my love life and the importance of Sarah Olson's car

Sarah Olson. She so rocks. Knowing her changed my life. (As I think she has for many others.) This may sound dramatic. But really, it was her absence that caused one of the more beautiful events of my life to occur.

If I didn't know Sarah Olson, I never would have sublet her apartment and lived at Melville House for several months while she went to Ghana.

Sarah Olson had a car. An old BMW I think. It lived on Melville Avenue. We would move it every now and then so it wouldn't get towed. Then my car broke down. And I took the liberty of borrowing her car.

I was dating this boy, see. DH was his name. He didn't have a car. And so it went that I always drove because I had the car. It sort of irritated me. Yeah. So when my car broke down and we borrowed Sarah's (she wasn't using it!), I took advantage and forced DH to drive.

We went to a Good Friday concert put on by the Valparaiso Singers. I wore green. He held my hand. Then he drove to his apartment. This is where Sarah's car became the factor that altered the events of that night.

If my car hadn't broken down, I would have driven us to the concert. Then I would have dropped him off. I don't think I would have walked him to his door. It was cold. I was in short sleeves and a skirt. I was also sort of afraid he would kiss me. I was going to escape back home and remain unkissed. (Yes, I was a wimp. I was also 23 and never kissed before.) I would have stayed in the drivers seat, given him an awkward hug over the gear shift, and then he would have got out of the car. And I would have driven away.

But my car did break down. And we borrowed Sarah's car. I made him drive. Hence, when we went to his apartment to drop him off, I was still in the passenger seat. I had to get out and walk to the other side of the car to get into the drivers seat in order to drive myself home. And well, what happened when our paths crossed outside the car was totally because of Sarah Olson and her car.

Thanks for "letting" me borrow your car Sarah. It was a memorable experience.

at long last

Finally, after being a mormon for 27 years (or should I subtract 8?), the missionaries knocked on my door.

Unfortunately they didn't want us since we're 1) not single and 2) already members. (I should mention that they are missionaries that work in the singles' ward boundaries.)

Alas. Next time we should play dumb. Too late now. Our one and only chance might have passed us by.

bay to breakers race recap

So yesterday I ran in the 100th Bay to Breakers 12K. It was much tamer than in previous years, according to some of the people I met and spoke with. My race time was 1:43. It was really difficult to keep running the whole time--there was just no space to do it! By the time I got to the start line, at least 25,000 people had started in earlier waves. There were so many people walking that they took up nearly the entire road. I had to weave around a lot and nearly crashed into several people who suddenly stopped running. The race starts right by San Francisco Bay and runs west across the city to the coast.

It was such a crazy day! It started out on Caltrain. The brakes went out on the train I was on and it took an hour for us to transfer to another train. The train I was on was packed with costume wearing people on their way to the race. We had to jump from one train to another (though there were people there to help us cross). Then we finally arrived and I still had to walk about 1.5 miles to the meeting point. I was so late that the "corral" I was supposed to start with had gone 30 minutes before. So I went in with a later group. The later the group, the more people were walking. I'd have had an easier time running if I'd been in my own start group.

I counted 15 naked people running the race. Only in San Francisco! Not that I was seeking them out or anything, but they are hard to miss! And if I passed one, I did NOT turn around to confirm. I'm sure there were many more than 15 though, since there were 50,000 people there.

It was fun to see all the costumes people wore. There weren't any floats allowed this year, so it was less interesting to spectators. But I'm glad I got to run in the infamous race before we leave the area. The weather was great and it was extremely entertaining.

facebook headquarters

I live about a 10 minute walk away from facebook headquarters. I've been meaning to get a picture in front of it for at least a year now.

DH and I had some friends over for dinner and we walked around the neighborhood afterward. First I showed them the house with the toy decorations. The woman who lives there is constantly rearranging and redecorating. This time there were lollipops hanging in the bushes and Aladdin action figures in a pot by the sidewalk. There are a lot of other things too--it is a sight to behold. Drive down college ave in palo alto...you won't miss it!

Next I showed them Mark Zuckerberg's house. whoop-de-doo.

Then we stopped for the photo at facebook. For such a large and far-reaching company, the size of the logo is sort of anticlimactic. It is seriously only like 4 inches tall. And this is the only sign visible on the property.

And yes I know my shoes are awesome, no need to point this out.

the good husband

...took out the trash for me. And did the dishes. And even bought me a reese's peanut butter cup. I really like those. Then he bought a chocolate bar for himself but let me eat half of it.

He eats the leftovers I don't want to eat. And he likes them.

But then he laughs at me when I make the "aaahhhhh!" distress noise. He thinks it is cute. It is true I usually make said shrieking noise when I drop food on the floor, but that is beside the point.

The point is, I have a good husband. Yay for me.

He even has moderate reactions to theft. Like yesterday when he was munching on something and I say, "hey come over here. What are you eating?" Then he shows me his three cashews. And I take them all.

He is turning 30 in June. I will still be 27. We will both be multiples of 3. At least for a little while. He rocks.

And yes I know I changed tense halfway through this post. So what.