First of all, from Wednesday to Friday, Patrick taught a class from home. For those who don't know, he does analytical data warehousing and reporting. He also teaches online classes so that he can show others how to do this, as well. The type of work he does can take him all over the world... Or as far as his computer desk at home. It definitely has its perks and its downfalls, but I know we're both grateful that he doesn't have a normal 9-5 job. This was a little difficult and pretty boring. A certain distance away from the computer, Patrick's class can not hear what goes on in the apartment, however, we have to make sure he stays on task and pays attention to his class and not whatever I'm doing, so for most of the time during those days I just sat in our room and watched Supernatural on Netflix. Not such a bad way to spend your day, but I did get bored.
Lately I've been having what I can only describe as restless legs, even though I know it's not a medical condition. As I've said before, up until I left the state, I was working my butt off to save up for the trip and the first few months of being here. Then, when I arrived, we still kept going and going and going. I'm no Energizer Bunny! But then, finally, we got a break, and I've been feeling very cooped up and tired, like I need to go run and do something (which, for anyone who knows me, should be quite hysterical). I don't run! I hate exercise and I hate doing anything. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I would love nothing more than to spend my life laying on the floor and eating chips. Now, we all know that this is an exaggeration, but I really do hate physical activity. So imagine my surprise when I told Patrick that I was going to go USE THE ELLIPTICAL MACHINE IN OUR COMPLEX'S GYM. And you know what? I did. Know what else? I LIKED IT. Something is definitely wrong here, but I'm not complaining! Besides a treadmill and the various weight machines that they had in high school that we utilized in either Phys. Ed. or Yoga, I have never been on another actual exercise machine. So getting used to the elliptical was a struggle. When I finally gave up on actually trying, I got into a pretty good groove. But I'll say, it sure helped with the restless legs. I slept really well that night!
Patrick still made sure I had breakfast, lunch, and dinner while he was training. This dinner was super cute. He handed it to me saying "Look, it's X O!"
We found ourselves at a Japanese grocery store at some point this week. This was my first Mochi, and I am not a fan! Although it was super squishy, which was fun. Patrick says the ones with ice cream inside are way better!
I also got to try Pocky, which I chose in strawberry. It was so good!
Look! My sticks had little animals on them!
Patrick made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I'm still nomming on them, they were great!
The day he made the cookies, he also made himself a macaroni and cheese grilled cheese. The bread was not the right bread to use so it didn't turn out very pretty, but he said it was still really good!
That same day was our special Rocky show. It's funny how the hospitality and kindness of the cast already has me grouping myself in with them even though I'm not on cast and there are strict lines that I cannot cross. The director and Patrick's good friend, Shannon, is very picky when it comes to what a person who is not on cast can and cannot do, which I can definitely understand from a legal standpoint. If I were to get injured and I wasn't on cast, that could go south really quickly. So I mostly stay out of the way but am more than willing to help out when someone needs me to. Friday I helped out with "tranny bag" sales while everyone else was attending a cast meeting (a "tranny bag" is a little kit that the cast sells that has little items in it that help the audience interact with the movie, like bubbles to blow during the wedding scene, or a newspaper to put over their head during the rainy scene). I also helped unload some of the lighter things from the truck and, of course, ran errands for Patrick (like going to get his drill kit from the car). It was the most fun I've had at a show yet! That night, an old cast member, Dy, played the main character, Frank. She was so awesome! She's one of the first of Patrick's friends to get excited about my move here, so I was really excited to meet her. Dy is an author, too, and I've been dying to get my hands on her first book, so I was really excited when Patrick told me that she was bring a signed copy for me to the show!
I was not a fan of the giant, 9-mile-long bridge that we had to go over to get to Ohlone College. I hate water!
I'm a little more than halfway through the book at this point and I cannot put it down! It's driving Patrick nuts!
Thanks Dy! :)
After the show, most of the cast went to Sonic for food, and then we headed home. Saturday was spent running a lot of errands and cleaning the carpet and going out to dinner at one of Patrick's favorite English pubs in the area, The Swinging Door (which I was really not a huge fan of. I think I'm just a restaurant kind of girl).
Sunday, Patrick and I rose early and headed to meet Dy, her husband Brian, and two of their friends at a place called St. George Spirits, a distillery in the area located on Alameda Island, where an abandoned military base still stands. It's actually really creepy driving in. As I said to Patrick while we were still on our way to the distillery, "This is where people come to get killed." It definitely looked like a scene from "The Hills Have Eyes." Apparently the base was no longer needed, so the military housing and all of the hangars were abandoned. Now they are rented out by the government to private owners like St. George Spirits. But the distillery was actually really cool. Since I don't like alcohol, it wasn't as awesome for me, but I still had a really good time. First, our group did a tasting of some of the different alcohols that they make. Some of them I dipped my tongue in, but I still really hated all of them. I don't understand how people like that stuff. The woman who was telling us about the alcohols overheard me explaining for the billionth time how I hate the taste of alcohol, and presented me with a taste of a Raspberry Liqueur, which, surprisingly, I really enjoyed. A high alcohol content yet a very very slight hint of the burn and flavor of alcohol. At the end of the tasting, Patrick bought me a bottle of the stuff and a tiny bottle of the absinthe that he enjoyed, and then we went on a tour of the factory, which was both fun and very informative. Our tour guide, Pauly, knew what he was talking about and definitely knew how to entertain a crowd.
Though where we were was creepy, the skyline view was really pretty, especially with the fog!
Definitely where people go to get killed.
The tasting menu, which rotates every so often.
The distilling machine! So cool! I think the tubes look like flutes.
A little story about this shark: It's in the middle of the distillery because Edge Innovations, the company that did the animatronics for the movie "Deep Blue Sea" starring Samuel L. Jackson, was actually located next door to the distillery. One day, they ran out of room in their shop and asked the distillery owner if they would house it for them. He obliged and waited for further instructions... Until they learned that the company had packed up and moved. They haven't heard from the company since, so the people at the distillery keep the shark for entertainment purposes.
I would make a really REALLY good actress.
By the time we were done, we were all a little hungry, so we stopped at a little italian place for lunch. I ordered gnocchi in a gorgonzola white cream sauce, which was delicious. No one knows the love I have for gnocchi. It's my favorite pasta dish and one of my all-time favorite foods. On my death bed, I will want Taco Bell and gnocchi.
After the italian place, we headed to a little tiki bar called Forbidden Island. It was super neat! Although our waitress was really irritating because she reminded me of someone from high school, she was nice and the drinks were good. The virgin options surprised me with how good they were. Patrick and I had a great time and I loved getting to know Dy, she's so sweet and super fun! But when I get tired, I get cranky. Spending the day with people who were happy because they were drinking wasn't the bad part. What was really difficult was sitting in the dark bar, so dark that your eyes had to adjust when you entered, which made me really tired. So when it was time to go home, I was really ready to go home. I even fell asleep on the car ride back. Patrick spent a couple of hours reading before we finally decided it was time to turn in for the night.
I had a really wonderful weekend and though I know I'm struggling, I'm still glad to be here. For those of you that didn't see it, this is what I posted on Facebook yesterday.
"Hey everyone, this is a little note for everyone that’s back in Michigan. Lately I’ve been feeling guilty about my lack of communication with individual people. Yesterday, I actually told someone off about this because they freaked out that I haven’t been in touch with them. The truth is that I miss everyone—sometimes too much—and I’m the one who is having the hard time adjusting. Instead of missing one person from my life, I’m missing all of them. I can’t spend my entire life making sure that everyone back home is satisfied with the amount of contact that I have with them. I have tried—this is why I’ve started a blog, because it’s the easiest way for me to reach the largest number of people (there is not a new entry, I'm just posting the link anyways for reference). But remember, it’s a two way street; if you want to talk to me, talk to me, because I can’t be counted on to remember with everything that’s been going on. You guys get to go on with your daily lives, yet I have to adjust to a whole different world, and you can’t get mad if you slip through the cracks. I do care about everyone, I am thinking about you, I just can’t make a check list of everyone I need to contact every 2-3 days! You can help out the situation by being the one who contacts me, remember that I’m missing you too!"
I'm serious, guys! I can't remember to text everyone on a regular basis! If that's what you're basing how much I miss you off of, stop! That's not it!
To bring some cheer to your day, here's a blurry picture of our Robo Dwarf Hamster, Wall E.
"LET ME OUT STUPID HUMAN."
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