Being from NorCal, In-n-Out was a new thing for me when I moved to SoCal for college. Fortunately, it wasn’t a frequent thing or the freshman 15 would’ve turned into the freshman 30 for me.
So, as you may or may not know, they’ve got this secret menu going around: burgers animal style (grilled onions) and grilled cheese (no meat). I’m sure that there are more, but those are the only two I know of. (Not so secret anymore; but even more listed here.)
Now, I’m getting word of the 100×100. As you’ll read in this blog entry (along with pix), the biggest order that this particular In-n-Out establishment was a 24×24.
24 burger patties? Pass me the bucket!
Borrowed from the Daily Om…one day later.
According to the Chinese calendar and zodiac, January 29, 2006 brings us the Year of the Dog. This means that we have the helpful energy of this loyal companion to accomplish much good in the world and in our lives this year. When we think about dogs, we think of their steadfast love, loyalty, friendly companionship, and forgiving nature. Dogs are playful, but work hard and rest well. They create balance in their lives. We no longer need to be envious of a dog’s life, because we can incorporate these qualities to our lives this year.
Dog energy emphasizes the defense of our deepest loyalties with honesty and integrity. Dogs thrive in the security of a healthy, happy home. They value personal happiness and comfort more than material wealth. We may want to envision the world’s leaders being guided by the values inherent in dog energy. We can also choose this year as a time to focus on what’s important in our lives and apply a dog’s steady efforts to lovingly protect it.
To the Chinese, dogs symbolize justice and equality. We too can utilize this spirit to bark at injustice, right any wrongs, and restore order. Since dogs also enjoy helping people, this can be a good year for humanitarian efforts and the group consciousness energy needed for rallies and protests. Canine qualities like warmth, empathy, and genuine interest in others is beneficial in most situations. The Chinese calendar includes a five-year cycle of elements, and fire is the element for 2006. This means that this year’s dog energy is lit by the fire to get things accomplished. The Year of the Dog takes places every twelve years. With a dog’s forthright honesty and true moral integrity to guide this burning enthusiasm, we can look forward to a truly great year ahead.
In a first attempt to try and see Match Point at the nearby movie house, we got shut out! Okay, we didn’t get there until 5 minutes before the scheduled showing, but we figured since the movie had been out a while, the crowds would have died down. Wrong. It was so packed, that seating was only available in the 1st and 2nd rows. Ugh. So, we opted for a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant a couple doors down. I’m glad that the movie was almost sold out because it gave S & I to catch up on the past week and just talk. It was nice.
…in other weekend news…our friend JC came by to drop off presents (the best kind of visit!) that he had purchased for us during his big South American tour. S received an authentic peruvian alpaca knit hat and I received a most colorful and beautiful scarf/shawl from Bolivia (or was it Peru?). His photos and stories were amazing! Anyone up for an Inca Trail hiking vacation? 🙂
Sunday, Niki and I visited our friend Dani and her 1-month old daughter. She’s so precious. (Dani is the mom of Hershel, who is Lucie’s best-est friend.) We had lunch at a local Italian deli (they make THE BEST sandwiches) and spent the afternoon catching up.
And now, here we are at Monday. The 3-day weekend can’t come soon enough. To make things a bit better, a co-worker of mine was taking last-minute orders for Girl Scout cookies! Yummy Samoas (or Caramel DeLites, is what they’re calling them now), Peanut Butter patties (fka Tagalongs) and Thanks-a-Lots (a new shortbread cookie that’s dipped in chocolate and that says thank you in 5 different languages: English, Chinese, French, Spanish and Swahili – okay, the Swahili is bit random) are coming my way!
much better!
yes, it’s pretty, it’s very femme. but not really the one that i wanted. 🙁
It’s January and I’m munching on a sweet, juicy Nectarine! A Nectarine people! In the middle of (our) winter! This makes up for some of the crappy Chilean wines I’ve had.
The social butterflies that S & I are (joke, ha ha) we were invited to three New Year’s parties. (We only made it to two – sorry we missed your shindig Dolce & Gabbana – sounds like it was off the hook!) ;o) After some cocktails and appetizers at the Darling’s, we headed up to the (almost) top of twin peaks to Niki/Bill/Tony’s party. Luckily, it wasn’t cloudy or foggy that night and we had (I kid you not) bridge-to-bridge views. S thought that the New Year’s fireworks weren’t as impressive as before because they looked so small from where we were. The “playroom” at this house was somewhat complete: mini dancefloor (Tony’s a DJ on the side) complete with lights and disco ball, pool table and a foos-ball table. It was only at 2am when some of the boys decided to play poker – so Shelley, another poker widow, and I headed back to my house to get some sleep. (Good thing we didn’t stay since S & Adam didn’t get home until after 5am!)
So the last day of my holiday break – I start to feel a little sick: sore throat, coughs, stuffy nose. I go back to work Tuesday, but take off the rest of the week. So that’s how I started off my new year: sick! 😮
Please, sir, may I have another?
I’m finally over whatever I had – but still exhausted. Work has just consumed me. You know you’re working too much when work people and places are in your dreams. When I started this blog, I promised not write too much about work, good or bad, but I’ll just leave it at this: my department is grossly understaffed and all the work that my previous boss was doing was absorbed by, no not my new boss, but by me. Ugh.
THE calendar
Other than that, not much is going on around Chez Rebaud. The latest big hullabaloo was over my Christmas gift from my in-laws. Interesting, very interesting. So, S, their first born son, received a cartoon depicting the history of his name. I, on the other hand, get a calendar. Not just any calendar, but a calendar of the French rugby team. No big deal, right? So S & I open up the calendar, hmm, okay, these men are nude…hmm, this one’s got his hand on his crotch…oh my!…there are definintely more than 12 months in this calendar…what! why are there so many months!!! I was cracking up (I try and look for the humor in life)! This is my gift from my parents in-law? Did his dad pick this up? His mom? S, on the other hand, didn’t think it was that funny and was upset that his parents had sent me a gift like this: “what are they trying to say with this?” So, it turns out that every year the French rugby team puts out this calendar and the women in France go crazy over them and buy them up. Maman Rebaud thought, well, the women in my office are buying them, maybe K would appreciate it. Completely harmless…but funny at the same time. S has asked not to send the calendar on a yearly basis. (The calendar is now in my mom’s hands and the women at her office are just having a blast with it!)
Neighborhood haps
So, our neighbor that puts his trash/recycle/compost bins in the parking spot in front has resorted to leaving parking his rusty old truck in the spot so we don’t use it. What an a**.
There was a nasty accident last weekend a couple houses up from us. I guess someone lost control of their car, jumped the curb, ruined 2 front lawns, totaled a BMW 325i, which in turned was pushed into the house next door, leaving cracks and open spaces in the wall. The most awful part about it was that the people who own owned the BMW were out of town.
That’s about it for now…peace out!