there will be jhokes

I had a great day - I was going to start this post with self-recrimination because I didn't pack as much as I should have, but I had a lovely day, and I'm not too worried about finishing everything in time for my move on Thursday. I just went through and made a list of everything I have to do on each of the next three days, and it's manageable (although not ideal), so I'm going to stop stressing (I think).

Anyway, I woke up this morning just in time to go to Menlo Park and have brunch with Sri at Stacks. It's my favorite brunch place on the peninsula (yes, even above Mike's Cafe - I may be a regular at Mike's, but that's primarily due to proximity and lack of crowds, since Stacks is a few miles away and usually has a 30min+ wait on weekends). I had french toast, which is rare for me, since I usually prefer savory breakfasts, but it was v. delicious. It was also great to see Sri - I don't spend enough time with that kid, and I'm rather sad that he won't be here in the fall if I decide to come back to California. I guess this means that we won't be friends anymore, but at least we went out with a bang. I also got the added bonus of seeing Adit for the last five minutes of brunch; he inadvertently got a haircut that reminded me of my granddad, which he hates since he wanted something longer and much more stylish, but I think it's quite charming.

I progressed from brunch to lunch almost immediately, since I was double-booked for meals throughout the day. I left Stacks around 11:30 and went to my place of work, where I had lunch with Ziv and Marci. I also saw many members of my old team - and my laugh is so recognizable that while I was chatting with people, I got a text-message from Terry saying that she knew I was around because she could hear me from her desk half the floor away. Similarly, when I went upstairs later to give Laura one of my old senior pictures (I found one of me wearing a plaid shirt, lying in the grass, looking soulfully at the camera, thus hitting up her favorite Iowa stereotypes), I was talking to someone and laughing, and Alan (my old boss) came to the window of his office and waved at me while he was on the phone with someone else. Yay.

After all of that fun, I came home and packed for a couple of hours, and then went back to work to meet Arod for ice cream. Then, I went to Menlo Park again and had dinner with Sarah - she's my oldest friend at work, and so I'm glad we were able to see each other, even if I should have packed tonight instead. We went to Iberia (my favorite tapas place) and had the amazing datiles endiablados (devilled dates) - dates stuffed with chorizo and wrapped in bacon. I think that those dates may be one of the best single bites of food you can possibly have. We also had a variety of other tapas, dessert, and two glasses of wine each, so we were quite merry.

I realized two things tonight. One was that everyone I see from work immediately comments on how great I look - simply because I'm relaxed and 'glowing'. Since I'm not pregnant (even though Gyre threatened to spread that rumor), it must mean that I looked like a worn-out hag before, and apparently three weeks of sleep and socializing is completely rejuvenating. But if three weeks off (and absolutely no reason to think about work) is enough to completely change the glow/youthfulness of my appearance, should I really go back to the corporate mines that were apparently aging me before my time?

The second thing I realized is that during my entire two-hour dinner with Sarah, I didn't complain about *anything*. Usually, those dinners consist of an entertaining and engaging series of rants - but I have nothing to rant about! I'm just genuinely happy and relaxed, and I can't remember the last time I felt like this - maybe South Africa? Ukraine? But in both of those cases, it was only a few days off, with the knowledge that I had work piling up at home - the liberation of knowing that there isn't any work waiting for me is quite surreal.

Okay, I'll stop blathering about how happy I am, since it's likely nauseating, and none of you will want to be friends with the new 'mellow' Sara if you made friends with the old, bitter, tired Sara. Don't worry, I'm still a fan of sarcasm. But for now, I should go to bed, so that I can get up tomorrow and accomplish a lot of stuff. Goodnight!