back to the grind! it's always so tough to come back to work after a vacation. i'm still unbelievably exhausted (yes, it was vacation but i didn't sleep much!) but i can always sleep when i'm dead. right? :)

so.... let's see, where to begin. the weekend before last, i went to see ucla men's soccer beat stanford men's soccer 2-0. i also met todd dunivant and richard mulrooney of earthquakes fame, just by going up and talking to them. i had a feeling that todd would be there (he just graduated from stanford last year), but it was nice to see both of them. did i mention how much i like soccer boys? :) the following day, the earthquakes played (and tied) the galaxy in their last regular-season game. they lost to them 0-2 yesterday in the first game of the playoffs, so my quakes may be out of luck for the cup this year. big big bummer. then sunday i went to ximena and freddie's baby shower, which was actually a lot more fun than i expected. i knew a number of people there from soccer, and there were a ton of their respective family and friends so it was cool. i also found out that nate (sonia's fiance) works with richard over at lucasarts. small world!

then, of course, monday morning i left for vacation in oahu with kat and sete. we had a pretty good time... i'll put pictures up as soon as i get them. i'll have to use kat's digital pics for now until i get myself near a scanner (and a photo developer, for that matter) for mine. we got in monday and headed out immediately to the waikiki aquarium (my request, of course). it was small, but parts of it were really well done. they had good displays of local corals and fish. we also picked up a nice army man there, who ended up hanging out with us a few times during the week. (army man brad is a 6'6" staff sergeant, very cute, with a very mellow demeanor. kat and sete were a bit leery at first, but brad never seemed to have ulterior motives so they warmed up to him too. he was a good sport about going to a really scary nightclub, too! yikes!)

tuesday we headed up to the polynesian cultural center in our lovely rented red mustang convertible :) :) the cultural center is somewhat touristy in that it reaches out to people not used to the cultural norms of various pacific island nations, but it was pretty educational and interesting to walk around in. they featured dances, activities, and history of islands like fiji, tonga, samoa, tahiti, marquesas, aotearoa (new zealand), and of course hawaii. i think we all enjoyed it, although it was a tiring day. the funny thing is that the PCC is on the north shore of the island, almost the farthest point from waikiki, and yet it was only 40 miles away. ahh, islands.

wednesday we headed to the aloha flea market to do some shopping (or a lot of shopping, in karena's case! heh) and then over to pearl harbor. we didn't go out to the uss arizona memorial (although we should have!) because we were hoping to get back to get in some snorkeling... we did go into the museum, though. i gotta tell you, i really like historical stuff like that. and also, it really gets to me. i mean, what an amazing and tragic thing... and i just have no concept of the magnitude. very moving.

after that we headed back for some sushi and some beach time, and then we met up with brad and hung out at a sports bar until late. poor brad had just had surgery that morning, but the anesthetic hadn't worn off yet so he wasn't feeling the pain yet! he didn't drink, though. he's smart like that. heh.

thursday was a beach day... we all crashed out on the beach for a while. it was nice to just be able to relax. later karena and i went to the international marketplace where i finally bought my green amber ring that i've been looking for. we finished up our souvenir shopping and just walked around waikiki for a bit. later that night, we went to dinner at the chart house... setareh and i both had yummy mahi mahi (the first time we'd had fish all week! grrr!). after that we met up with some of karena's friends who live in hawaii (lia, cheree, and sam, all very cool) at a club called reign. reign has a special that we desperately need in the city-- dollar drinks! and i don't just mean a few choices. every drink was a dollar (except shots, which were $2). lovely! after a few drinks there, we headed over to the ocean club for dancing until the wee hours.... let's just say that much fun was had by all. i don't think we have any photographic evidence, so we're safe for now.

friday we went to the beach in the morning and then had to head home :( very sad.

then saturday, i woke my ass up at the ass-crack of dawn to head down for the ucla-stanford football game. i swear, my bruins are so damn inconsistent it kills me! the tailgate was lots of fun... i picked up rich and arlene, and teddie, mark, liz, marla, and my parents met us there. i also chatted with the chancellor, who decided to show up for the game. arlene, who i'd never met, is cool. she can hang with us any day :) the bummer of the day was our sad sad team, who lost to stanford 21-14. dorrell should have put olson in at halftime because moore wasn't able to complete anything, but then there was absolutely no pass protection so it may not have mattered. our first loss in the pac-10, and it has to be to stanford?!! at the game i'm at!?! sheesh.

also got to see shaandi this weekend, as well as amtsj's on the 20th century (which is really boring. don't go see it).

and now, i'm back to work... and we have training (yes, again) all this week. fortunately, we now have a new intern and are getting new project administrator in this week. yay! but i lose my office because of it. boo!