My two weekends, and Katrina in-between.

I had a great birthday, last weekend. I was bummed out, trying to squeeze everything in (Jesse time, family time, quiet time, bridal shower time, etc.) ... and there was a "pre-wedding hang-out session" that my friends were planning for our engaged friend who's getting married at the end of the month (it was also her bridal shower over the weekend) ... I was getting so stressed out that I almost didn't go, but my arm was twisted several times around, and I relaxed a bit over lunch with some other friends, so I ended up going (happily). And wow, it was a good thing I did! =P It was a surprise birthday dinner party for me. =P Sheesh. I don't think I've ever had a surprise party before, so I didn't quite know the lead-up warning signs.. hehe

It was super nice; we went to a swanky place called Nola in Palo Alto. (Woah, go to that link -- going there only just reminded me that it was a Nawlins-themed restaurant. Poor New Orleans.) The food was great, the company was great, and we had a sweet private room at the back of the restaurant.. I was very impressed and touched.

And then, on Saturday (my actual birthday), Jess and I packed up a picnic lunch, and he read to me on the banks of the lagoon in Foster City. I fell asleep. It was very relaxing.

My mom (who's totally my biggest fan and should've called me at midnight as soon as it turned August 27) didn't call me to say Happy Birthday, so I was bummin' out into the late afternoon... Then, of course, she called me at about 7:02PM singing the HB song into the phone, and apologizing profusely for missing my exact birth time of 6:55pm. Awww. So, I had to forgive her. And then I was in good enough spirits to go out to dinner (without my mom's call, I was totally thinking of just going to bed early and not eating dinner), so Jesse took me to a sweet little italian restaurant called Tomatina. Yum.

Then on Sunday, I went to my friend's Bridal Shower. It was bridal showery. I embarassed her with lingerie, which is pretty much the purpose of a shower, right? Then my family took me out to dinner Sunday night, staying with the Italian theme, to Maggiano's. Nice decor, but we ate outside to stay cool. Beautiful night, good food, fun joke-and-story-telling. It was nice, overall!

Then came Monday, and the hell of this past week. Ugh. So much work, so much hurricane crying. My company built a whole emergency hurricane relief application, to direct people to the Red Cross donation lines, the FEMA info lines, etc. All of this extra work piled on meant that I didn't get my original work goals for the week accomplished.

So here I am, on a Saturday, at work. Doh! Oh well. I'm fortunate enough to live in a beautiful state, with temperate weather, and my home and the building in which I work are still standing.

Poor New Orleans (not to mention other destroyed areas along the Gulf Coast). I've donated money, but I wish there was more I could do... Something tells me, though, that there's a premium on space in the disaster-stricken areas, and they don't need another mouth to feed.