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camilles is: in love an artist a friend a sister a daughter a daughter-in-law shy an introvert dorky silly cool i took a break in november 05 nothing in june 06 too busy in september 06 december was busy, too february? forget about it got lazy in may |
 b e l a t e d s t p a t r i c k ' s we are not really ones for the crazy crowds that accompany most beer-related holidays, st. patrick's day being one of them. in the past we have gotten together with friends to celebrate, but as it fell on a monday this year, things just got away from us, and we didn't really celebrate. jeff was in the spirit at least in his rugby shirt that my parents brought back for him from ireland. i wore a green dress all day. so while we didn't really do the big celebration, we were at least showing our support for the holiday. when we stopped at rite aid to pick up some chocolate malted crunch ice cream, the checker commented on what a cute irish couple we were.
 but have no fear. we STILL got a good celebration in with our friends leanne and travis tonight. i made an irish stew in the crockpot today, complete with lamb (instead of beef). leanne cooked up cabbage, carrots, and soda bread, and angel food cake w/strawberries for dessert. travis supplied a variety of beers. and jeff carried the crockpot in, and generally was just a good guy. it was a nice night, especially because it was low key and didn't require driving very far. we leave for vegas in the morning. we'll probably be hanging out at the pool a little bit, visiting some antique stores, eating good food, drinking some brews, seeing friends, checking out some old neon signs. it'll be nice. and not work-related for the first time in ages. i can guarantee i won't be back at the computer until we get back to san diego, so please have a wonderful and safe Easter holiday! camilles (10:40pm, 3.20.08)
 t o e a c h t h e i r o w n when i was at the home-formerly-known-as-home the last time, my mom asked me when i was going to get my tattoo removed again. it's the same thing she asked me when i called to give her the good (and to her, bad) news that i had gotten it in the first place. never! i said. i called last night and gave her the good news that i had finally signed up to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class that will qualify me for my motorcycle endorsement (i've been renewing my permit every year since i bought my vespa). she said that this was good news, but that she had been hoping that i would have just given up on the whole thing by now. never! i said, as i pumped my fist triumphantly into the air. well, maybe i didn't say never. and maybe i was actually sitting in bed with the covers pulled up to my chin, just because it was comfy. but i think i did say no way. i've been thinking a lot about what it is that makes me look forward to each new day. hitting all the green lights on my way into work and getting there in 9 minutes instead of 14. the complexities of relationships, good and bad. being inspired to buy something random, just because it feels right and i can afford it. dancing with my husband in our little house. looking forward to certain songs coming on the radio so they can be dedicated. life isn't quite what i imagined it would be, but that's not a bad thing. it's just different. and really, how can anyone tell you what it is going to actually be like? and the fun is just seeing where it goes.
 speaking of the things that people look forward to in life, this is the dude who was parked next to me at work last week. in his new bentley. he works at the building next door, but he hides his ride by trying to blend in with the commoners of my office. seriously, if i had that kind of cash to blow on a car, i would probably not be wasting my time coming into work every day. but to each their own. camilles (9:31pm, 3.18.08)
 t a k i n g a h i k e last weekend, leanne and travis invited us to join them on a hike up iron mountain at the very east of poway, an outing organized by the engineering group they belong to. it had been ages since we'd been hiking, so we jumped at the opportunity. it was a pretty serious walk, about 3.5 miles to the top, but it was well worth it for the views once we made it.
 click these photos for a bigger view this photo of me in my lovely black hat is pretty much looking down at where i took that first picture looking up from. cool, huh? oh yeah, my huge head is covering up the place that i work at in the background (that cluster of white buildings). and to the right is poway and the area where we live.
 while we didn't sign the book, jeff thought it would be fun to take a peek at what other people were writing. that's the city of ramona behind him. after a water break and a breather, we headed back down. we passed a couple that had just gotten engaged at the top, and we clapped for them. the girl didn't look like she was crying though, so i kind of wondered if the dude hadn't waited long enough for her to catch her breath from the hike, or if the proposal just hadn't been done right. what can i say? i'm a romantic. i expect there to be at least SOME crying after a proposal. this weekend we helped move jeff's grandma into a senior living apartment. it's a very nice place, but it kind of bummed me out about the prospect of getting old. but then i remembered that his grandma is 85 years old, and she's experienced a whole 85 years of excitement before it even became reasonable to move into what is basically an emulation of dorm life or life on a cruise ship. regular meals. lots of friends your own age. all sorts of organized activities. doesn't sound too bad. what it does encourage me to do is make sure that i take every opportunity to live life to the fullest while i still can. and make sure that it's filled with people i love and things i like to do. st. patrick's day may not turn out to be all that exciting for us, but i'll still be wearing a green dress. here's to lots of irish kisses! camilles (10:45pm, 3.16.08)
 r a n d o m t i d b i t s don't you love my place? well, i do. at least the way it is decorated. i could do without all the stupid problems, but as far as having created our own little slice of paradise, i think jeff and i have done a pretty good job. so in anticipation of meeting with a financial planner, which i don't think is going to happen now, i started going through our cash over the weekend. moving some stuff around. paying a few bills. i figured i would see what it is that we spend all our play money on. eating out. eating out. eating out. toys. eating out. it's pretty out of control. i mean, we can definitely afford it, and we are still putting aside a pretty healthy amount of cash every paycheck...but sometimes i wonder about all the other things we could afford if we didn't eat out all the time. it is no secret that we love to eat. LOVE to eat. good food. food that is bad for us. trying what other people say is good and bad, just for the heck of it. i guess it's one of the closest things that i have to a regular hobby. plus it's so easy to not have to shop. cook. clean.
 since i was feeling kind of bad about all the eating out we were doing, i decided to make an effort to go grocery shopping so we could eat in for a few nights this week. this is what i had to work with last night. a rack of lamb (which i had never made before), colorful potatoes from trader joe's, and since leanne had let us take one of her CSA vegetable/fruit boxes since she was going to be out of town, we had some mizuna left that needed to be eaten quickly before it got too mushy.
 i decided to make herb crusted rack of lamb with balsamic reduction over smashed potatoes and wilted orange sesame mizuna. pretty ambitious, huh? yes...if you consider the fact that while i am a pretty good cook, i had never actually cooked with two out of those three ingredients. i've done potatoes before, obviously, but have you ever seen the inside of a purple one?
 not a bad presentation, if i do say so myself. i only did one like this for a photo opp and for jeff. the other one i just kind of threw together on a plate for me. the outcome? outstanding! the lamb was cooked perfectly...super tender and tasty. the potatoes and veggies were yummy together. jeff said that it might have actually been the yummiest dinner i had ever made him!
 after eating and doing the dishes, i wanted dessert, and i didn't want to make it myself. since i still was hanging onto a gift card to extraordinary desserts, i figured it was a perfect excuse to head to hillcrest and enjoy the warm evening. jeff got a slice of the torta misu (w/coffee toffee ice cream) and i got a slice of the viking. sooooooo rich and naughty, but oh so good. in other news, i think i'm feeling spring fever coming on. anybody else? hopefully this upcoming trip to korea and japan (which is 100% on!!!) will cure a little bit of that, because i've got the wanderlust...and i've got it bad. camilles (5:56pm, 3.11.08)
 o h 1 9 9 1 when i was at home (funny that even though i haven't lived there in 12 years, i still call it home. especially when you consider i only lived there for 7 years.) the last time, i went through and gathered up a bunch of my old school portraits and some pictures of my family doing family things. this was my 8th grade picture. 1991. i should have scanned my 9th grade picture, because it's kind of startling how much i changed (for the better, thank goodness) in 1 year. in other news, it's looking very likely i'll be heading to korea and japan in about a month. on holiday with jeff (who will be working) and benzo (who will be holidaying it with me). so stoked. i bought the vampire weekend album last night. i felt a little bit bad to see the "as seen on MTV" sticker on it, but it's a pretty cool album. doesn't really strike me as very MTVish, but what do i know? camilles (11:17am, 3.06.08)
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Jeff
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