Cycletopolis

So, as I mentioned.

New, sweet ride.

Two wheels are the new four wheels.

The description says "mint and white"- more like mint & cream.

I was thinking of naming her Mint Chip.

My sister suggested Baskin-Robbins.

My dad said, get a basket, and name her BASKET-Robbins.

Geeky to the max.

Anyway, fun new toy, means playing with that fun new toy!

Sunday morning, I hopped on BR (let's just call her that for now!) and headed off to church! Less than a mile down the street, I was there in only a few minutes!

I hung out with the kidlets this week, and after service, biked back home (read: into the wind).

After a quick lunch with some friends, Margaret came over, and since I had my old bike and new bike, she and I biked to get groceries! It is only a little over a mile to Trader Joe's, and my old bike has a basket!

Thankfully, I have two helments. One to match each bike.

It is very important for your biker street cred to be color coordinated.

After conquering the streets, and trying unsuccessfully to get the other bike riders we encountered to join our bike gang, we had the confidence to bike to the Johnson's new place for Chipotle Sunday dinner!

Based on the GPS on my phone, it was a little over a 3 mile ride each way.

Thankfully, Margaret snapped a few pics of our awesomeness.

One bike has to stand on one wheel to fit everybody in the elevator.

We are pretty intense out there on the streets.

Nobody wants to mess with this biker gang.

It only took us 16 minutes to get there! A lot less than we had anticipated. There are a few intersections of death, but thankfully, we survived.

After a lovely dinner, and some delicious Yumi, oh, and another game of poker, we needed to head back before the sun totally set.

The rough part is, heading back is almost all into the wind.

As we gathered our gear, and were about to hit the streets, some crazy Paparazzo with a D90 showed up and tried to get some action shots of us with our sweet rides.

We took a few practice loops around the roundabout and headed back.

Despite the 20mph NNW winds, we survived.

And it only took us four minutes longer on the return.

Serious biker street cred if you ask me.

Where You Been, CuppaKim?

No blog in over a week?

Whoops!

I guess you could say I haven't had a lot of material.

Or.

Too much material.

No time to blog?

Or lazy?

A little of both.

Anyway.

Here is a little update.

Last Saturday, Laura, Margaret and I headed out to the Maker Faire.
I was expecting something a little bit nerdy, a little bit rock & roll.

Unfortch, I got a lot nerdy. And um, the closest thing to rock & roll was some strange guy singing his own scream-o karaoke into some weird microphone that put lightning bolts on the screen, while he dj'd from his own computer. I didn't really get it. And I left that exhibit quite quickly.

There were also cupcake cars.

And a neon light show exhibit. Which I did like.

As for the rest?

Um, well, I guess I can say, I have checked the Maker Faire of my bucket list.

Not that it ever really was on it.

But I'm set for life on that one.

Then Tuesday, a group of us headed to the Giants game again! Woot! Woot! AND, my mom went to her very first game at PacBell SBC AT&T Park!!! Props to Marge for sharing her beanie w/ my mom - it matched her knitwear ensemble perfectly.

I also played a bit of poker...and DOMINATED. My poker name isn't "All in Kim" for nothing!

Then Monday night, Jessica invited me to crash her dinner plans with these fabulous ladies.
It didn't take much convincing.
It also was a bonus that we were going to Cheesecake Factory.
Can't.
Resist.

Wendy told us the story of how her own cousin survived the tornado in Joplin, MO. And lost everything. She is organizing an amazing fundraiser through her blog, "Shop for Jop" - which is kicking off in a week! I am excited for such a tangible way to help a friend help her loved ones.

And, after 3 summers of agonizing over whether or not to purchase a beach cruiser - I found a deal I could not refuse, and with the final push from my sister, committed! My sweet ride arrived yesterday, and one of the perks of having a bike mechanic as a dad, is um....that he is a BIKE MECHANIC. So when it says assembly required, all you have to do is call dad! :)

But don't worry - I pumped up the tires. I'm pretty good at that.
A little too good.
I was about to load my bike to take it home, and my dad was like WHOA WHOA WHOA your tire is about to blow!

Whoops.

And I opened the box.
And handed him wrenches, and grease. You know. Bike mechanic assistantly duties.

I'm pretty good at that too.

Anyway, it's a sweet ride for sure.

So you see, a lot going on.

Just not a lot of blogging.

Consider this a little catch up post!!

<

Hi, I am MOD, nice to meet you.

EDIT: MOD STRIKES AGAIN: Somehow this post lost it's pictures do to my technical failings. WHOOPS.


I make it a policy to not put stuff about work on the internet...and this is more about the work space, and zero about my company. All details have been removed to protect the guilty innocent.

***********


I'd like to introduce you to my alter ego.

Maude.
M.O.D.

I have quite the plethora of spiritual gifts.

In no particular order, they are, Excel spreadsheets, Words With Friends, and finding anything about anyone on the internet.

I am also exceptionally gifted at destroying things.

A few years ago, my coworkers started calling me Maude. Well, I thought it was Maude.

It was really M.O.D.

Which stands for Master. Of. Disaster.

I have worked at my office for almost seven years.

It is a gorgeous office. We have views of the Bay and the surrounding area.

Glass everywhere. Open floor plan. Tile. Granite. Cherry finished furniture.

Anytime someone new stops in they immediately compliment the views along with the gorgeousness of the details.

However, in those (almost) seven years, I have maimed the following parts of our office:

The carpet, from an Amish Friendship Bread leak...

The wall from my desk from a teal gel pen that I left open and touching the fabric overnight - it absorbed into the fabric partition...

One time, someone gave me a peel and stick white board that I stuck to the wall behind my desk. I never use it, but I left is up. And a few years later I went to peel it away, only to see discoloration around it...So now I just leave it as is....

And my most epic disaster.
The disaster of all disasters.
I had only worked here a year or two.
And I was sitting at the front shared desk.
And I spun around in the chair.
And heard what sounded like a round of firecrackers.
Or an AK-47.
Not that I really know what an AK-47 sounds like.
And shrapnel particles were FLYING through the air.

The back of the chair, scraped the edge of the desk, and chipped off a million little chunks. Just like this one.

My coworkers were with me. And I think we all froze in total fear.
What had I done??
And could it be undone?

I immediately dropped the floor and picked up the little cherry colored particles.
And then matched each half moon shape to its corresponding hole in the desk.
And I did what any terrified employee would do.
I found the Elmers glue.
And glued each little particle back on.
I smoothed as best as I could.
Tried to make each piece flush with the desk.
And said a little prayer.
That no one would notice.


And you wont believe it.
A few weeks later.
I did it again.
More shrapnel.
More Elmers.
More prayers.
A lot of laughing.
It was holding me back from crying.

Every few weeks, I'd notice that some of the pieces were starting to come off.
I'd bust out the glue. And get those suckers back on.
I did NOT want anyone to notice.

But how do you not notice this.

 

Eventually, the pieces fell off, and were not recovered.

And the disaster area had been noticed.

And no one seemed to care that much.

Cheap quality was to blame.

Not me. 

Thank goodness.

It totally was an accident after all.

Twice.

Anyway, until last week, M.O.D. status was solely reserved for yours truly. 

But on Friday, I walked around the office and saw this awesomeness:

My Coworker (who shall remain nameless..but maybe we should call her Maude) - was fully missing the front of her desk drawer.

Yet the drawer itself was still in place.

And up close:

Sorry for the blurry cell phone pics.

Do you see what Maude had done? 

I was dying laughing and wondering what in the world had happened after I had left Thursday evening.

Apparently, there was something in that drawer that absolutely had to be reached. And the locking mechanism had malfunctioned and the middle drawer was locked shut, and the top and bottom drawers unlocked. The key would not work, and even fiddling with the mechanism with a screwdriver did not work.

So Maude did what any other person would do when it was crunch time. 

She put the screwdriver to another use. And pried the face of her drawer right off.

I think this means I have officially passed the crown, torch, title, of Master Of Disaster onto Coworker Maude. 

A Stumbled Upon Treasure

I have been running.

A bit.

Lately.

Nike has rejected me from their Half-Marathon in October.

But I am still trying to win a spot.

I won't tell you how. Because I don't want to decrease my chances.

But basically, I have to run.

Often.

The other night, on my way out, I was leaving my building through the side gate, when I put my hand into the box covering the handle (it's a weird security feature), and actually grabbed some twigs as well.

I thought someone was just being funny leaving garbage in the box.

But instead, I peeked inside, and found a little bird nest.

Actually, it was only little because I think a little bird made it.  The nest itself was pretty intense.

And, even better...
Inside the nest...was an itty bitty egg.

It may be the smallest egg I have ever seen. It actually looks exactly like a Cadbury Mini Egg. (Yum.)

On my way back from my run, I ran upstairs and grabbed my camera, and took these pictures (which was difficult because I couldn't really get a good shot inside the box with the bulky lens).

I hope the little guy makes it. But I don't think he will.

 Almost every spring I find the birds building their nests above the fire alarms, and in the rafters of the walkways. Once I notice the nests (because of the obnoxious amount of twigs, and dirt scattered on the ground them), it's less than a week before I see egg splattered all over the ground below.

And I also suspect our building management gets rid of them when they discover them.

I'm always rooting for the little guys. I debated putting a little sign on the gate "Shhh..baby bird sleeping." - but I don't want to draw attention to my little friend. Hopefully, he or she can come into the world peacefully before anybody else notices...

Obviously, my building is SO cute, now that there are birds all up on it!

<

InstaFriday

Um, lame factor, with the blogger outage, my post has returned but all of the descriptions of my photos haven't! BOO. HISS.

Last Friday, we had a visitor at work. 

And I got a personal assistant for the day.

Needless to say, my paperwork was much more colorful after she clocked out.

Friday also kickstarted Starbucks Happy Hour.

Or as Coworker Cary dubbed it, Frappy Hour.

Three Java Chip Fraps coming right up!

Crown Moulding is a hard decision to make. 

Thankfully, everybody provided their input. 

Before Margaret and I hit the beach on our adventure day. 

We wandered Main Street in Half Moon Bay.

She requested a visit to the cute baby birds at the Hay & Feed store.

They lived up to the promise.

SO CUTE. 

And check out the little guy who fell asleep with his head in the seed trough.

Another cutie was this baby duck.

More like teenager duck.

He was almost full size.

But still covered in yellow fuzz. LOVE.

The guy at the store tried to convince me that I would love having one as a companion pet.

I convinced him that condo living wasn't ideal duck circumstances.

He had to agree.

Hot Chick Central is more like it.

We discovered a new adorable shop. Full of super cute kitchen gear and home accessories.

Marge brushed up on her gluten free recipes while I shopped.

Then we noticed this adorable bakery adjacent to the cute shop. I asked Margaret if it was time for Second Breakfast. Without hesitation, she declared it was.
This is why we're friends.

Strawberry Eclair. Fresh Strawberries. Strawberry whipped cream. White chocolate icing.

Recipe for yum.

Margaret didn't love it. 

Which meant more for me.

One of our last stops was another of our favorite shops, which has fancy retro appliances and the prettiest stationary and journals ever. We picked out cards for our moms for mother's day. 

And I found this.

Truer words have not been printed.

Sunday AM we had the privilege of gifting the Hope Mamas with a little token of how much we appreciate them. 

They are incredible women who love Jesus, and I hope they were reminded of that.

I also set up the Hospitality Table each week. I'm more of a function over flair type person. 

But I received some help.

And the bar has been raised.

On Sundays before service starts, the set up team will spend some time in prayer, praying for the morning ahead, the people who will come hear about Jesus, and any other things that need to be brought to the Lord.

Afterward, everybody went back to their tasks, but the Hospitality Table was covered (see above). So I was sitting quietly next to these two. Who seemed to have their on mini hymn sing going on. 

With weird lyrics.

And notes.

And falsetto voices.

They were really into it. 

Oh, how I wish InstaGram had audio.

 

And then, finally, yesterday on my return route of my walk, this little big guy greeted me.

I walk by his house on my way out and back. But I haven't seen him in a long time.

He is a giant Alaskan Malamute. And sits at the gate at the end of his driveway.

I always reach through and pet him. 

So far he hasn't bitten any of my appendages off. 

So I think we are officially friends. 

Linking up over here!

Summa's Hee-yahhh!

Nothing says summer like a windy, foggy day at a NorCal beach.

Thankfully, thanks to Picnik's Cross Process effect, I can make even the coldest beach adventure look warm and sunny!

Margaret arrived home for Summer Vacay late Friday night. She called me when she pulled into town - and my one instruction for her was to be ready at 9am for her first summer adventure! Sure enough, the Schnuttle pulled up to her house right on time, and the girl was ready for a coastal adventure.

Sans flip flops.

I sent her back inside for appropriate footwear, and we hit the road.

We drove into the fog, but didn't mind to much.

First stop, Half Moon Bay Coffee Company.
I think Margaret and I like to mark life milestones with trips to the HMBCC, so it was an appropriate summer kick off.  House Mochas all around!

After breakfast, we walked Main St., and walked the shops (stay tuned for the pics from that on tomorrow's Insta Friday post), and had second breakfast.  Breakfast is definitely my least favorite meal of the day, but Second Breakfast might be my favorite.

After that, we debated driving back over the hill to the sunshine, or staying on the dreary coast. Margaret wasn't ready to say goodbye to the ocean just yet, so we hit up my favorite beach, Poplar Beach.

The sun actually was starting to peek through a bit.
The beach actually had quite a few people on it, so we headed to the water, where we put our toesies in.

And immediately took them out.
Thankfully, the sand is always warm, no matter how cold it is so we continued to walk along the shore.

This sums up how Margaret feels about adventures with Kim:

We love the Oh-Shun. <3

Somehow, we miraculously happened upon some elusive sea glass. We have been on two official sea glass hunts, and have come up completely empty handed. Until this adventure. Which was not sea glass driven. We also learned we were looking entirely in the wrong spot - not where the ocean hits the shore, but where the tide hit at the highest point. Where it's dry. Whoops.

So instead of heading back to the car, we spent some time sifting through the sand.

And we both found a few tiny pieces, among other things, to take home:

Now that we know what we are doing, I have a feeling we'll be back...