I flew to San Francisco on Monday.

Monday night I had to myself to get caught up on work and wander the streets of downtown.

I windowshopped. Menswear is in fashion. For women, that is. Also, very high platform heels. At least if you believe the shop windows.

My hotel was very European. I didn’t have one of the economy rooms with the restroom down the hall, but I did have this lovely little space-saving triangle sink.

This is my sushi chef at Hana Zen. I had, as you can see, the rainbow roll. I also had a cosmo made with sake.

Being that I was on my own, I was totally down with embarrasing myself by playing the role of dorky tourist.

I was convincing.

After I ate I walked for miles and miles so I would collapse and fall asleep back at the hotel.

It was a good strategy.

The next morning I was up super early. I donned my corporate attire and spent the next three days with clients at a conference.

Check it out: a suit! makeup! I say that like I don’t dress up often, but I do.

Things I didn’t do in San Francisco:

Go to Alcatraz

Walk the Golden Gate bridge

Buy a Prada bag

I did have a good time and while away saw floods of e-mails about people working from home due to snow and sleet. Schools were closed in both St. Louis and Charlottesville so if I had been in either of my two usual places, I would have had bad weather. But, since I was in the land of the governator, I had sunny and sixties. I’ll take it.

While I was away:

The boy turned 19 years old. (I sent him a collection of fake mustaches.)

The girl made her dad dinner. (A minor disaster when a pot pie went kersplat inside the oven, upsidedown.)

At this writing, I’ve been on my way home since 6:30am Pacific and it’s looking like I’ll be home around midnight, Eastern. That’s a long trip. I’ll be glad to be home.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

On a Sunday afternoon I called my parents for our weekly chat. My dad talked about driving out from Illinois to visit us in Virginia. I thought, sometime . . .  he means sometime, like spring, or possibly summer.

Later that evening, my mom called to say they were getting in the car at 6am the next morning and would be to our house by Tuesday afternoon. They  were coming to visit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My parents took their first long road trip in more than 20 years in the middle of January. They drove 700 miles over two days to get to Charlottesville and did just fine by taking lots of breaks and getting lucky with clear (although cold) weather.

We had a good time while they were here — I had to work a bit due to their visit occuring in the middle of the week, but they were pretty understanding about that. I took them downtown to The Nook for lunch and mom and I shopped at The Needle Lady. We also browsed the bookstores. They got to see the boy, who was still home from college for the holidays, one of the reasons for the timing of their visit, and got to watch the girl’s basketball practice on Wednesday night.

It was fun to see them and take them around Charlottesville. It was only their second visit to our town since we moved here three years ago so I was happy to have them out and proud of them for making the long drive. It may be awhile before they do it again!

I know I have not been blogging much of late but trust me; I’ve had my reasons. Those of you following on Twitter (@Marijean) know of which I speak. I have only managed to update in 140 characters or less, not fully thought out blog posts. Not that these are ever FULLY thought out.

Anyway.

On Sunday afternoon, my parents decided OUT OF THE BLUE to pack up and get in their car Monday and drive from Illinois to Virginia to visit us. It is only the second time they’ve visited in the three years we’ve lived here, so I was happy to have them come out.

Honestly, (and um, hi Mom and Dad, because they will read this) I was a bit stressed because the house wasn’t parent ready and my work schedule had to be smooshed around a bit to make it even possible for me to spend time with them while they are here.

But, we got the house cleaned up, meals thought out, colleagues notified, meetings rescheduled and . . . the evidence removed.

What evidence?

We had a dead body that we needed to dispose of before the parents arrived Tuesday afternoon. Sometime Sunday I noted that SOMEONE had run over a squirrel and it was spread-eagled and quite dead at the end of the driveway. Monday night, my husband mentioned that we would need to “get rid of the body.” So at almost-the-very-last-minute the boy and I went out to perform a small ceremony. We had a shovel and a mission.

We were both a little squeamish about the squished rodent. Flattened though it was, the breeze still animated its fluffy tail, which waved in the wind. We scooped him up and then, intending to flip him into the underbrush of the landscaped area, we had an unexpected result. (See photo above).

With the squirrel suspended, belly up in full rigor mortis on the holly bush, the boy and I laughed until tears ran out of our eyes. (We did manage to bury the guy under the bush after this.) I have to say — it was one of my favorite moments with my college-aged kid. It’s true what they say; getting rid of a body with your kid really helps bring you closer together.

They say that, right?

I used to write resolutions; tired ideas like “lose weight,” “take better care of myself,” “get organized.” We have all started many a New Year with these kinds of resolutions, haven’t we? In 2008, we started using SMART goals for ourselves and for clients and I’m finding it useful to apply the principles to all facets of life. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Reasonable and Time-bound. This year, instead of resolutions I’m writing SMART goals for myself. Sure, they’re based on the same ideas I’ve resolved to change/fix/improve in my life, but the way they’re written says how I’m going to get there, by when and ascribes a specific reference point to let me know when that goal has been achieved. Smart, eh?

Here’s an example: previously, a resolution of mine would have been “lose weight.” The SMART goal for this resolution looks like this:

I will lose 15 lbs. by May 1, 2009 by walking and/or exercising three to five times a week, eliminating sugar from and adding more fiber to my diet and eating smaller portions.

Seems very possible to achieve, doesn’t it? And, I’ll know whether I’ve made it or not. If I’m not doing the Actionable items, I’ll know why I didn’t achieve the goal.

Try it – what resolutions can you rewrite as SMART goals?