Al Gore loves Blogger

Gmail?

Turns out that I have some extra Gmail invites. Want one?

Update: Thanks for those of you who wrote in about Gmail. I am no longer giving out any more invites.

Google files with the SEC

Yes, it's true. Google filed with the SEC today for an IPO. When the announcement was made to all of the Google employees in Mountain View, the entire room stood for a long standing ovation of applause as a thanks to our amazing founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. It was so touching I nearly teared up.

Being healthy hurts

Since all this nice warm and sunny weather is here already, I realized that I need to get back in shape in time for summer and the beach. Walking the stairs and eating dessert only once a week just aren't cutting it anymore. Instead of eating chips or any of the other yummy non-healthy snacks at Google, I made a resolution to eat carrot sticks instead. I also went to the gym today to start working out. I thought that I would have been dead tired after a couple of minutes on the treadmill but I actually toughed it out and was on the treadmill for half an hour. After that I was so proud of myself and pumped up that I did some weights and ab exercises too. Being healthy doesn't taste as good and it kind of hurts.

City of Angels

My 'litul bro' turned 20 this weekend and I went down to L.A. to visit and celebrate the weekend with him. We arrived in L.A. Friday evening and left Sunday afternoon. In less than two days, we stuffed about four days of activities into it. We toured parts of Hollywood, had brunch in Westwood, visited the 'Festival of Books' hosted on the UCLA campus, went to the Ghetty, enjoyed the nightlife in Old Town Pasadena, and I even spotted Frankie from The Real World.

I learned that I am not a very 'discreet' person. When I attempted to be sly about telling the waitress that it was my brother's birthday, instead made it seem that I was pointing at Bertrand. The whole crowd of servers came singing to our table and addressed the wrong guy! Bertrand's plate ended up being decorated beautifully with writing and candles while my brother's plate was a plain white plate like the rest of us. There were also a couple of other very embarrassing and funny moments that happened that I am not yet brave enough to share. This weekend was a blast and will continue to laugh and smile every time I think about some of the memorable 'accidents' that happened.

Random Encounters

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to try out a local church near my house which I've never been to. During the service, I overheard someone talking behind me with a very familiar voice. When it was time to greet the people around you, I turned around to stare into the face of one of my closest friends from high school who I had lost contact with and hadn't seen for four years. We both just kind of stared at each other in shock. After graduation she just happened to move back to our hometown too and is now working for the city. I just happened to sit in front of her at a church of hundreds of people that I'd never been to.

Last night while checking my work email, I got an email from someone I used to be close to but who chose to stop speaking to me once I started dating. We hadn't spoken to each other in about a year, and he emailed me last night to tell me that he had a dream about me and missed me. What the heck? Missed me after hating me for a year?

The other day a friend from my golf class in Davis and I got back in touch with each other and arranged to have lunch together today. We caught up on the past 10 or so months and it was really nice.

I wonder who I'm going to run into next.

Takin' a break

I took a couple of days off from work this week to take a break and to spend some time with Bertrand while he is also on a short break from work. Sometimes it's nice to just take a break from your regular routine every once in awhile. I got some extra sleep, ran some errands, went bowling, and took a nice long walk this afternoon. Now I'm rested and relaxed and ready to get back to work.

Picnic, Outlets, and One-arm bandits

UC Davis had their annual Picnic Day on Saturday. "Picnic Day is the largest student-run event in the United States and is the annual Open House for the University of California, Davis." It's kind of a like one big carnival where all of the students, alumni, potential students, and the Davis community come out to play. My favorite events are the Wiener Dog races, dog shows, and MicroMouse competitions. When I was in Davis, I only went to Picnic Day two out of the four years I was there, but coming back as an Alumni was a little different. It hasn't even been a year yet, but I felt a little lost when someone stopped me to ask for directions to a specific building. I almost had to look at the map in order to tell them where to go. It was a pretty icky day but was still fun nonetheless.

After going to Picnic Day, we went to the Vacaville outlets for some SHOPPING. As the only girl going with a couple of guys, I felt a little 'pressured' to shop fast. But, I handled the pressure well and still came home with a couple more nicely discounted items.

Once I was all 'shopped' out and the rain started coming down really hard, we hopped back in the car and headed for Cache Creek Indian Casino Resort. They recently remodeled the entire casino and the new change was beautiful. The old casino was a bit ghetto, but the new one looked like a hotel in Vegas. Apparently, a lot of people came to see the grand opening of the casino too, and every single table was filled along with every slot machine. While I waited for my friend who was playing at one of the tables, I wandered around looking for a slot machine to put some of my loose change in. I didn't win anything, but I did make a small "donation" to the nice American Indians.

Darn birds

A couple of birds decided to build a nest above the entry of our front door. This morning when I left for work and opened the front door, the birds attacked me. They came down and flapped their wings at me and nearly pecked at my head. Nearly every morning, I hear a loud *BOOM*, when the birds fly into the window above the door, and then into the wall. Last year, the birds also built a nest in the same place and chased my poor little dog down the street while pecking at his cute little head. This morning he tried to protect me and barked at the birds while I screamed. I've got to do something about these birds or else I'm not going to be able to use the front door for awhile.

Mamma Mia!

I just got back from seeing the musical, Mamma Mia at the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco. Wow! What an awesome show. Somehow we managed to get front row tickets and I got to watch the whole thing in front of my eyes...literally. The show was not only cute, but was also funny and with good music. It's amazing how they actually created an entire show and story based on the music of ABBA. I've been humming "Dancing Queen" since I left the theater.

California Dreamin'

The other night I couldn't fall asleep and just lay awake in bed until 3AM. I ended up turning on one of my CDs and turning my stereo to sleep mode and finally fell asleep. When I did fall asleep, I had the most vivid dream. I dreamt of my own wedding.

We were in the reception hall which was beautifully and elegantly decorated. There were tables along the sides of the room and a large dance floor in the middle. At one of the tables, I remember seeing Tine with a guy, Jason and Allison. The DJ announced us as the new couple and we walked into a room full of cheers and applause and then we had our first dance. During our first dance, I remember Bertrand looking at me and then we both teared up because we were so happy.

I went to Bertrand's coworker's wedding this past weekend. It was so touching to watch a couple so in love. I think having been to this wedding this past weekend stuck in my head and may be the reason why I was dreaming of another wedding. It's funny how dreams can be so telling about what is going on in our subconscious. I'm never really sure if a dream is your mind continuing to think about something subconsciously or if it is just a culmination of random things that you see throughout your day. I don't usually take my dreams too seriously or look into the meaning of it all, but it's still interesting to think of nonetheless.

Tine had a dream about her future kids and actually saw their faces in her dream. Wouldn't that be so weird/neat if my wedding ended up being like how I had dreamt and if her kids end up being twin boys with the same faces that she dreamt of?

Things to do to stay awake while driving

• blast some music
• sing at the top of your lungs
• eat crunchy food
• drink water
• roll down the window
• pat your cheeks
• call Mom and talk about life

I did all of these to keep myself awake on my long drive home today after work.

Ghetto Me

I'm going through this little gangsta phase...or wannabe phase. My new favorite line is 'sup yo' and after buying the Black Eyed Peas CD, I listen to "Hey Mama" every morning on my drive into work, do a little dance, and then start my happy day.

The world is spinning

Well at least to me. I've been feeling so dizzy and weak all day. On my drive into work this morning, I worked out a little plan so that I was always aware of the closest exit I could take, or easiest place to pull over in case the dizziness got really bad. About forty-five minutes into my drive, I thought that maybe I should turn around and go home, but realized that that meant I'd be driving for another 45 minutes. Instead, I just went all the way to work and attempted to gather myself together before eventually going home anyways. However, I did manage to trip over an exercise ball walking to my desk and fall down. Luckily no one was there yet to witness my blunder.

WoW!

My blog was reviewed by The Weblog Review and I got a 5/5!

I especially enjoyed how throughout the review I was referred to as "Kimmy" in quotes.

" Kimmy's " blog reminds me of one of those good biographies you get at the book store. Once you start to read it, it is very hard to put it down. You just want to continue reading until it's finished. "Kimmy's" blog is one of the best i've read so far. I know I will keep going back..

So nice. *blush*

The time has come

Tine found four white hairs on my head today. I'm getting old.