Kokochi

Have you guessed where we are yet?

Guess where Dav and I are for the weekend!

My secret

Transcription by Chuck Swenson:
We have a big company meeting now, but since Walt is getting married soon, we're celebrating first with yummy cake.

To snazz up the conference room for this special occasion, Mena brought balloons...problem is I am quite uncomfortable around those full of air about-to-explode at-any-time things. I found myself sitting in a chair with 2 balloons tied to it.

I had to request to switch chairs...but now everyone at work knows my 'phobia.'

office space needed

Transcription by Joe:
In SF looking at new office space... We are packed in our current space so this is much needed!

my sweety is home!

And you know how happy that makes me...He was away on business and I missed him much!

Why don't cha...

Need I say more?

doggy

Transcription by Ian:
Just had lunch with Shu Yagi, an intern from Carnegie Mellon (originally from Japan) with us for a month. Very happy to have his help. Came back to the car and saw a cute, big dog waiting for his owner in a big, blue truck. Reminded me of that bear I saw one morning in a van. :-)

Pretty funny

This made me laugh. Also, while you're visiting my brother's blog, may I suggest you check out pictures of my nephew and niece? I think they are fantastic little beings and are the cutest! My grandmother is totally cool too.

What is not pretty funny is that my phone died. Maybe dropping on the sidewalk was more than a simple protest against my infatuation with Tokyo phones.

So bear with me while I figure out what to do.

Enzyme Bath

Dav surprised me with a wonderfully relaxing afternoon at a spa near Bodega Bay. It was kind of for my birthday, but we've decided not to focus on particular birth dates, and instead surprise each other with gifts whenever we want to, and this was one of them. It was an Enzyme Bath and massage at Osmosis.

My mom introduced me to a similar rice bath in Tokyo. It was amazing and I blogged about it. BoingBoing picked it up and someone left a comment over there about this Osmosis spa, and Dav noted it thinking we'd go one day. Ah, the power of blogging; little did I know that posting back then would lead to a nice day at a spa!

After walking around their beautiful meditation garden, we drank tea in a private room overlooking a Japanese garden, then made our way to a huge wooden box filled with fermenting cedar and rice bran. It was similar to the one I tried in Japan, but here, we got to be in one box together. I liked being able to wiggle my fingers over to Dav's as we gently baked in the fermenting mixture. Over the 20 minutes in that box, there were times I felt like erupting with heat and kicking my legs free for air. But just at the right time, the spa person came by with iced water or a cool towel for our feverish heads.

We finally slowly got up and laughed at each other since we looked like, um, I don't how else to describe being entirely covered in dust, head to toe, every nook and cranny. Almost looked like we were covered in freckles. After dusting ourselves off in the garden, we showered, then were led to our massages. I'd been wanting a massage for a long time and with the enzyme bath, my muscles were already jelly and just waiting to become complete mush. The best part was that we got our massages in the same room. I really liked the whole couple thing; even though we didn't talk, it was nice to be close and know he was feeling just what I was feeling.

Anyway, sorry if I made you jealous. This doesn't happen every day to a girl. I'm super lucky and can't wait to think up my gift to Dav! :)

On the way home, we kept passing beautiful rolling hills full of cows. I don't see cows frequently and really wanted to pet one. So Dav parked on the side of the road where several cows were hanging out near the fence. I was so excited to touch a cow...but as I approached - and I crouched down not to scare them - they started moving away. Then I noticed the whole entire heard ALL looking at me as if I was a big elephant. I haven't felt so self-conscious since junior high! Sadly, it was quickly evident that they had no interest in letting me pet them. Ah well, at least I got to try.

Working cat

Transcription by tfc in mtn view:
Dav and I went out to dinner in the Castro and walked by a furniture shop showcasing a bed and on the bed was a fat furry cat. Sure caught our attention; Dav first thought he was dead until he stretched. Cat at work selling beds at night. They're good at sleeping, so why not?