little stinker

So my plans for today were to do nothing. And doing absolutely nothing...was exactly how my day started. I slept in a little, then mostly just chilled around the house. I let the dogs out to play in the yard to enjoy the nice day. About an hour later, I went to let them back into the house. Toby ran in, happy and refreshed. Max followed along. I noticed that a section of his fur had gotten all clumped and hard. So I pulled out the towels and brush and was about to brush it out when the overwhelming stench of pee & poop reached my nose. Wow. Did he somehow decide for the first time ever, that today was the perfect day to roll around in that grossness? So I dragged the little bugger out to the hose in the backyard and hosed him down and gave him a bath. I wasn't about to bring that stinkiness into the house to give him a bath in the sink as usual and the little guy was afraid of the hose nozzle so we had quite the struggle.

So now I am all wet and scratched and have another load of laundry to do.

So much for chillin' today, huh?

But how could you stand this little face...

Goodbye Google

Today is my last day working at Google.

It has been an incredible ride for the almost 5 years I have been at Google. I have been able to see the company grow and flourish over the years and I in turn have grown and learned so much. It has been an invaluable experience to me being able to work on some of the most innovative products and to work with so many brilliant minds.

I still remember the days when the whole Blogger team sat together in one little area and Eric, Steve, Tine, Graham, and I were all squished together in a tiny office throwing Koosh balls at each other. Things were crazy back then, but that is also the time I treasure the most, when things were smaller and more intimate.

While at Google, I got to build up my own team from scratch, establish new processes and work on some pretty awesome projects with some pretty awesome people (Blogger, BlogSearch, and AdWords).

I have accepted an offer at a startup company in Palo Alto called Palantir that does data analysis. The company is small and growing as Google was also a "small" growing "start-up" at the beginning of my time here. I miss and thrive in that environment and this opportunity allows me to do that once again.

I truly treasure the time I have spent at Google. I have made many friendships that will last a lifetime.

Here's to what's next in the future!

I <3 San Diego

We took a couple of days off to make our long Memorial Day weekend extra long and took a road trip down to San Diego. Of course...while we there, it was unseasonably cool and rained two of the five days we were there. Regardless, it was gorgeous there.

We got to relax at the beach and watch the sun set in La Jolla...

squeal as the cute little penguins played...

brave the screaming of the seals as they fought the birds for fish....

watch ginormous polar bears play together in the water...

and go on a pseudo African Safari at the Wild Animal Park and see buffaloes, rhinos, giraffes, and other animals roam.

Gas prices make me sad

I filled up my car with gas today for the first time in a few weeks and faced incredible sticker shock. Almost $100?!? Mammas!

family time

Last weekend, my brother came home from the far far away land of heat to hang out with the family for my mom's birthday and Mother's Day. We got to hang out again like in the old days when we were all living in the vicinity of each other, and just like my mom wanted, we all spent the entire weekend together...and had a lot of fun.

We made some spring rolls, played an intense game of Scattegories, ate way too much food at Claim Jumper's, and then played a two-day game of Risk. We battled it out for awhile, but in the end, it was me against my Dad (pink against yellow). The game took too long so we just put it away....but next time? Pink is taking over the world!

is this your shirt?

The other night, my week caught up with me and I was hit with a sudden wave of extreme exhaustion. I couldn't stay awake through one of my favorite shows and was barely conscious to watch the San Jose Sharks win in overtime against the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Once the game was over...I headed straight up to bed to pass out again for the night. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out in la-la-land enjoying my deep sleep.

And then I heard Bertrand's voice, "Is this your shirt?" I ignored him and attempted to keep sleeping. And then again, "Is this your shirt? Could you open your eyes? I want to know if this shirt shrank or if I'm just getting fat."

At that...I peeped my eyes open to see my husband standing there in a midriff Blogger T-shirt spread tightly across his chest and just a few threads away from bursting. Again, he said, "is this your shirt?"

Instead of laughing or being amused by the sight that was there before my eyes, I was just too tired to even be bothered with these "simple questions". Couldn't he just look in a mirror and tell that that wasn't his shirt?? I grunted and barely opened my mouth and said, "What do YOU think? Check the tag!" He happily said "ok!" and took off his shirt to tell me that it was a size small. I responded with, "yes, that's my shirt" and then went right back to sleep.

Who asks these questions? Look in the mirror already! Try to lift your arms and see if they move. Try taking a breath and see if your shirt rips open. :)

A tip for you men out there. If you'd like to be funny, please wait until your wife is conscious enough to enjoy your joke.