year!! It's unprecedented.

Sis is going to have my dream wedding in a few days and I get to help create the dessert table and snack table. Hopefully I do an acceptable job, which means I had better get going on throwing the best recipes together right now.

It's going to be so lovely! My only wish is to be less busy these weeks at work, but alas that has not been the case.