Nicole Tasker Woods

Momma has left the building! We got up at the crack of dawn this morning so I could get ready for work, drop her off at the Burbank airport and head into the office. I was sad to see her go, but she is off to see my older brother in Redwood City for a few days, which I know she is looking forward to doing. We had a wonderful few days together–it is a time I will think back on and remember how much my mother loves me to endure a long day of airport and airplanes, just to spend a long weekend with me. Love you Momma!

The countdown is on. My mom will be in LA in 4 hours! Woohoo! I have a fun few days planned for just me and her. Once I pick her up from the Burbank airport this afternoon, we are making a few shopping stops and then heading home so she can see her grand-dog. Cali has been counting down the days on her basenji calendar to when she can see her Grandma from NH. Last time Grandma visited, she had Cali-cookies in her carry-on luggage in a zip-lock bag–one anxious basenji is hoping and praying that is the case this time.

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There are certain foods made certain ways that I will ALWAYS love because that is what my Mom used to make for me when I wasn’t feeling well or was having a bad day. When I was younger, any kind of food would be considered “comfort” food for me. Let’s face it, I liked to eat.

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There is an unspoken rule–or more accurately, an imaginary deadline for when you can still mail holiday cards to your family and friends and not look like a total bone head for having them arrive after December 25th. In my mind, that day is more like a window: no earlier than 2 days before Turkey Day and no later than 5 days after (or Dec 1st).

Whether it contains a “Christmas Letter” bragging about how wonderful your life is, a goofy picture of your dog, or you and your hubby in front of Big Ben in London–a holiday card is the best way to stay in touch. Maybe you do not want to write a heart-felt letter during the year and perhaps you are not interested in sending a birthday card because in the end, what would you really say…? “Hey! Happy Birthday! Hope your life is great…I am just guessing you’re still alive because you NEVER send me a birthday card…” Yeah, that probably would not go over so well.

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Unless I show up and my high school class reunion is JUST like Romy & Michelle’s, then no way in hell will I ever go.

I did not have a great time in high school. It’s hard to remember the good times when the bad times inflate like balloons in my memory, suffocating everything that didn’t suck. Thus I only remember the bad…

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Today Cali turns 4 years old. Can you believe it!? Ryan and I certainly can not.

It feels like just yesterday I was walking into the Burbank Animal Shelter to rescue her and out came the shelter worker holding a rainbow cord hooked to the neck of a crazy, 8 month old animal. I immediately regretted Ryan’s decision (he had picked out the dog the night before). But I quickly warmed up to her, especially on the ride home when Ryan and I ran through my post it of dog name suggestions (which I insisted on doing quickly, because he was starting to refer to her by her breed’s name ‘Basenji’. The names on this list went something like:

• Vespa
• Kitty
• Abbey
• Mercedes
• Taska
• Cali

To my mother’s credit, Cali was her suggestion. And once we said it, Cali’s enormous ears perked up even higher and we knew that was going to be her name. Since that day, three years and four months ago, we continue to refer to Cali as the missing link that made us a family. Before, we were just a couple, but with Cali we were a family unit.

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I hate Halloween. That’s right, I said it! I do not like dressing up or the pressure to eat all that fatty candy. And I especially hate being scared. I had to fight my boyfriend-at-the-time-but-now-husband when he insisted we enter the haunted walk-through thing at Universal. It was themed for The Mummy movie and I was nearly in tears. That is how much I truly HATE being scared.

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Ryan and I re-painted our living room a few weeks ago and this morning, we finally had our new carpet installed. We were more than a little ecstatic to finally have all our furniture back into place so we can thoroughly enjoy our newly decorated living space.  See before & after pics below. Although these pictures are not labeled, you will be able to tell which pictures are before (due to lack of color) and the ones that are after (where everything POPS!).

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I hate working out. I don’t run that much anymore. My afternoon jogs have turned into really fast speed-walking. Don’t get me wrong, I’m haulin’ ass on my walks–so much so that I am moving faster than my crazy basenji! I’m sure I look like a sight all speed walking and swinging my arms with a dog at the full leash extension behind me. Sometimes she just stops and sits down and makes me tug at the leash hooked to her neck.

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My office is great about letting you leave work early to accommodate  appointments you have (doctor, dentist, dermatologist, oil change, etc). The only thing that you have to do is let your boss know and then they are usually fine with it, but my boss? He doesn’t give a crap! I used to email him a week in advance to let him know the day and time I had to leave and for what kind of appointment. Then he recently told me to stop, that he doesn’t care when I come and go, just to be reachable on my cell phone.

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January and February of 2010 were bad months for me. I was constantly fighting colds and could not have two days in a row without one of them being full of sniffles or body aches. In March I decided enough was enough and I went to Costco to invest in vitamins. Now I take the following daily:

• Vitamin B
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D w/ Calcium
• Omega 3
• One-A-Day

My days of wellness lasted from March through September, I was impressed! However, after one chilly night in our Bruges apartment, I got a cold and struggled for weeks to fight off the sickness. About two weeks ago my cough finally subsided and I believe it is finally gone. Traveling is always the best way to contract some kind of mutant cold virus that ends up massacring your immune system and making the outside of your nose all red, sore and dry.

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Only 1 week after returning to work after my European vacation, my boss took a business trip for about 5 business days, leaving me to suffer through a horrible Monday all by my lonesome. It took me a while to get some free time to myself to update my blog and let you all know how wonderful my trip was.  But here goes…

Our trip started in Paris, France. We stayed in an apartment we were renting for a week and it was incredible. Every morning we got up, ate croissants we bought the night before and then headed out for day trips.

We…

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