Fun With Friends & Family

Over the last couple of weeks, we got to be social and hang out with some friends and family.  I’ve super-enjoyed it!  After a couple of weeks of alone time and me-time, it was time to socialize a little bit!

On Sunday 7/30 we cooked dinner at our friends AJ & Meera’s house and hung out.  Hadn’t seen them in a while and it was a blast!

Todd made Spring Vegetable Pasta from America’s Test Kitchen.  It’s one of our favorite dishes and it’s so so good!

On Sunday 8/6 (the day after we got back from Todd’s bike race at Big Bear), Todd went swimming in the ocean at Del Mar with the SD Tri Club at 8am.  He’s so dedicated!  (And in great shape!)  He swam for an hour, then ran another 2 miles immediately afterwards to test out his new tri suit.  In the meantime, I went to the beach at La Jolla Shores at 8:30 to meet up with my friend Sally and her kids. 

OMG, I got to the parking lot there at 8:30 and there was NO parking left.  I had to find a nearby spot on the street.  By the time I left at 11am, there were just a ton of cars on the streets vulturing for a parking space as people were leaving.  Sally and I got asked multiple times by multiple cars, “Are you leaving?”.  Ugh.  (Typical of a beach day in San Diego during the summer.  This is why I prefer to go to the beach in the fall, winter, and spring!)

The mountains and lakes on Saturday, and the beach on Sunday.  I love Southern California.  (Except for the excessive population.  But can’t blame people for wanting to live here!)

Anyway, I had so much fun catching up and hanging out with Sally and her kids!  We alternated between the playground and the beach/water.  The weather was perfect and not too hot.  The sand was still cool. 

Sally and I have been friends since 1982.  We met in middle school.  We lived in the same neighborhood.  We carpooled to middle school and high school.  It’s sort of amazing we live in the same city now.  I love her!

On Monday 8/7 I went to lunch with my work girlfriends!  We usually celebrate our birthdays together every couple of months, but it had been March since we got together!

I actually wore a real outfit and did my hair and makeup, ha ha!  (Atypical of me on my leave of absence.)

I put together some small gifts for the two birthday girls, Tina and Donyale.

All of us at lunch at Waypoint Public!  Ah man, I don’t miss work at all, but I miss these ladies!  Had so much fun catching up with them.  They asked me how my leave is going.  I said it’s the best weeks of my adult life!  I told them I may need more time before going back to work! 

I had the Farmer’s Bounty salad and it was huge but SO good.  I brought half of it home.

On Tuesday 8/8, I met up with Meera and her kids for lunch at In N Out Burger.  I got dressed again, ha!

Man, I love Meera.  So thankful for our 15+ years of friendship!

Yesterday (8/12) we drove up to Los Angeles to belatedly celebrate my dad’s birthday.  Man, I do not enjoy driving in LA traffic!  And I thought San Diego was getting bad! 

We had lunch at Earthen Restaurant.

My dad & Shelly always know where the best Chinese food is in LA!

After lunch, Shelly had choir practice.  Dad, Todd, and I went a few doors down to get some boba milk tea.

Then we went back to the house.  I was so surprised that my dad & Shelly got a second cat!  They had one cat already, and they just recently added a second cat.  This new cat, Tian Tian (means Sweetie in Chinese), is really such a sweetheart!  I found her sleeping next to my dad while he took an afternoon nap, LOL.  She already loves to snuggle next to him!

It’s been a fun couple of weeks doing things with friends and family.  I can’t really believe that my leave is practically halfway over.  I’m thinking I need a little more time!  I told my dad & Shelly about my leave yesterday (aren’t parents always the last to know, ha!) and they fully support it.  They asked me if I want to go back to work.  I said no, I do not.  But yes, I probably should go back and work a few more years and save up some more money.  After working for 24 years straight without more than a week of break at a time, I am LOVING this non-work time SO MUCH.  I’ve had NO trouble at all adjusting to not working.  There wasn’t even any adjusting, LOL.  I just went straight into not working and it’s the greatest thing ever.  One thing I do want to point out is that this was always the end-game for me.  This is what I have been planning for!  I started saving money with my very first paycheck in 1993 and have never stopped, with the intent that I would never be beholden to a job or have trouble living a life without working.  We have always lived below our means and our paychecks, so that we could someday live a life without having to work.  That someday is getting closer and I’m very excited!