it's always so hard to come back to work after a long weekend! it was a good long weekend though. some highlights:

--outdoor climbing at castle rock with a whole crew of people. it was my first attempt at outdoor climbing, and it was really fun! in fact, i think i like it better than indoor. i like gym climbing, and i need to continue to do it to improve technique, but climbing outdoors is less restrictive and more like solving a puzzle. now that i own my own climbing shoes (i bought some saturday morning; i figured if i was going to keep climbing that it didn't make much sense to keep renting), i want to get out and use them! i'm like a kid with a new toy. i might go climbing again this week with marla, her sister, and heather if she can get the day off. we got a bunch of fun pictures at castle rock, too. yay!

--went to see collateral... it was actually pretty good! i'm not a big tom cruise fan, but jamie foxx really made the movie. it's surprising to see actors that you've pigeonholed as comedic/slapstick roles actually turn out to be capable and decent at acting. i'm interested in seeing him play ray charles in ray, coming out in october.

--appeased the inner scotsman in all of us (mostly marla) and went to the highland games in pleasanton. we got our fill of men in kilts, bagpipes, caber toss, sheepdog trials, scottish meat pies, and heat. man, was it ever hot. (i'm too used to mild san francisco weather now.) the sheepdogs were so cute! we watched the intermediate class of herders, so a few of them were not as capable-- and made it very entertaining when the sheep went haywire and slammed into fences trying to get away! one even leaped over the fence (not very gracefully, either-- one wonders how sheep jumping over fences ever became a soothing image for uneasy sleepers!). we also helped marla look for attire from her family's clan, the ogilvie clan. evidently the ogilvies got wiped out in 1640 by the campbell clan, and royal connections were not restored until the late 1800s. this means that there are not a huge number of ogilvies running around, and it made it harder to find stuff with the clan tartan and crest. marla found a few things to buy, but didn't buy a tartan or a kilt (too expensive!!). it was an interesting trip.

--helped liz and marla on their quest for house ownership and checked out a townhouse in san jose. it wasn't a bad place, but kind of small for the price and not a very utilitarian layout . it's so hard to buy a reasonably priced place in the bay area these days! i think i may have to resign myself to a lifetime of renting if i stay. unless my wealthy benefactor makes an appearance in the interim. :D any takers? ;)

--slept in! always good.

--had dinner with the 'rents, ken and carol, and heather at the fish market in san mateo for anyu's birthday. yummy! i had dungeness crab salad-- the only way i'll eat crab, if someone else deshells it for me! :)

so, back to work. lots of contracts to develop, and soccer stuff to figure out... our first game is this saturday. :)