The End

Today is my last day working at the University of California, San Diego. For 3 1/2 years, I have been working here in the Special Collections library, working with documents of historical significance and rare, old books. But it's on to bigger and hopefully, better things. It's been a good experience and I'm looking forward to new future experiences in downtown San Diego. Yup, commute, here I come! Anyone know of a cheap parking structure downtown?

Who thought SD didn't get hot?!?

So, this is a little rant about how SD building contractors didn't think before they built. This weekend, I about melted into a "Lisa puddle." It was so stinking (yes, that too) hot. "But you live in San Diego, on the coast," you might say. I know! but it can still get hot here! The condo's/apartments/homes built along the coast here were not built with AC. I guess it the thought was for the cool ocean breeze to always be there to flow over the hills and cool us down. Not so! There is no breeze! I sat by the pool on saturday afternoon and melted, getting into the pool, getting out and melting again. That night, when it was still probably 100 degrees (felt like it) my friends and I hit up the local movie theater. I was paying for the movie yes,(Get Smart was REALLY funny) but mainly paying for a share of the cool air. I probably could have slept there if the air kept running!

Enough Said...

39 point Rout...enough said!

Summer of firsts..

I was talking to a friend last night about being 28 and how it is a great year (she turns 28 on Friday). And I thought, it's been a summer of firsts for me, my first time to Hawaii, my first drastic haircut, and other emotional firsts...and now, my first sushi experience. Yes folks, I had never had sushi, until last night. Manda thought I should FINALLY try the good stuff and then I would be addicted. So, last night with a group of friends that could surround me in comfort, safety and love, I tried sushi.

And the results:
I like spider rolls, shrimp tempura rolls(since they're cooked, I thought I'd like it), dragon rolls and eel(who would have thought). I think I did pretty well on all of them. There was one roll with a spicy salmon on top that looked a little scary to me. But I had said I would try them all. So as I stared at this big piece of rice and raw-something in the middle, with what I found out later was ground tuna on top, I thought to myself, this one is the test. I put it in, chewed...

Verdict? That one was gross. The ground up tuna (Rach described it as a fish smoothie, THANKS, that helped!) was spicy, but the texture was just nasty! Fish goo!! so that one will not be on my next plate.

Overall, the experience was really good. I tried about 9 different kinds (way too many names for me to remember what they were called, let alone what was in them), I got over my fear of sushi and found that I can try new things. And even if I have a lifelong, irrational thought about something, I can get over that. So while you may not find me out frequenting sushi establishments every weekend, I will be able to go and say, yes I like...and tick off what I want, as someone who has eaten sushi.

The Summer of Firsts has begun!

update: the 3rd and final missing item of importance to me, my camera, has been found. All items are now recovered and being lovingly cared for in secure places!

new products?

So on Saturday, my friends and I were out shopping, and we were in Nordstrom's at one point. There were these rings that looked like big ring pops, but more granite/stone looking. Kind of interesting. They looked like they could be large erasers as well. So my friends and I were thinking of marketing a new school supply necessity, the eraser ring. Students could wear this ring, and easily turn their hand over to erase their work. No more messy erasers on the tops of your pencils, that fall apart! Easy usage. One little tip, please put on the correct size ring. I put one on to see how it looked (these things stand about 2 inches high!) and it wouldn't come off! I got it over my knuckle, but it wouldn't come back over. So I pulled and tugged, then Jenny pulled and tugged and finally Bryonny had to pull and tug and it came off. I was just cracking up, thinking I was going to have pay $60 (ridiculous!) for this granite/stone hideous looking ring that I would never be able to get off!

CLM #2 is an many days...

Last night, went to dinner with some friends and what do I do, but spill my vanilla coke down the front of my white shirt. Those of you who know me, know that if I'm out to dinner in a white shirt, I'm inevitably going to spill on it. Just thought I'd share that my two most embarrassing klutzy traits, were revealed again within the span of 2 days. I should be good for a while right?!

CLM

I did a funny thing today, and sadly, there was no one there to witness another "Classic Lisa Moment." I was sitting on our department's reference desk at work and had to quickly run back through the staff only door to get something from my desk. I started to trot back and in the process, my black flats started sliding off my feet. In that instant, I knew I was headed for trouble. Yup, the black flats started to come off and my feet got tangled up and....boom, I hit the ground. I went flying, knees first, onto the tiled floor our department sports. No matter how old I may think I'm getting, I can't seem to grow out of these moments.

**And the brain exercising has been working, apparently we need to work on my motor skills, but as mentioned in an earlier post, I had lost a number of important items. I found one yesterday!

History buffs remember

Many of you may know that I love American history. So this post is for me..:) Today marks the 64th anniversary of D-Day, the day the Allies landed at Normandy to push back the Germans during WWII. It's on days like this that I wish I was back in Washington D.C. at the WWII memorial, paying my respects to all those who participated and gave the ultimate sacrifice, because I truly appreciate all they did and gave up. I find that in today's world, there aren't as many willing to sacrifice. I am grateful for those that do, but the pervading feeling is that if it's too hard, one won't do it. There are some things that are worth giving your all for. Many in this country disagree on what those things are, and that is the great trait of America, the ability to argue and continue to debate and CREATE a world we want. But I also feel that many of us have had lives of comfort, that while there is some hurt and sacrifice, it's been a relatively easy life and we have a sense of entitlement. And maybe the world situation now is one we can learn from. So while we may think things are difficult now, I think it does one good to look back and see what sort of standard has been set before and are we able to rise to the challenge and meet it like our predecessors did, I hope we can honor them by using their sacrifice and challenges to move our lives forward and do as good as them.

Cooking...lately a lost art for Lisa

Last night, I finally cooked a meal! I made BBQ chicken pizza for my roomies and a friend. And I have to say, it turned out pretty good. I had seen a recipe for pizza online and rearranged it to fit my BBQ chicken pizza needs. So the recipe:

Pillsbury pizza dough (just makes it easier to buy this than make it from scratch)

Sauce:
Hot 'n spicy bbq sauce
a little garlic salt

Toppings
Diced chicken breasts, pre-cooked before putting on pizza
mushrooms
red onions, sliced
mozzarella cheese
any other toppings you want to add!

Place dough in greased 13x9 dish, pressing dough to go 1/2 inch up sides.
Spread sauce over dough and add toppings. Sprinkle cheese over the toppings. Bake in pre-heated oven at 475 degrees for 20-23 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

And voila! That's it, enjoy!

Brain exercising...

Occasionally, I feel like I have lost brain power, and this weekend was one instance. For the life of me, I can't find three items that are somewhat important to me. I blame the misplacing of these items on the fact that I had numerous other things happening, but now that my crazy life has calmed down, I can't remember where these items are. Or, as has been pointed out me, maybe I'm just getting old and that our brain power slowly but surely decreases. So I am in search of ways to exercise my brain, so that it doesn't shrivel up and die. Any ideas? I was thinking new books, on new topics, mind games, anything, throw them out there. Maybe, if I exercise my brain back to where it was 10 years ago, I will find those missing items...

One of the missing items is my camera, so pictures may be few and far between until I find it!!