Monday, Monday

And it's been a very nice one, too, thank you very much.  I took a long walk this morning, up to the S*bucks where I have stopped every morning on my way to work for the past year or so.  It took me about half an hour to get there, which was fine with me.  One of the many things I promised myself that I would do, once I was no longer working, was take a "power walk" each morning.  The treat would be a grande nonfat latte at good old S*bucks.  (Of course, there's the long walk back, but I detest dwelling on unpleasant details...)  I just could not get it together to do the walk on Thursday or Friday last week (the first two days of my Life After The Job), so really I was forced to do it today... if only to maintain any shred of self-respect.  (Those last 10 minutes of the walk outbound, I was seriously thinking about taking the bus back home, but I didn't.)  

The morning was gorgeous -- a tad cool (enough for a lightweight hoodie) but bright.  Once again, I thanked my lucky stars that I live in California, and in a very temperate part of California at that.  The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, and there wasn't much traffic so I wasn't wheezing and hacking in the fumes.  There is a relatively new house not too far from mine, and it is possibly the ugliest house I've seen in years.  However, the folks who have moved in have planted an enormous variety of roses, and have all kinds of other flowers and plants rioting around in their front yard.  It is just a lovely sight, and smells fabulous!  

After that exertion, I was exhausted when I got home.  But I was feeling tremendously virtuous.  Enough so that I totally scarfed down an apple "pie" (one of those faux fried-pie things) -- I meant to leave it at the Berkeley house for DS, but it mysteriously leaped into the take-home bag, and I was forced to eat it.  I am ashamed of myself.  I will not buy any more.  I will not buy any more.  (I really don't want to promise not to buy a small pack of the deadly white donettes; you know, the ones with the powdered sugar on them... yum...)

However, I pulled myself together enough to stagger into the bathroom, where I started playing with the skin care products I bought in Beijing a couple of weeks ago, when I was there on my last business trip with The Company.  On my last day, I went wandering down a pedestrian shopping mall area, a few blocks from my hotel, and I was drawn into a store purportedly offering genuine licensed Olympics doodads.  Needing to buy something for DH, I went inside.  (Plus, it was air-conditioned and it was beastly hot outside...)  After purchasing a very lovely red official Olympics mug, I was on my way out, when I was nabbed by a salesgirl who looked about 12 years old, and she started rubbing something on my hand.  I was intrigued, because it looked like it was taking off the top layer of skin cells...  First mistake.  I should have kept walking.  Long story short, she and her buddies ended up having a wonderful time with my aging white skin, slapping lotions and masques and eye-bag-rid stick-ons...  I think I amused them no end.  Unfortunately, I ended up spending waaaayyyy too much money (I will forbear from telling you how much), and sobered up later, with all this wonderful face goo in my bag.  With full instructions.  All in Chinese.  Which I don't speak.  (Gotta love it...)  Luckily, there is a diagram in the fold-out instructions, that shows in pictures what product goes on in what order.  Phew!  I must say, though, that my face really does feel lovely -- soft and not dried out...  Eye bags not too much in evidence (but dark circles and saggy bits still there)...

Afterwards, errands all afternoon.  DD and The Boyfriend are due here tomorrow (Tuesday) late afternoon.  I was forced to actually clean off the sofa (the one with the fold-out bed) (for TB) -- shocking!  The detritus of my years at The Company is strewn from one end of the house to the other -- cartons of "stuff", folders of "stuff", and (for reasons I'm not totally clear on) a silver bowl filled to the brim with paper clips.  (Incipient bag-lady tendencies, I'm afraid.)

Now, DH and I are ensconced on the family room sofa, watching "Top Gear" on BBC America (one of our latest faves), and struggling to stay awake.  I did drag DH out for a brief walk after dinner, so we could check on the progress of a couple of mega-house construction sites in the neighborhood.  We just shake our heads at the McMansions that are going in.  Sigh...

I really do have to get it together and accomplish something MEANINGFUL tomorrow.  Perhaps I shall finally finish cleaning off the dining room table.  And re-read the latest issue of Burda WOF (World of Fashion) magazine that arrived today...  

OK, that's it for today.  Not terribly exciting, but then again, I was told by a blogosphere maven that, regardless of what's going on, I should practice posting every day...  So, blame him.

Cheers!