The Creative Salad

This morning I got my hair cut short. Natalie Portman short. In celebration of my newfound buzz, we went to see V for Vendetta… again. I definitely enjoyed it much more this second time, because I could focus on the dialogue and characters, rather than the suspense and overarching disturbing themes of the film. I really hope Natalie gets an Oscar nomination; I thought she was absolutely brilliant and even more so this time around.

This past week I found myself, once again, out in the field observing water well drilling. There is something fitting–and full circle–about being out in the field with the drillers during my second to and last weeks of work. Luckily the wells are not 24-hour gigs, so I am working semi-sane hours and getting regular sleep. I enjoy the time outside and the meeting of new people. This upcoming week–my last week in the office–should be incredibly busy and stressful as I finish up several large projects and smoothly (fingers crossed) transition my clients to other staff members. It will be a long and emotional week, but I am hopeful that we will all end up in a good place… I am very looking forward to this upcoming break. Starting week after next, I will have a minimum of 53 more hours per week for myself for a little while, since I won’t be working full time and commuting and (sometimes) taking a lunch hour. Oh, I feel so burnt out. I can’t wait to sleep in past 6 in the morning every day of the week and have time for my photography, quilting, jewelry making, reading during the day, cooking, knitting, website design, swimming, yoga, long walks (and short runs), and trips to the beach. Isn’t it exciting?!

In the meantime our time in Boulder continues. We keep packing and cleaning and organizing. We are spending lots of time with friends. Today I found a beautiful dress for an upcoming wedding, tomorrow we keep with the tradition of breakfast with Stefan (Thorsten has returned to Germany and we miss him!), and two weeks from Tuesday we head to California.

Oh, I am so excited.

Some of our guests at the last Spritzer Leyba wine and cheese party in Boulder; from left to right: Jenny, Joe, Dan, Oak, Tim, David, and Stefan. We had a great time!

*** Added some more link love, updated the archives, and found a most inspiring site.

We’ve lined up a place to live for when we move. I am so ready to enjoy the comforts of a dishwasher, walk-in closet, air conditioning, and fireplace for the first time in many years, not to mention amenities such as a fitness center and pool. Downsizing is worth it. I can’t wait to swim every day all summer.

Spring appears to be on its way to Boulder with warm days this past weekend. I am SO ready to say goodbye to winter. I say yay for moving to a place without cold winters.

Oh, and we’ve also been battling hives galore brought on by gluten/rice (me) and nightshades such as potato and tomato (David) and exasperated by stress. A few weeks ago I made a long list of restaurants we wanted to eat in before we left, but now with all of these food allergies we’ve decided to just eat where we can, when we can. We enjoyed nachos at the Lazy Dog on Saturday and brunched at Sunflower on Sunday. I just want to get one last meal in at Trilogy Wine Bar before we say goodbye to Boulder and I’ll be happy.

The house is slowly being packed away. We’re in the process of gathering items for our yard sale. We’ve been getting together with and starting to say goodbye to friends. And I only have three weeks left of work. Time is flying by and we are so excited!

4/7 UPDATE: So much for downsizing! Evidently our new apartment is the same size as our current house. All right! We lose one bedroom and gain a walk-in closet/better floorplan and there you go.

David’s new bosses sent him an iPod Nano as a welcome to the company gift! While I think it’s fabulous, I am so freaking jealous. Good thing David is so generous and is willing to share.

Our entire world is about to be turned upside down. David has accepted a position in Santa Rosa, California, located an hour north of San Francisco in the heart of Wine County. The position and company were both top choices for David and he is so excited about getting to work. Despite our sadness at leaving Boulder and our friends here, we are thrilled to have an amazing opportunity like this in such a beautiful part of the country. We are ecstatic!

More details coming soon.

*** Some relevant links: City of Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Sonoma County Wine Country.

We have a new wonderful weekend tradition that involves breakfast with Thorsten and Stefan. Always fun and interesting, I look forward to our time together.

Where did February go? Somehow it got lost amongst long hours at work, lots of yoga classes, head colds and assorted sickness, acupuncture and chiropractic appointments, trips to the library, and David’s many job interviews. For the most part this month has been exhausting and stressful for me, although overall we are both feeling happy and doing well and excited about the many possibilities for the future. Right now David is on his way to northern California and will be heading to the east coast several times later in the month for on-site interviews. Keeping our fingers crossed.

I have a feeling that March will be a catch-up month for me in which I tackle the 400+ emails in my inbox, return the 19 messages on our answering machine, and hopefully organize a yard sale (in a futile attempt to get rid of the clutter!).

What are your plans for spring cleaning?