Thank you MOM!

Thank you for being the best ever! You are such a great role model. I love you.

NAPA!

Adam won a free weekend in Napa from work, so we took a long weekend trip down to enjoy the sun and the wine, turns out we liked the biking the best!

Pictures - from top to bottom

• SilverOak Winery - I break for Cabernet Sauvignon. Adam did a great job taking this picture.
• Silverado Winery - We took a trip up a long windy hill to the Silverado winery where we enjoyed one of our favorite wines and a great picnic lunch underneath some olive trees.
• San Fransisco - We even had time to enjoy a part of our favorite city that we had never visited before, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. We also enjoyed a great lunch in the Marina area where Adam's sister used to live.

As always, we had a fantastic time. The company was the best part!

Now that is good tv, or it was...

The other week I was flipping through the radio and I happened upon NPR. I don't recall which program was on, but they were talking with one of the cast members from the HBO series, The Wire. I caught snippets of what they were talking about, but from what I garnered the show was critically acclaimed and ending after only a handful of seasons. The plot line was discussed and I thought that it sounded like something Adam and I might enjoy. I picked up the first few disks in the first season last Thursday, and so began an addiction with the program. It is an amazing show with so many well developed characters and the plot continues to prove engaging. I strongly suggest renting this series and giving it a chance. We are almost finished with the second season and it just keeps getting better.

Too long...not the name, but since I blogged

I know that being busy is not a very good excuse, but I guess since I finished with school for winter, my brain tried to disconnect with the computer at home for a while. I have also been busy at work. Trying to get on full time at MS. I love it there. It is such a great company to work for. I ask everyone to keep their fingers crossed for me as I am waiting for the results of two different interviews.

Wedding plans are well on their way and I am getting more and more excited to be Mrs. Lasky. Actually, the only thing that I am really having a hard time with is the name change. It is not because I do not like Lasky, I just think it is hard to say goodbye to a last name. I am so excited to be married to Adam that I feel guilty about the way I feel about losing my last name. I have had it for 30 years, which is a long time, I think. As much as I have complained about it being mispronounced ALL the time, I like it. I think of my identity and it's relationship to that name, it is tough to disconnect the two. It is unique and for those who know the story of Job in the bible, it is a admirable name as well. It is short, one syllable, and in the middle of the alphabet (before Johnson, which is nice). I already have two middle names, both of which I also love, so I won't be adding it as a middle name. I am not a "hyphenator" and I don't see myself just keeping things as is; therefore, it is something I must accept.

I must say I like the sound of Mary Lasky - both end with y, both two syllables, also in the middle of the alphabet. But the most important part, it is part of the love of my life, my best friend.

Are we in Whistler Yet?

Adam and I leave for Whistler for our fabulous weekend in 7 days and I cannot wait. I have been completely consumed with work and school these last few weeks. Last week I worked 47 hours and is looking like another week of overtime.

If you have tried to contact me lately and I have not gotten back to you...know that I am trying to keep my head above water.

Snohomish Junior High School Reunion - 2007

I haven't had much time to write lately and I really wanted to post some pictures from a really special night that I had with some ladies who I love and have shared some good and some bad times. When I went to junior high in 1989, I met some of the greatest friends I was to ever know. This is a group of women that I can pick up with right where I left off before. The funny thing is we all can, that is the type of relationship we have. It had been some years since all of us got together and when we met in December we were missing a few, but all and all it was a great time. It is weird because most people probably don't talk to the people that they met in the 7th grade, but we all are still connected so strongly. What is also interesting is that in most cases I don’t talk with these ladies on a daily or even monthly basis, but I will tell you that if I needed one of them they would be there without delay.

We went through some interesting times when we were younger that perhaps a lot of young people do not have to go through. There were many things that really connected us all, but one that comes to mind is really the first death that we dealt with in our young lives. Our friend Josh McDaniel died from a seizure when we were 14 years old. I think it was the first person that many of us knew who had died. Josh was such a great kid. He had an electrifying personality. After he died we all tried to keep in touch with his Mom and Dad, but eventually I think it was too hard for them to see us grow up.

And we did all grow up, eventually. It took some of us a while to determine which route we wanted to choose, but now we are all very well accomplished women.

Cheers to my dearest of friends, I look forward to our next reunion. Let it not take so long next time.

(Above) Clockwise from me, Tarah, Chelsea, Kati, Tiffany (not usually wearing a cowboy hat), Cassie, Renea, & Stacy
You can't tell but the woman to my left in the maroon (Kati) is 7 months pregnant with TWINS in this picture.

Breaking Bad - Great TV

Although it is on past my bedtime, it is on Comcast on demand a few days after its scheduled airing. Breaking Bad is awesome. It really has tapped into a subject matter that is at the forefront of the battle on drugs in America and the life that goes along with it. The premise is unique and the best thing about the show is I have no idea how each episode will end or where the next one will begin. It really isn't for kids at all, and frankly I can't believe they can even put some of it on TV; however, that is not the draw for me. The draw is my intense interest in the criminal drug world and shows that keep me guessing. I would watch it. It is on Sunday nights on AMC, which earlier this year came out with Mad Men.

BAD RAP

I strongly suggest going to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22844052/ and reading this remarkable story about the pit bulls that were rescued from Micheal Vic's home. It is a great story. I know how much we love Morgan and Mavie and how everyone who knows them loves them as well. As you can tell from the picture above, they are really vicious animals :)

Whistler and Adam's Birthday

Adam and I had the most fabulous weekend in Whistler. Our hotel was perfect, the dinners were amazing and the skiing was awesome. I arranged for a cake and lucky bamboo arrangement to be in our room upon arrival to surprise Adam on his 30th birthday.

It snowed almost the whole time we were there. Here is a picture of us the first night in the village. After dinner Adam climbed a snow bank and played king of the hill with some kids and we got a six pack of Labatts (classy)to head back to the hotel for a hot tub. This is a picture of us at the Mountain Club in Whistler Village, were we ate dinner the first night.
We spent Adam's birthday skiing, watching the Redskins (below Adam with "rally cap"), and eating an amazing dinner at the Wine Room in the Fairmont. Adam had venison and rabbit, I had lobster, cod, and duck. It was so fun. After all the festivities and ended up dancing to a bongo playing band in the center of the village. I asked a teenage boy if he could, "take a picture of me and the boss man dancing to the tunes". He happily complied with my request as you can see from the picture.