Monday, February 18, 2008

SoCal trip

I had a good, though short, trip to SoCal. It was cooler than the last 2 years I had been there in February, so I didn't end up packing very well. It was more like fall in SJ, so instead of the tank tops, I needed long sleeve t-shirts instead. I ended up repeating clothing a lot.

I arrived at lunchtime on Wednesday. John took me home, dropped off my luggage, discovered the Valentine's Day flowers had arrived a day early, and we decided to go to Olive Garden for lunch. Very yummy, as usual. I only managed to stay awake until 8pm that night.

Thursday I had totally to myself as John had to work. I stayed in for most of the morning, doing laundry, watching some How I Met Your Mother (I had downloaded the episodes a while ago to have for this trip), and waiting for the rain to pass through. Hearing how much rain we got at home, I was pretty worried about my basement. I had my mother drop by and check on it. I thought I was doomed, but thankfully there was only a small amount of water that came in under the door. After the rain stopped, I walked across the street to In N Out for lunch, but ate light due to the upcoming supper where I knew we'd be having a larger meal. I did a little bit of shopping in the afternoon, picking up a couple of electronic things which were much cheaper/better at Radio Shack than at The Source. Now I can use my own headphones on Air Canada flights, and I got a new, better battery for my old cordless phone that I finally placed in the basement. No more running for the phone when I go downstairs to tend to the fire.

Thursday night's dinner was at Claim Jumper, basically a nicer version of Outback Steakhouse. John had steak and I had prime rib, very good. They have honey butter with biscuits, and I had a chocolate cupcake for dessert. I was stuffed, but the meal was very good.

Friday was a half day for John. I took the morning and walked across the street again to pick up a couple of kitchen items for me & my brother. John and I went to El Pollo Loco for lunch, then over to Sam's Club. John bought an atomic clock, a tax book and some chocolate bars for a co-worker (hard time finding them elsewhere). After that we headed to Main Place mall, where I finally managed to score a spring trenchcoat, and a shirt I had waffled on at xmas but was now $5.99. I thought I had stumbled on a sale on pants, but didn't include activewear, so I ended up ditching both pairs of pants.

Saturday was church day, and we had planned on going to see a movie at the $1.50 theatre. Little did we know that theatre would have 2 giant lines, so we opted to go home and watch more HIMYM instead. John has been watching the show from the start and encouraged me to pick it up. I'm glad I did, it's really good. Still think it could have had a better title though. That's what kept me away in the first place.

Sunday we had breakfast at Denny's, then caught the first show of Michael Clayton at 12:25pm. The place was packed. For a movie about to be released on DVD in two days, I was surprised. The movie was good, but we agreed that it wasn't in the same league as No Country For Old Men.

I spent some time reading outside on Sunday afternoon as I was feeling the need to enjoy outside as much as possible. It's depressing to think that I won't be able to abandon my winter jacket for another 2 months. Being outside without freezing my butt off is a novelty John hasn't had to adjust to yet.

So here I am, flying home again. The thing I miss most about flying from pre-911 era issues is being able to bring a bottle of water with me through security. I wonder if they will ever relax that rule.

The battery in my laptop barely lasted over an hour, so no more TV for me until I get another charge. The person in front of me put their seat back, making it really difficult to use the laptop anyway. I made sure I whacked into the seat as much as possible for giving me such little space to work with (yeah, I know, passive-aggressive). I am in a window seat today, and I dislike those. I hate making everyone move when I need to use the bathroom.

Looking forward to getting home and being back in my own bed. Not looking forward to freezing and going back to work. Or getting stuck in Montreal if the high winds keep delaying my flight. Such is life.

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