Long entry ahead. Proceed at your own risk. :D

Hello, hello, hello! :) That has got to be the worst case of vacation hang-over to hit me. Ever! We were in Arlington/Dallas on July 9 and 10, flew to California on the afternoon of the 11th and came back home on the 19th. Each day we spent in California was so packed that I needed another vacation when we got back, one where I can just sleep in and do nothing. Close to nothing, at least! ;) That was how tired I was. I don’t know how hubby did it but come Monday, the 21st, he was in his office, just across the hall from our bedroom, at exactly 8am.

I was hoping to get back to blogging that very Monday after we got back, but the attempts turned out to be futile. I always just ended up sitting in front of the computer, staring blankly at the monitor, which displayed the “Write (new) Post” page. I dreaded logging on to Bloglines because I knew blog updates have piled up and I’ll have some major backtracking to do. I did manage to post entries for Litratong Pinoy last Thursday. That turned out to be the power switch I was looking for. Hee hee. And I’m back. :D

Here’s an updated list of what I’ll be blogging about in the next few days…everyday if I can help it.

1. birthday in Arlington & Dallas, Texas (done!)
2. birthday presents (done!)
3. my journey into the twilight saga (done!)
4. california vacation
4.1 reunion with “J” and first evening with relatives (done!)
4.2 Mammoth and Yosemite (done!)
4.3 Universal Studios
4.4 Disneyland & California Adventure
4.5 Santa Monica and Marina Del Ray
4.6 Dinner with friends
4.7 Malibu and Hollywood
4.8 Night Out without Abby

5. Abby’s new hairdo (done!)

Does that seem like a lot? I’ve done a holiday saga before so I know it can be done. Hee hee. Let me start ticking off items from the list right this minute.

oOo

Arlington/Dallas, TX

For as long as I can remember, hubby and I have always treated our birthdays as holidays, a no-work day. I knew that would change somehow when we moved to Texas last year. But before April 2008, hubby’s workload has been quite manageable (too manageable really!) which was why during my birthday last year, he was able to kinda, uhm, sneak out before work hours was officially over. Hee hee.

This year was different. Hubby has been terribly busy with work since April. And on the 9th and 10th (my birthday) of July he had to be in Arlington, TX . Because I am now such a grown-up, I didn’t want him to miss those meetings. ;) Promise! So we would be together on my birthday, he convinced me (not that I needed a lot of convincing!) to just join him in Arlington, with Abby, of course. Hee hee. Anyway, he only had to have dinner with his bosses on the 9th (some flew from Japan) and attend a meeting with them around lunch time on the 10th. The rest of the time, he will be working from the hotel room. And work he did, I tell you!

We stayed at the Marriott, well, Residence Inn Marriott. Nyahahaha! :P I love Arlington. It’s a very quiet place. It would easily be my 2nd top choice for cities to live in Texas. I love our room, which had a working kitchen, an office desk, a small living area with a fireplace, two queen beds and a huge bathroom. I told hubby that as long as I had internet connection, I’ll be fine and he wouldn’t have to worry about me. Hee hee.

We all had something to keep us busy and before hubby headed off to his dinner at Benihana (not fair!) he joined me and Abby for an early dinner at the hotel’s lobby. The hotel has cocktail hour everyday for hotel guests and the night we were there, it was grill night. Abby and I enjoyed our free but filling dinner. The buffet spread included grilled burgers, chicken, tacos, chips, lemonade, and dessert.

That’s pretty much it for our first day in Arlington. Here are pics from that day…

Oh yeah! How could I forget?! Abby pulled a stunt that day which I just have to share with you. See the twin beds in the slide show? Hubby and I were busy with our laptops, he doing legitimate work, and I doing my brand of legitimate work, when hubby happened to look up just in time to catch Abby jump from one bed to the other. “Abby!” he gasped. Startled, I looked up, too. But Abby was already on the other bed looking oh so innocent staring back at hubby and me as if she didn’t do anything wrong.

Hubby (still looking at Abby): Nakita mo ba yung ginawa?! Tumalon papunta dun sa kabilang kama?!

Unexpectedly, he broke into a smile…

Hubby: Good job, Abby!

Me: Don! (I exclaimed with a disapproving look).

Realizing the error in what he said, hubby tried to recover and immediately added with a fake frown, “But don’t do that again!” Hmp!

On my birthday, we were holed up in the hotel the whole day except for the few minutes we went out to buy take-out food for lunch for Abby and me. If I were anything like the old me, I probably would have thrown a little tantrum. Hee hee. But the new very grown-up me was a very good sport. And besides, I’ve got a few things that kept me busy. I’ll tell you about them tomorrow.

We left the hotel a little after 5pm and had dinner at the Galleria Dallas. It was after Christmas the last time we were there and that time, my Mom was with us (Hi Mommy!). We had dinner at Mi Cocina afterwhich we headed straight home.

Yes, by our standards, it was an uneventful birthday. Yet, I was fine with it. Besides, it was just the beginning of several days of partying. ;)

Here are pics from Dallas…

Tomorrow, we’ll open presents plus maybe tick off one other item from the list. :)

Have a great week!