Pacific Beach |
It's been two weeks since I last wrote. I skipped again like I said I would. Work work, and more work do not make for interesting journal entries.
The last couple weekends have been pretty nice though. My new buddy Mike took me and Kitty! over to the Coronado dog beach last Sunday. I was pretty worried about how she would react off her leash, but she did fine.
She's not real interested in fetch or any dog toys. The other dogs seem to be in their own little world, chasing after balls and dummies. Kitty! just wants to play chase and or be chased. So she goes up to all the dogs, and like a nerdy needy kid, tries to engage them. Eventually she finds a dog that likes to play the “chase” game. Then the two will run themselves ragged.
Mike brought his dog “Sleeper” who apparently likes the chase game too, and they both raced up down the beach until Kitty! was frothing at the mouth. She had a blast, and for the next day or so, she slept a great deal and I am sure was quite sore.
This week my mom came in for the weekend.
I picked her up on Thursday afternoon at the San Diego Airport. My first time doing the airport by myself. Like an idiot I forgot what airline she was flying on, and duh, they have two terminals here.
So I gambled it was United (Terminal 1) but she was on Frontier (Terminal 2) and we had to do a small walk back to the car. Geez the parking sucks at the airport. Austin really did well with their parking situation. Even though the Austin airport is much smaller, parking was well thought out.
After I picked her up we did a small tour of the neighborhoods. Hillcrest, University Heights, Mission Hills, North Park, Normal Heights, and my part of town, Mission Valley.
We didn't want to fuss about dinner so we just stopped by a Carl Jr. for dinner. Quick and easy, but not really “San Diego.”
We came back to my apartment and watched the first part of Lilo and Stitch. We only made it through the first 45 minutes before we were both nodding off.
Oh yeah, I forgot that I found a cool “temporary” couch at linensource.com. It's kind of a transformer couch/bed. It is small and easy to move. I can move it all by myself in two trips, unlike a big heavy couch that takes a major commitment in manpower. When I move out of here in 5 months it will be pretty easy.
Anyway, I got this so my mom could have my bed, and I have been sleeping quite comfortably on it. Ok, so it's not as great as having a five bedroom home with guest bedrooms and bath, but it will do.
No more sitting on the floor watching movies either. Yeah!
The next morning I went in to work and did a photoshoot. We got off to a late start, so I was running a little late when I went to pick up my mom for lunch.
I gave her super quick tour of my new office and she met my new co-workers. After that we went to Old Town and had lunch at the Old Town Café.
We then headed over to Pacific Beach to enjoy a little chilly time on the beach. It was a bit cool as we sat on the beach trying to soak up some sun.
We didn't actually get IN the water. Brrrrrr. But we did go down and get our tootsies in the water so that we could actually say we went to the beach.
After our short trip to the beach, we drove us over to Mt. Soledad. I guess this is gonna be like Mt. Bonell in Austin. Great touristy thing to do that gives visitors a great lay of the land. By then we were both getting chilled and decided to head home for a fashion change.
For dinner we went to a cute Italian restaurant in Hillcrest. Can't remember the name, but it was very good.
Saturday started off cool and rainy. We had planned on an early morning picnic on Coronado Island, then taking Kitty! over to the doggy beach for play time. The picnic didn't happen, but we did get Kitty! to the beach.
Here is a little video of Kitty! in action.
I thought we would be out early enough that there weren't be a lot of dogs at the beach, but apparently dog walkers are early morning people.
Kitty! had fun on the beach, though she had a tough time finding a dog that would play “chase me” with. It's strange to watch her go up to all these dogs trying to engage them. She goes RIGHT up to all of them and thanfully none have taken a nip at her for her boldness. Most don't want anything to do with her, as they are playing fetch with their human companions.
So she keeps going from dog to dog, hoping they will play. I think I will try to get Mike and Sleeper to go over more often with Kitty! cuz she needs some quality play time after spending so much time in the apartment, and here and Sleeper made a good team.
After the doggy beach, we tried to find a dry place to eat our breakfast, but finally opted on heading back to the apartment to eat and watch the rest of Lilo and Stitch.
Neither of us had seen it before, and I dunno, so many people loved this movie, and we both thought it was kinda strange and didn't “get” what everyone was so jazzed about.
Then we headed out to do some serious shopping. We headed over to Fashion Valley- empty truck ready to be filled up.
I was on a mission for new pants. I was down to three pairs of pants (I think I gave too many good pairs away to Goodwill before I moved) and my mom was looking for some good deals on sneakers.
I ended up getting a bunch of new pants and a few shirts at The Gap, Banana Republic, and Macy's. I can now go a whole week without having to recycle a pair of pants.
We ate at the food court, and by early afternoon, the mall was getting quite busy. I made two trips with our loot back to the car, and both times, several people called out from their cars asking if I was leaving and if they could have my space. Guiltily I said I was just dropping stuff off.
My mom and I shopped some more. She finally found some Skechers she wanted, and both passed on some overpriced Diesels that we were both salivating over. I think she also found some good deals on some tops.
Then we got tickets to see The Incredibles. My mom wasn't real impressed, and I actually thought the beginning was a bit slow. But I did like the end and the action at the second half.
The theatre was full. One kid on my mom's side had a Dash wind up toy that he kept winding, and the couple next to me talked the entire movie. I just don't get it? I should know better than to go see a movie at a theatre. People suck. And there were lots of kids in the audience.
I think we should push for special “Adults Only” showing of films. I thought a 10-11pm showing would work, but even then, parents are there with their kids.
Oh well, there is always DVD to catch all those missed one liners.
We came back home and emptied the truck of all our new acquisitions then headed on up to Hillcrest to have dinner at Baja Betty's, the new name for Margarita Mary's. Excellent choice for the new name, don't you think.
I forgot how noisy the restaurant was, and my poor mom was beat down by the noise. It was not a relaxing meal as we yelled at each other over the table.
We came home, did some laundry, showed each other our new purchases, and put in a A&E DVD I have on ancient cultures. In other words, we fell asleep.
Sunday morning we went and had breakfast at a place I wanted to try. It's called the Olympic Café and it's on the corner of Texas and University. It has that greasy spoon charm to it, and it always seem really busy, so I figured it might be pretty good.
Sure enough, the food was awesome “home cookin” good.
After breakfast we went to Target to buy some household items, namely hangars for the new clothes, and ended up buying some much needed essentials ( I got new socks!)
Both my mom and I are fascinated by the two-story stores here, and we marveled at the escalator built just for your shopping cart. Sadly, watching our cart come up the stairs with us was likely the highlight of our day!
I actually didn't find hangars I liked at Target, so we went over to Bed Bath and Beyond, yet another two-story store. We tried to go over to DSW Shoe Warehouse, but they weren't open yet. Darn.
We came home and I headed back out to get a little workout in. The gym is really quiet on Sundays so I had no problem moving quickly through my workout.
My mom headed down to the pool to read, and I brought my laptop down to hangout and write the journal entry.
Tonight I have a promotional event at Hamburger Mary's for the new company I am working with. It is from 6-10, so I will be leaving my mom on her own.
Well, that's about it. Talk with ya soon
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