meisa's lagoon

when i was in new orleans, i was training my nephew (it feels a little weird still to say that. i might have to come up with a different name.) to appreciate eddie bauer bags from an early age. luckily, he got the chance to see my magical eddie bauer bag before its demise.
some might have called it an ordinary duffel bag, but this thing was magic. it fit EVERYTHING. i could just keep shoving stuff in there, and it seemed to continually expand. and the best part was that it was smooshable. this feature made me able to always use it as a carry-on bag. i loved my magic duffel.
i waited with eager anticipation at the united baggage claim when i returned from my trip. while i could have carried the bag on (thanks to its smooshability), with new TSA regulations, i thought it best to check the bag. but i definitely should have carried it on. as my magic bag slowly made its way onto the baggage carousel, i noticed that there was something horribly wrong. its innards were falling out. the baggage handlers put a giant rip through the heart of my magic bag.
the guys at united offered me a replacement. some crappy non-eddie bauer bag. he claimed it was about equivalent to my bag. hardly. i scoffed at the offer and walked away, lovingly carrying my magic eddie bauer bag. if it is as magical as i believe, it should be able to self-heal.

Posted by Meisa at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

the end of my vacation has drawn to a close. although i don't technically have to be at work until wednesday, there was enough that i didn't accomplish while on vacation that means i don't have a choice but to be here. but fortunately, it's a lovely place and i have a desk now with a window that has a view of part of the golden gate bridge and the mountainous terrain just beyond. and, as i found when i first started working, evryone is super nice and supportive. one of my coworkers even gave me a blanket to wear around the frigid building...although it isn't that much warmer outside. i think being in other hotter and more humid parts of the country confused me and i did not dress appropriately (although you would think cords and a thin wool sweater would have been enough for an august day anywhere in the northern hemisphere).
so what have i been up to these past two weeks? well, my parents came out for a visit which was really nice. this is the first time i've moved somewhere when they haven't been with me. so now they can picture me in my environment, which i find always helps when you miss someone. i had my 27th birthday while they were here - a fantastic day, complete with a rented convertable courtesy of khalid. 27 years old. wow. that's how old my mother was when she had me. and all i've had is a frog. two i suppose. but we all know what happened to them.
so i travelled back home with my parents and also spent a few days in new orleans. i got to go to my oldest friend, juliebutt's, wedding, shopped like crazy with my mother, and spent quality time with the cutest person in the world, shokufeh and sam's son. although he's technically my 2nd cousin, he's going to be calling me ameh meisa (aunt on the dad's side in persian). so i guess if we're living a lie, i might as well call him my nephew. you really can't get any cuter than this.

Posted by Meisa at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

one thing that will suck about starting work again - no more 5 o'clock (new to me) reruns of gilmore girls. i may have to check out the DVD compilations.

Posted by Meisa at 07:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

i officially felt my first earthquake yesterday. i was sitting on the couch and i kind of felt trembling for a second or two. i had a minor freakout and asked khalid if he felt it too, which he did. but, coincidentally, at the same time, a large truck making lots of noise was passing on our street. while many a truck has passed before and the couch has not shaken, we decided it must have been the heavy truck anyway. but nope. khalid sent me a news article today confirming that what we felt was a 4.4 magnitude quake, about 40 miles NW of san francisco.

wow. i mean, i know it was tiny (thank goodness), but i've never experienced anything like that before. i'm always amazed at how powerless humans are against natural forces, but i've only ever experienced natural forces related to weather. this is a whole new ballgame...the earth moved. as i sat on the couch, the earth moved. crazy.

Posted by Meisa at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)