California Adventures

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Another dream come true for me in less than a year. It all started with DC, last August.

Then, out of the blue, I ended up getting this fantastic gift from my daughter (with a little help from her boyfriend): A trip to San Francisco!

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It all started with a family wedding invitation to B & N. The wedding was happening in Sacramento but B & N were encouraged to fly into San Francisco. N knew San Fran was in my Bucket List and invited me to tag along but I couldn’t manage to make it fit in my budget.

Then came an opportunity for B & N to be part of a commercial being shot during their trip’s time frame and with it the chance for my daughter to get my flights as a Mother’s Day/Birthday present!

I had a grand time. It was great to see some of my old dancing friends and I got to see most of what I wanted to see. Plus, I got the chance to visit Sacramento, which wasn’t initially in my plans but ended up being a nice little treat as well.

And I got to cheer and watch N & B kick ass at the Sacramento Music Festival Swing Dance Contest!

I also got to visit the Google Headquarters a.k.a. Googleplex. What an experience. Truly a good day for a geek like me. B was very happy too. Thank you Adam, you rock!

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It was a great trip. I didn’t get to do all I wanted, but like my friend Jared said, that just gives me an excuse to go back!

And l’ll tell you a little secret: Life is about to get even better!!!

T minus 30 days

Today’s musings

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I’ve been away for a while.

May came and went in a blur. I had so much to blog about but I just never got around doing it.

We did go to the Canadian Swing Championships and we did win a bunch of stuff, as usual.

At CSC 2013

At CSC 2013

We (my daughter, her boyfriend and I) did go to California. It was my daughter’s Mother’s Day/Birthday gift to me!

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What I learned today

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Since I speak English As a Second Language, I am always learning new things.

I always like when my friends take the time to explain why something is said this way instead of that, or are not afraid of using fancy or even obscure words and expressions when talking with me.

Snafu. Fubar. I’ve heard these words many a time but I always thought there were real -if funny, words, until today when I decided to look them up. And I look what I found!

They are Military acronym slang allegedly originated during WWII (according to Wikipedia). And there’s one more, susfu.

SNAFU: Situation Normal: All Fucked Up. I like the original much better than the current usage to simply mean a mistake.

SUSFU: Situation Unchanged: Still Fucked Up. This one also rings a bell. Oh right, it’s the story of my life!

FUBAR : Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition. Apparently a good word to use when one’s laptop doesn’t want to work.

And what do you know? There’s even a cartoon character that uses one of those acronyms. Hilarious.

Overwhelmed

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I had a nice little break.

It felt good.

But now, it’s back to the daily grind.

The anxiety bouts that started about a year ago are now reaching alarming levels.

I recently wrote a post on Canvas about it: Is this what getting better mean?

Unfortunately, I am facing a few challenges right now. Both life and work related.

The old monster is awake and threatening to break free. My last two therapy sessions were rather painful and I am really not looking forward to the next one.

There are some good news. Like my trip to California in two weeks. My daughter and her boyfriend are going to a wedding in Sacramento and it just so happened that they got hired to be part of a commercial being shot that week in San Francisco. So, as a mother’s day present, she’s bringing me with her! We’re spending the week in San Francisco and the weekend in Sacramento, where I’ll get to go to the famous Sacramento Music Festival.

I am very much looking forward to it. I keep reminding myself of this. I keep telling myself it’s going to be great. San Francisco is in my Bucket List and I still can’t believe I’m going.

But I feel myself losing my footing. Slowly slipping.

The sadness. The pain in my stomach.

The darkness that lurks just around the corner.

The bad dreams.

I haven’t lost hope just yet.

But I am terrified.

Uncharted Territory

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This is a very interesting period of my life.

OK, perhaps interesting is not the right word but the scientist in me can’t help but be intrigued by the in-congruence of it all.

So many difficult things happening, you’d think I would panic and freeze. And yet I am not doing that.

They say hope comes when least expected.

And what do you know, hope has come to knock on my door.

Since I am a sensible person, I have decided to let hope in and make herself at home.

But wait, it gets better: Hope, the dear heart that she is, invited a friend along. And now, not only I have hope but also a desire to live.

Nothing short of a miracle, if you ask me.

I’m going into uncharted territory.

Wish me luck.

Compass

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