My Weekend Affair with Clorox
After two frenzied days of chores, I've finally succeeded in getting my kitchen clean. Well, clean
er, I should say, since I'm not completely satisfied yet. I think I've used up a bottle and a half of Clorox cleaner with bleach, and I don't predict that this is the end of it. It must be some rite of passage - getting your own place means you fly into this anal state, and don't want to stop scrubbing until all the dirt and grime (imaginary or not) of the previous tenant has gone away.
The cabinet handles are new. All the cabinets have been scrubbed to their death, and the drawers have been freshly lined. Clorox and I have another rendezvous this weekend, I hope Marc doesn't get too jealous. :P
Cupid
Marc, Martin, Amy and I might have witnessed the budding of true love last night. :)
Really, it was only us introducing two friends to each other. One of Marc's friends and one of mine. We wanted to make it as casual as possible so when Martin and Amy decided to stay one more day, we asked if they wanted to tag along. The scene of the crime was Literati Cafe, as casual as you can get as far as a dining place. It was loads of fun, a great way to spend time with each other, and at the same time observe the potential couple's reactions to each other.
Time will tell if we made a good match. But it was a fun experience at the very least.
Productivity
Contrary to what I thought this weekend was going to be for me, I actually accomplished a lot of things,
and was able to take some time to relax with friends. On Saturday, I helped my uncle pack up his stuff as he had sold the condo. Since he hasn't found a place yet, and he wants to wait until the market goes down, we decided that he'd move in with me first.
We had planned to pack until way into the night but there was a widespread blackout and when dark set in, we couldn't properly see any of the things we wanted to sort, even by candlelight. So we decided to call it a night and resume in the morning.
I was feeling a little obese, so I went to Marc's and did an hour of yoga just to get some toxins out. Marc's place is pretty warm so it felt like I was doing hot yoga. Boy, was that a workout! I wanted to keep going after the first video, but it was late, and I wanted to get up early the next morning.
Sunday morning, I woke up a little later than what I had originally planned. After a sluggish five minutes of stumbling around, trying to get myself started, I finally went for my scheduled run on the beach, with my smashing new Asics. :) In the middle of my run, I stopped at the outdoor gym and did a few pullups and pushups. After freshening up after my run, I swung by the farmer's market on Main Street to grab an OJ and a crepe. Then it was off to Brentwood for more packing.
In a couple of hours, we had finished a lot of sorting and packing, and there wasn't much else we could do. I had allotted the whole morning and early afternoon for this, but by 1pm, there were boxes all over, and my uncle needed to sort through more things before we could continue. I started to drive home, thinking that I should have just brought my climbing bag with me so that I could set, something I had wanted to do originally before my uncle had called me to ask for help. Regardless, I decided to take a chance and see what I could accomplish.
In my jeans and beaded sandals, I was able to borrow a harness and a grigri, and put up a route, with the extra time that I had. I saw John at the gym and he came up to me and said, "Don't you have to be somewhere?" I winked at him and said, "Not until 4!"
At a little past four, after a mad rush to get home, unload some boxes and get showered and changed, I met up with John and Vicky in the marina for a sailing lesson and a cruise around the bay. It was
so relaxing, a much-needed break after a very busy day. Then it was time to drive to the airport and pick up Marc, back from a wedding in Iowa. Definitely a great ending to a productive weekend.
Waiting and waiting
I tried to hold off on posting here until I was able to download the pictures that would go with the posts, but seeing as I'm still without pictures and it's been a couple of weeks since the last entry, I suppose I should just do without. Score 1 for procrastination!
It's been a busy time for me. I moved to a new place. And I'm still in the process of settling down. It's slow, but I see it coming together bit by bit, so I'm hoping that soon I'll have a home nice enough to invite people over to. For right now, I'm just revelling in the fact that it's so close to the beach, so I can simply put on my running shoes and go for a run on the boardwalk (which I've only done twice - doh!).
Fourth of July was great. At the last minute, Marc and I got an invite to join John on his sailboat. The fireworks were being launched right off of some barges docked in the marina, so we had prime seating for the show. We set sail at around 4ish and got back around ten. It was hell getting out of the parking lot and getting home; I think I was only able to crash out at 11:30pm.
This past weekend, my friend Tintin (who's here for a visit from Manila) stayed with me so that we could catch up and hang out. She slept over Friday night, and on Saturday morning we walked down to the board walk for a quick workout. As I was running back and forth on the path, I saw John on his rollerblades. We stopped to chat and as it turns out, he wanted to go sailing again! I so badly wanted to go but I wasn't sure if Tintin would be up for it. I was so relieved when she got excited as soon as she heard the news. All our plans for the day were dropped in an instant.
As we were walking back, I saw my friend Vicki this time on her bike. She screeched to a halt when I called out to her, and after a short chat, I found out that her plans to climb that day had fallen through. So I invited her on the sailing trip as well. That completed the group.
Despite getting sick on this trip (first time ever that I've gotten sea sick - go figure), it was great fun to just kick back and share a few laughs with friends. We had dinner at a small Italian eatery (minus Vicki, too bad) then called it a night.
On Sunday, while going around the promenade, Marc and I decided to duck into the fancy art bookstore along Wilshire. We browsed around for awhile and then on the way out, Marc whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "Did you see Chris Rock?"
I whipped my head around, thinking at first that it was a book with Chris Rock on the cover, and as my eyes tried to focus, I suddenly found myself looking at the
real one! Star sighting #i don't know anymore!
I'm beat, but it was a great weekend. And there's more to come since Tintin hasn't gone home yet, and Martin and his wife Amy are going to be in town as well. Yay! :)
A River Runs Through Azusa
Ever since seeing
A River Runs Through It, I'd always been curious about fly fishing. They presented it so romantically in the film, that how could I not? So it was inevitable that I ask Mike, another routesetter at the gym who just happens to be an avid fly fisherman as well, to take us out with him on one of his regular trips.
Today was the day. In preparation, Marc, Martin and I watched the movie again last night to get psyched about our adventure. Then I kicked them out of the condo so that they could go home and sleep; we had to wake up at 5:30 this morning to be able to get there at a decent fishing time.
Mike picked Azusa since it's one of his closest fishing spots. The weather was relentless today, but we pressed on. And the results were rewarding enough. The water was just so refreshing to stand in, and we each caught a fish or two. They were tiny, but I tell ya, it was thrilling to feel that tug at the end of the line.
After a not-so-pleasant run-in with some people, we moved to one of the recommended fishing spots more up the hill, which was absolutely beautiful. I had my fill of fishing by then and simply settled down to read a (really) good book, soak my feet a little in the water and take more photos.
Soon, our hunger and the heat became too unbearable, so we packed up to leave, took a breather and drank some refreshments at the car while we organized things, and then grabbed lunch at a barbecue place at the foot of the hill. We were famished but happy.
More photos:
