Not my mysterious final words, but a nice gesture from the hostess at Paradise Grille last night.  Our choice for a Valentine’s Day dinner included a rose bud “for each couple” with their prix fixe holiday menu.  The hostess seemed to be handing them to the female halves of the other couples seated nearby and we’d talked a bit about which of us she was going to offer the special flower to.  Smart woman – she avoided the issue (and made any bets moot) by offering us each a rose.

Dinner was fabulous in their outside patio under the stars.  Nice browsing through The Book Works afterward too.  Simply a beautiful night with the man who’s been my Valentine for five of these special days now.

A bit surprised and disappointed that the restaurant wasn’t full though.  Restaurants have been closing left and right here for the last couple of years now, but even with the weaker competitors culled from the herd things are still very tough here in North County.  We even got a last minute e-mail from a place we’ve frequented in the past on the afternoon of Valentine’s Day announcing special deals and openings for reservations that night.  Admittedly we’d most enjoyed the place under it’s prior chef, but it’s still a decent restaurant and I’m surprised they aren’t doing better.

Using Paperless Post for the office holiday greetings this year.  I’ve dabbled with it since seeing a review of the site a while back (in the N.Y. Times?) and used it for a couple of small invitations, but this was the first large “mailing.”  So far so good, and certainly more affordable than snail mail.  I know I love getting paper cards, and love the collections on the walls and shelves of other people’s offices, but I think with this site e-cards are finally crossing over into the “classy” range.

Resting and relaxing.  Picnicking on the Fourth with the in-laws, then catching the local fireworks in the evening.  While we’re out and about, some photographic repeats of recent Independence Days past.

2008:

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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!  Spent Saturday morning browsing the vendors for the festivities at Balboa Park and Sunday evening with friends eating corned beef, cabbage and Guinness.

This morning is just the wearing of the green and the drinking of the coffee (no-Irish, at least until I get some work done).  I was going to leave it at that, but KipEsquire had us rolling on the floor laughing by sharing this on Facebook, so I’m passing it on here.

Thanks Kip!

Sure, Spinner celebrated last Monday, and you get another party next Monday with your co-workers, but the local courtworkers are taking a day with pay to celebrate today (in addition to the big party next Monday), and who am I to argue?  With Cal Rugby in town tomorrow and some decent weather being forecast I might even make it a five day weekend in your honor.  Happy Birthday President Lincoln.

Some ideas look good in the planning stage but utterly fail when the essential personalities become involved. Similarly, some things look good in the store, then never get worn again in the real world.

Cutting to the chase, puppies are puppies and reindeer are reindeer. We’ve learned our lesson and promise to never try this again.

Spent a big chunk of the afternoon watching Spinner and the rest of the San Diego Men’s Chorus perform some numbers from tomorrow’s Christmas concert. For the second year in a row they were combining the concert with an outreach effort for San Diego students interested in the performing arts. This year the event was at the Balboa Theater in the Gaslamp, as is Saturday’s concert.

While the school kids definitely seemed to be enjoying SDMC’s music, the big cheering was definitely for American Idol finalist Paris Bennett, who is guest starring with the Chorus this season. No, I don’t watch American Idol, and have to admit I couldn’t have picked her out of a crowd before today, but she definitely knew how to work the crowd and was a blast to watch. And yes, we met her after the show, and she and her Mom are just as wonderful in person. I just threw that last one in there for Micky, my favorite American Idol fan. There are benefits from being married to America’s favorite second tenor.

Back to enjoying life now that the first of the month and the accompanying Business/bookkeeping obligations are complete for the month. I have twenty-something days to do what I like to do, with the added advantage of it being a holiday month. There’s a little trial up the coast at mid-month, hopefully with a little accompanying surf time. Christmas is looking good, as is New Years with the Penguin Plunge and maybe a mini roadtrip around the same time. I have an appointment with a personal trainer on Friday, and am thinking more and more about getting into some kind of organized swim program after the first of the year. Solo practice rocks, but I need to get out of the house more. Not just the sanity, but I need to be shaking hands if I want to stay in solo practice. As much as I grumble here sometimes, there are many less pleasant possibilities.

Still recovering from a mild tryptophan coma. Two full thanksgiving dinners and a three day pumpkin pie binge left me pretty much incapable of complete sentences, much less a full post. Should be swimming off some of the turkey and stuffing, but instead, just watching others swim. Baby steps…

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That’s the sounds of business skidding to a halt for the holidays. It happens every year, but I’m beginning to suspect this year will be a bit deeper than the last few. Business transactions that weren’t complete can wait until after the first of the year. New ventures will wait and see where the economy’s at after the first of the year. And family law clients will all have emergencies, but few will pay until after the first of the year. Junior’s X-box always gets priority over the lawyer’s X-box.

Time to revamp some websites and shake some hands. Be the social marketer butterfly. See if that yoga’s paid off and I can keep from bouncing too hard off the walls.