Cafe Victoria

Last week, Marta and I restarted our yearly trips by making a trip to New York City. We visited our good friend Kristina, who turned us into Subway rats. I am no longer afraid of New York Subways. Highlights from the trip included walking the Brooklyn Bridge, finding the arch where Sally dropped off Harry in “When Harry Met Sally”, speeding through the MET art museum, and relaxing in Central Park. Here are photos of some New York Sites.

Here is a fun photo from Point Reyes CA.

• Just finished reading: “The Girl I left Behind a Narrative History of the Sixties” by Judith Nies. It is a great Women’s History book that is also a memoir. I felt like I was back in my Gender Studies class at Sonoma State.

• Been thinking about: Putting all our stuff together and finding the right path to go to get pre-approved for a loan to buy a house.

• Loving: all my free time. Wow… did I have a lot of homework because boy do I have lots of free time now. Last night, Matthias and I made a late night trip to the Readers Books. I found myself lost away looking for the next great book to read. I keep coming back to “Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex” … but just can’t seem to buy it. Maybe it’s the taboo sex part. Will see. This week, I will be in Portland, Oregon and there is that awesome huge independent bookstore there…

• Discovering: That summer might be my new favorite season. The hot weather, naturally makes me want to slow down and relax. So far, every weekend I have spent hours on my front porch reading.

So… if you are looking for a motivation for being at work, try going on vacation. I have a two week vacation coming up and it has me working like a dog. There is that old saying that people tend to do twice as much work right before they leave for a vacation. I am right there! This week, I was tackling training my new ASB officers, staying on top of planning NVC day and updating my office forms. Next week is updating the club manual, finishing my end of the year report and cleaning out my email. In our office, we have a huge To Do list all aiming for “done by Aug. 1” The fall semester doesn’t start until Aug. 18, but for those who work in education, summer break is often they only chance you get to reorganize and update things.

In a week, I’m taking a vacation with my dad to be his pit crew for the National Go-Karting Tournament in Portland, Oregon. We’re driving up. So, I’m looking forward to taking a road trip. Then I come home for a day and fly off to New York City with Marta for a sweet, simple, fun visit to see Kristina, who is living near Greenwich Village for the summer.

Today’s word of the day from the Daily Word website is “Relax”. Ahh… right now, I am so grateful to my student affairs professional organization. This week was our board transitional meeting and we met in San Diego. I am serving as the President Elect, so it was great to catch up with my fellow community college student affairs professionals and plan out this coming year. This mini break was also a mini vacation for me. Any chance I got, I recruited a fellow board member and went for a walk on the Waterfront. Loved it! Even if it was only 30 minutes, I loved walking and looking out on to the San Diego Bay. Thanks CCCSAA for a great trip!

My favorite ways to relax

• Taking a walk

• Reading a novel-I am currently reading this fun murder mystery called “I Heard that Song Before” by Mary Higgins Clark

• Watching “the View”

Today, I officially changed my name. Matthias and I have been married for about 8 months now. As crazy as it sounds, I finally found today to drive to the Social Security Office and change my name. The process itself did not take very long and it was free. The girls entering in my data hardly said anything to me. I couldn’t help myself but see if they were wearing a wedding ring. Could they relate to what I was doing or feeling?

I wonder if deep down inside every new bride, the part that really scares them isn’t if the wedding pictures will come out or if they could live with their husband. I think its changing their name. I often share with Matthias, that when men get married, the biggest change they experience is wearing the ring. For women, it’s wearing a ring AND physically having to change their name. In away, getting married is a huge identity shift.

Over the last few months, I added Worch to my email signature, changed my name tag and even had the students add Worch to the ASB agenda. But, I had not made the journey to officially change my name until today. Why did I wait to so long? This afternoon, when I told my Dad, I could tell in his voice he was a bit sad. I had been carrying his name for over 30 years. Changing my name made it seem for real. I couldn’t let go completely so I decided to change my middle name from Diane to Estrella.

There will probably be many more significant changes along the road that bring Matthias and I closer but for today, it was taking his name.

My initials are now VW. So look out Volkswagen, my next car might just be one of yours.

I am on vacation. Yahoo! The last time I had a week off was Spring Break. I am soo ready to relax and at the same time..I am a little sentimental. For the last three summers, this would be the week I would be at APU. Miss ya ladies. To keep the spirit of APU going, I’m planning to host a conference call within these two weeks.

For the week of May 7

Aquarius (1/20-2/18) When the spell is broken, Aquarius, you will be able to tap into resources that you’ve been cut off from. When the spell is broken, you will finally notice three big, beautiful secrets that have been staring you in the face. When the spell is broken, you will slip down off a clean, lofty perch where it has been hard to relax and arrive at a low, funky spot where you’ve be free to feel things you haven’t felt in a long time. When the spell is broken, it will be because you have decided to break it.