Good News, Bad News

I got a letter in the mail from Sam's Club yesterday, stating:

This letter is to inform you that we have learned today that CLIF BAR & CO in cooperation with the FDA has initiated a recall of its Clif Bar Assorted Products due to potential contamination with Salmonella. Our records indicate that you purchased Cliff Bar Assorted Products with UPC's of XXXXXX and YYYYYY. We request that you review your inventory records and segregate and return the items to your local Sam's Club for a full refund.

The good news? None of our stash have those specific UPC's, so we're good. The bad news? That probably means we already ate them. Awesome. How does Salmonella even get into energy bars, anyway? Nevermind. I don't want to know. What I do know is that I've had 3 trips to the bathroom in the last 12 hours. Never underestimate the power of suggestion.

30 Never Looked So Good!

My lovely friend, Tamara, celebrated her birthday in style a couple of weeks ago at the Armory Center for the Arts here in Pasadena. That alone would be cool enough for most people. But Tamara is not like most people.


Sure, the location was great...
But then you add the DIY art tables...

...the impeccable attention to detail...

...the food (oh the food!)...
and the snazzy band...

...and you have yourself a truly unforgettable night. And not just because your band did covers of everything from Material Girl to Part of Your World.

However, even a night such as this would be nothing without friends and family to share it with.

Happy, happy day to you, Tight. You are loved.

I'm one of THOSE people.

It's Friday night and what am I doing? Lesson planning and paper grading. I've officially become a teacher. And even worse, I've decided I need to invest in a cart to carry all my crap to class. I refuse to use a rolling suite case or something equally as lame. So, I've decided I'm going to try to turn this into hipster cool:
How's it working so far? Not well, according to Ben.

R: If I use this, I won't look like such a nerd? (asked hopefully)
B: (giving the cart, then me a dubious look)
R: Well?!
B: At least you'll be a cute nerd.

I guess that's the most I can hope for at this point. But if I start wearing holiday-themed vests, you have permission to shoot me. Or at least bring it to Stacy's and Clinton's attention.

Lazy Sunday

After 8 hours of class yesterday and 2 parties...I'm trying to take my pets' lead and relax today.

Memo

To: LA Freeway System
From: Robin Blair
Re: UNCLE!

That's it! I give up! So, now please stop tormenting me. I know I had gotten cocky. I know I had reached a point in my freeway driving career where I thought I had found a way to beat the system. But now I know that I was clearly mistaken. I now realize how powerful you are and that you will always have the ability to pummel me to a pulp whenever you feel like it. You're like a cruel god in a poor theology. Actually, you're like a Greek god. You are Zeus. And yesterday I heard your roar. And felt your thunderbolt.

The day started just like any other day. I went for a long run, took a shower, and got ready for class. I put the finishing touches to my lecture powerpoints, jotted some notes to myself about copies I needed to make at the psych office before class, congratulated myself on starting carpool that day and reflected on what a good steward that made me. Things were good. I had no reason to anticipate the horror that was to come. Why? Because I have intentionally orchestrated my training placement and teaching positions to be at a location that is convenient to me (read: reverse traffic!). Oh how foolish I was to think all this scheming somehow made me immune to the travesties of living in L.A.

Shortly after my carpool partner picked me up, we were cruising down you, 210, at a respectable speed when all of a sudden traffic came to a halt. WHAT THE HECK? This never happens! In my optimistic state of mind, I had hope that things would clear up soon. After all, we had left plenty of time for us to make it to class...right? Wrong. As wrong as 80 degree weather in January. After moving approximately 3 miles in 1.5 hours, we had to cancel our classes. But I still had hope I could make it to my second class on time...right? Wrong again. Wrong like a chocolate-free dessert. After another half mile and half hour, I decided to cancel my second class, as well. We admitted defeat, made a u-turn, and headed back home, never having even made it to our destination. Well played, 210. Well played.

BUT WAIT! It gets better.

Since canceling classes opened my schedule quite a bit, I found myself more inclined to go with Ben and some friends to Hotel Cafe late last night to listen to Brian Wright. This talented guy leads a hard (i.e. addicted) life, so I'm not sure how much longer he'll be alive and I thought I better catch a show while I still had the chance. He was scheduled to go on stage around 10 o'clock, so we hopped on you, 110, about 9, and again made great progress (as any one should at that time of night), when all of a sudden traffic came to a halt. Sound familiar? Deja vu never felt so disgusting. As I proceeded to sit in traffic for another 2 hours, only to turn around and head home, again never making it to my destination, I came to the only plausible conclusion. You two, dearest 210 and 110, were in cahoots against me and were determined to squelch my will to live. Congratulations. You win. To think - I even washed my hair yesterday. What a waste.

So, this is me, eating humble pie. Please go back about your business of paying me no-never-mind. I will never again doubt your ability to ruin my life.

Good day.
Robin

Revelation

Peeing in a cup is a surprisingly difficult task when one has a very full bladder.
Hmm.

Sign me up!

Yesterday I got an email from Important People at City of Hope that said:

Volunteers needed for anonymous donation of urine samples The Department of Translational Vaccine Research is conducting a study...volunteers will be compensated for their time with a $3 Starbucks gift card.

It's like urine for coffee! Man, I love working here.

FINALLY.

I felt it!
I was having dinner with my prayer group gals a few blocks from my house on Thursday, when two of them looked at each other and said, "Did you feel that?!" I hadn't, so went right along eating, thinking, "Wow. That must have been some kick for Tracy to have felt Becca's baby." (Becca's about 4 months pregnant or so.) But then I DID feel something. The whole apartment shook for a second or two and before I knew it, all my (native Californian) friends were under the table, so I followed suite, thinking, "Ummm...I'm pretty sure this table is not going to be helpful when the floor above us falls down and smashes us like pancakes." Luckily that was it for the shaking, so no need to test my theory. We stayed under the table for less than a minute before we felt confident the earthquake was over and then settled into our seats again to resume dinner and our chatter. Just another normal day, except...

I AM NO LONGER AN EARTHQUAKE VIRGIN!!!!

Wine Me, Dine Me, Over The Rhine Me

Before our Christmas trip to Missouri, I attended an Over the Rhine concert on the recommendation of some friends and immediately became converted. The main people are husband (pianist) and wife (singer) and I LOVE THEM. I adore her voice - just listening to her speak causes me to slow down and reflect. This song (Drunkard's Prayer...which makes me wonder if it was the inspiration for a friend's blog name) soothes my soul. I tend to be impatient with long-ish instrumental openings, but this is so worth it. I wish Ben would learn how to play the cello and play me to sleep every night.

Say Cheese!

Meet the newest member of our camera family:
He joins my Rebel XT and the camera God gave us. What? God doesn't give you cameras? Well, my little mustard seed friends, clearly my faith is bigger. Ben was walking Mia a couple of years ago when he found a camera identical to this one on our street. It was a little banged up, but it worked! We put up signs but no one claimed it, so voila: camera from God. It has served us well these last few years but is definitely not the well-oiled machine it once was. (Read: sometimes the lens doesn't open all the way and the zoom is more theoretical than actual.) So, we've decided to cash in some blood bank rewards (thank you, Ben, for your herculean abilities to pump blood well and often) and a couple of gift cards to get a replacement. The old camera will now be the designated ski camera and the new one will hopefully satiate my desire to buy new photography equipment. I'm so inspired by my Freakishly Talented Friends that I've been itching to get back into my old hobby. But here's the thing. What I want costs a lot of money. And I already have a hobby that costs a lot of money. It's called grad school. And I can't really justify investing in something right now that isn't going toward a career or a house or something practical like that. Boo.

Anyway. Welcome, little guy. I look forward to the memories you have in store for me.

New Favorite

My mom got me these pajamas for Christmas....er....at least, I used her money to buy them for myself and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them. They're all on sale right now, so strike that hot iron! I just ordered another pair because I've decided it's time to retire the joe boxer pants and holey t-shirts I've been wearing for the last ten years.

And now I shall walk around the house, posing like this.

PS: They run kind of big - I got a small and it's a comfy fit and long enough for all 68" of me, so keep that in mind.

Starting Fresh

If I'm going to have a fresh start to the new year, I need a fresh house. Cleanse the house, cleanse the heart and mind? I don't know. But Ben and I did spend 8 hours yesterday cleaning our apartment top to bottom. And when I say clean I mean CLEAN. Lauren, you could come over right now and not sneeze once (or thirteen times like normal)! I don't think our place has been this scrubbed since we first moved in, almost three years ago. I did things like wash the filter in our air conditioner and sweep under the fridge. We moved every piece of furniture to vacuum and scrub. Partly because we really, really needed to and partly because I really, really wanted to find my jewelry. But no luck. Ben did find a necklace in the vacuum bag, but not the one I was looking for. I didn't even know this one was lost. Sigh.

Well, here's to 2009. Here's to starting fresh.