[David] Hey, what are you doing?
[Nicole] I'm going to pick up some lunch and then head to the car wash.
[David] Which car wash?
[Nicole] The one on the eastside.
[David] Why are you doing that? There's one closer to you on the westside. You know, it's on Lancaster Blvd. and something.
[Nicole] I'm just going to the one on the eastside. It's plenty close to my office.
[David] I'm telling you, the one of the westside is closer.
[Nicole] DAVID, I'm going to the car wash on the eastside!

In his pervasive desire to be helpful, the man has a tendancy to beat a dead horse. But, he supports everything I do. And it's so nice to be able to be myself and actually felt like working at being a better person all at the same time.

Sallie Mae was sold very recently and boy, am I glad that frickin' student loan is just two months from being paid off. It should coincide with my 30th birthday and I think I'll throw a Happy 30th/Thank God I Paid Off My Student Loan party. And I'm inviting everyone I know because we're getting David's company beach house for the bash. Yum.

I found a book on writing style in my room a few weeks ago then it left my room. After a half-hearted search in the bookshelf opposite my computer just now, I can't find it. I'm sure it's good. I want to look at it again. Now, most of my writing is done at work. OK, fine, all my writing is done at work. And, naturally, brevity is the soul of transportation analysis. I'm not writing three pages on the City's red light camera program quarterly progress report. Homie don't have time for that.

Gum grafting surgery was on Thursday. My gums didn't hurt and I just had to believe that 3mm of recession was somehow detrimental to my overall health. So, I shelled out something less than $3K to have my gay peridontist slice into my mouth. [Oh, come on MetLife Dental. Work your magic!] Will I regret this? It's possible. The packing is more annoying than the stitches. I specifically requested the stitches be cut very short as I spent many an hour trying to cut stitches out of my throat back in 2000 after my tonsil removal procedure.

I kicked my hiking partners' butts this morning despite my feeble state. Yippee!

Valentine's Day
Bakersfield, CA
Basque restaurant - gourmet food, it is not.

I am restless. It was a nice Christmas day. There were no children around so that gave me, my sister, and my dad an opportunity to see a movie this afternoon. Woo hoo, hitting the new theatre in Palmdale. There's nothing like it.

Like I said, I'm restless. I see myself as standing so close to a huge opportunity but with no certainty it can turn out favorably. Biding time is the necessary course of action but I'm not patient and I hate waiting.

In other less cryptic news, David and Jessica both attend Monday evening mass near my work so I've told them both that since two of my friends are going, there's no reason I shouldn't be.

Today was Day 2 of full-time work. I don't believe God intended for humans to work in an office from 8am to whatever. However, God intends me to do this for nine months. I submit. Everyone is very nice to me. We all got the "Employee of the Month" notice. It's not subtle how they say so-and-so "often works after hours and on her day off to get the job done." What a sucker. I'm still not gonna work past five if I can help it. The boundaries are being set early.

David and I are continuing the foxtrot lessons. It's great! We're gonna hit the Senior Center on Friday to practice.

David: So, are you and your sister pretty similar?
Nicole: Yeah, pretty much but my sister is a real perfectionist. If you don't do things the way she likes, she gets upset.
David: [Real casual] Well, that's like you.
Nicole: NO! [emphatically] Well, yeah, I guess so. In fact, I am about to kick two girls out of my project group because they aren't doing any work. The people at the City will probably keel over when they see my work style.

The Toastmasters conference happened here last weekend. Dana called me with 45 minutes notice to speak at the conference in front of 120. I love that! It's such a great feeling to perform.

Other than all that, I have a huge test on Tuesday on immunology, cardiology, respiration, and digestion. Yikes!

My second nephew, Benjamin David was born on Wednesday. We're gonna call him "Little Ben" but his four-year-old sister insists on calling him "Banner." That's awesome.

I was accepted to Loma Linda University. Sweet. I can't believe my life is going to be completely different from what it was before. It feels great that I accomplished so much in the last year.

Katherine threw a party last night and managed to put ten people in a room with very few things in common. However, the Christians were identified and retreated to the local Starbucks for tea.

I was lied to at work last week. Thankfully, I can invest as little time and thought into my job as I like and then I go home.

Slightly in conjuction with the latter fact, I realized just a few weeks ago that I spent too much time in my last career being reactive. I was reading an interview with a trauma surgeon and he suggested to medical students to, "Drive your work." Therefore, I have made very deliberate decisions to initiate, initiate, initiate in my studies at also at the City. This also allows me to retreat in my personal life. However, I can still be lied to even when I initiate. :)

...He continues to put amazing, faithful people in my life that witness to His glory. To be able to serve the Lord and create a life that exists within Jesus is beyond all comparison. I am so fortunate.

After reading reviews in the New York Times and The Economist, I purchased "The Emperor's Children" a few weeks ago. This was my first novel read in ten years. Hey, I'm a non-fiction girl! There is a character named Ludovic. This seemed an odd choice by the author. Who, in real life, is named Ludovic? Well, it turns out that Katherine dated a Ludovic. So, to complete the karma cycle, I gave her the book last night.

It started like this:

David: Nicole, are you going to the race up at Willow Springs tomorrow? It's the Toyota 200.
Nicole: Why? (Then, I forgot how I'd told David I'd seen a couple motorcycle races in the past. Which wasn't true. I was just attempting to up my coolness factor in a heavily lame manner.) Um, yeah, maybe.

After church yesterday, I checked the race schedule on the web. After balking at the $30 entry price, I called David to ask him if he cared to join me. No answer. So I put on my boots and headed to Rosamond by myself.

Upon arrival, I hustled the ticket lady by asking if there was any tiered pricing. "No, it's $30 for the whole weekend, even if you only see one day's worth of races," she said. "But, I'm a newbie. I've never been to a race before. I just want to look around." "It's still $30." A man next to me asking for the key to the gas pump asked, "Hey, do you want to hang around our pit? We need girls." "What do these girls do?" I was curious what exactly was happening at their pit.

The guy replied, "Just hang out and have fun. I mean, if you haven't been to a race before, why do you want to be alone?" "I don't." "Then come on." We walked outside to his motorcycle and he said, "Hop on!" I was slightly hesitant but he seemed pretty normal so I got on. He said, "My name's Eric, what's yours?" We rode to the gas station at the track. I had to operate the clutch since he was carrying the gas can. It stalled the first time. I nailed it the second time around. I do know how to drive a manual transmission after all.

After five hours of being with Eric (the racer) and the pit crew, I had a restored faith in men. Sure, some guys were crass and totally drunk. But I was amazed at just how decent and nice the sober ones were. I mean, anytime a new person was around, Eric immediately introduced me. He was getting ready to race 80 laps and he was always making sure I was comfortable! I was wrangled to be the team photographer. Shooting a 35 mm took some guts on my part (I really hope they turned out; I had no idea what I was doing.) Because there was a fatality during the morning race (terribly sad), Eric's race was delayed over two hours. He crashed after only 3 laps. :( Before Eric took off he said, "I need to get your phone number. Will I see you again?" After the chaos of the race and crash, I managed to give my email address to the team manager. Eric sustained no injuries. He apparently was going too fast for his experience level.

I hope I see Eric again. And in addition, I'm just so grateful for a terrific day. I was totally out of my element with a segment of the population I never associate with. And it renewed my faith in just getting the hell out there. 99% of life is just showing up. And I might end up as a race girl myself. Fantastic.

In other less speedy news, I got very high marks on my Loma Linda entrance exam. It appears highly likely that I will be accepted and invited to pay $32,000 for the experience.

A picture?