Snot

Snot production is up, but fortunately, it's moving.

Anna's law: Moving snot is better than stationary snot.

Could I be more excited about going to Georgia?! I don't think so! I'm off to bed (early) to make sure that I get better!

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

I need a bubble.

Seriously.

I need to be girl in the bubble so I don't get sick any more.

I am doing my best to will myself healthy for my trip to Georgia this weekend. I'm going to be so disappointed if I can't go because I'm sick! Therefore, I'm going to bed at 8:45pm tonight and sleeping all the way to 5:45am, even if it kills me. We'll see how that works out. I've been drinking water and OJ and taking my vitamin C. Please, please, please let me get better!

In other, happier news, I am officially CPR/First Aid/AED certified! I have my little cards from the Red Cross, so now I can save a life. Actually, it's kinda weird, but that's something I've always thought I would do in my lifetime. Some sort of weird premonition or something. Might as well be prepared if it happens!

Oh yes, and a special birthday shout out to Mateo! Happy 24th!

On that note, I'm off to bed. Maybe I'll wake up and feel better!

Sinus Infection Part Deux

Gosh darn it. Just when I think all is well and I'm finally feeling great I go and get a sore throat. Which promptly turns into a sinus infection. Yippee for me. I swear, I should have been a doctor - I'm getting great at diagnosing these. The good news is that my doctor took pity on me and gave me free antibiotics (round 4 in the last two months). Hopefully this thing is gone before I go to Georgia!

Speaking of becoming a doctor, I am taking CPR/First Aid at my local Red Cross. I'm leading the emergency response team at work and they needed someone to get trained now. So, of course, who volunteered? :) The first half was Monday night and the second half will be Wednesday. There are so many new and cool things since the last time I took the class (in high school!). I must say though, I wouldn't want some of the people that were in my class saving me. Here are some examples:

1. The Rib Cracker: His name is David and he's an alcohol and drug counselor. He looks like he's been through his own program a couple times (LOADS of tattoos, scruffy hair, weird beard, constant smoke smell) and you should have seen the number he did on the CPR dummy. First off, he only did half the amount of compressions he should have done (75-90 per minute) and he definitely compressed the chest a little more than 2 inches.
2. The Confused One: Can't remember her name, but that's probably because she was too confused to write it on her name tag. She proceeded to ask the instructor to repeat himself a thousand times and then kept asking (as in multiple times) if she needed to pinch the nostrils shut.
3. The Confused One's Husband: Also didn't wear a name tag. Spent the entire time yelling at the Confused One. Spent so much time yelling at her that he couldn't even figure out how to roll her on her side once it came to the rescue position.

Anyways, I give them all credit for being there and learning. If you don't already know how, I strongly recommend everyone learn CPR. The average time for an ambulance to arrive is 10 minutes. An adult will be brain dead without oxygen in 6 minutes. Do the math.
Well, time for bed. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow and this sore throat will be gone! Good night!

Wild Weekend in Reno!

Ok, so maybe not wild by "Spring Break 2006 Uncensored" standards, but it was a pretty fun weekend for us! We rolled into town at about 8ish and went down to dinner. After dinner we headed over to this Rum bar (can't remember the name... something with Bullians or something like that in it) and got fantastic drinks. They had these dueling piano guys who the audience would pay to play specific songs. Normally people would slip a ten on the piano, but I guess the audience was feeling a little competitive because they divided up into guys and girls, and the next thing we knew, they were dropping $150 a song to out do each other! Holy cow! Here's us with our strawberry daiquiris:

The next day (Saturday) we woke up pretty late and went down to breakfast. After we ate, we walked around the different casinos just to see what was going on. We found the Reno sign:

We stopped by our favorite rum bar on the way back to take a picture with our favorite man, Captain Morgan:

Now, let me tell you a little something about our visit with the Captain. We had this group of little Asian (?) ladies take our picture. After they were done, they handed the camera back, said thank you and prepared to be on our way. They promptly stopped us and we thought they wanted us to take a picture for them in return. Well, as it turns out, they wanted to take pictures with us. Like 3 of them had to have individual pictures with Brigitte, Amber and I. We definitely felt like movie stars as we walked away. Kinda weird, though...

After our paparazzi moment, we wandered around to our favorite machines, the penny slots. This is pretty much what we stuck to all weekend because it was cheap and we got free drinks. The next picture is me at 1:00PM. I thought we were being amazing by beginning our drinking that early in the day (it just so happened that we carried it on until 4:00AM), however, this morning when Amber and I went for breakfast we were one-upped by a group of guys who were hauling around beers at 9:00am and looked like they probably hadn't gone to bed. Anyways, here's my party-like-a-rock-star moment:

We went back to our room and took a little nap and then got ready to go out again. We went to dinner and then to see a comedy show. The first guy wasn't too funny, but the headliner (Marc Rubben) made us laugh our heads off. He did this who ventriloquist thing that was hilarious. The fact that drinks were two for one probably helped too! :) Here's us just before the show:

After the comedy show we gambled some more (I only lost a total of $13 the whole weekend!) and then headed back to our rum bar. The piano players were doing requests all night and it was a blast! Brigitte made friends with a kinda cute but most likely gay bartender:

We also made friends with a pretty cute bouncer who let us have in and out privileges when he shouldn't have. Pretty sad when two of your closest friends also get low miles per gallon and you all have to pee all the time... We finally made it back to our room at about 4AM. Woo hoo!

Alas, it was time for us to go home. However, we decided to stop and play in the snow a little on the way home. Brig needed some help up after a little "booty angel":


Amber and I climbed up to the top and found some amazing fresh, untouched snow:
Three Musketeers:
We found this odd little cottage thing that was really pretty. It wasn't enclosed like people would live in it, but was cute anyways. It had some beautiful icicles on it too!We also got to see the river, which was beautiful and followed the road most of the way home:
All in all, it was an amazing weekend and we had so much fun! I'm glad I got to hang with Brig and Amber and we're already making plans for other excursions! Look out camping, here we come!
On that note, I'm off to bed... I'm pooped!

Today's Triathlon Training:
Running: 1.5 miles

P.S. Check out how much better my chin looks in all of these pics! :)

Thursday!

Well folks, sorry to slack off on the blogging (as Brigitte so eloquently pointed out). It's been a super busy week for me.

Bike update: So I finally got the pictures to go through to the bike company. Here's my letter:

My name is Anna and last Saturday (3/18/06) I was riding my bike when the rim buckled, sending me head first over the handle bars and face first onto the cement. All I heard was a loud pop before I went flying. I was on a flat, cement bike trail. Fortunately I had my helmet on, but still ended up with some road rash on my chin, a split lip and a bunch of bruises. I have attached pictures and honestly can say I've never seen a bike do anything like this.

I would like for this to be documented so that the same thing doesn't happen to someone else. I was very fortunate to not have been hurt worse than I was!

I was sent a new rim, however, I plan to do more biking this spring and summer and am worried that the frame may be compromised as I (and the bike) hit the ground fairly hard.

Please let me know what your best advice is on this. Thank you!

10 minutes later, I received this response:

Dear Anna,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. I am going to have Carl Warren and Company contact you to investigate your accident. They should contact you tomorrow or Monday. In the mean time, please do not ride your bike, or put the new rim on (if it is not too
late).

Best Regards,
Susy

Um, did it look like I could ride my bike? The wheel doesn't even turn! It's not even in the shape of a circle any more!!! That was definitely my giggle of the day! Here are the pics they saw:

I am so excited about the weekend! I'm heading off with the girls for a weekend of fun in Reno! Woo hoo! I'll have pictures (if darned blogger would let me upload them!) and lots of stories for you all on Monday!

The Great Crash of 2006

Let's talk about drama! Today Kristen and I were all set to go on a bike ride along the river as part of our triathlon training. As we were getting out of our cars I was joking about how I look like a dork in a helmet, but that I always wear it, because it would be just my luck to be the person that gets smashed up without one. Then, as we start riding towards the trail, Kristen mentions that we should both learn how to fix a tire, because if one blew, neither of us would know how to fix it. We continued along with our ride. Not two minutes into it, I hear this loud pop and the next thing I know I'm flying (in slow motion) over the front of my handle bars. I landed on the ground and just laid there for a minute, collecting my thoughts. Then I tasted blood, so I reached up to make sure that my teeth were still in (after so many years in braces I would have been pissed if I went and knocked my damn teeth out!). As it turns out, the metal frame that holds the actual tire and tube completely buckled. I'll be making a phone call to the manufacturers this weekend (or more likely Monday). When I flew over the front I landed on my chin and hands. I'm pretty beat up and as the day has gone on I've become a little more sore. What at first felt like just a knot on my thigh turns out to be where I landed on the handlebars.

Injury list:

• Fat lip with a big gash on the inside
• Raspberry on the chin
• Handle bar bruise on my thigh
• Bruise on my hip
• Cut up hands
• Road rash

(I'm having problems posting the rest of the pictures - Blogger is having server downtime. I'll post the rest tomorrow morning!)

Thank God that Kristen was there, that we both had our cell phones and that I had a helmet on. Fortunately I'm ok and didn't hit my head (besides my chin). I have a feeling that tomorrow morning is going to suck and that I'll bruise a little more before I get better, but it definitely could have been a much more serious accident!

In other news, Saint Patrick's Day was a blast! I went out with the gang to Red Robin (yeah for green beer) and then to see "Failure to Launch" (see movie review section). We had a lot of fun and it was great to spend some time with friends!

Tonight I went over to Michelle's husband's birthday party. We had a lot of fun (I actually tried lumpia and LIKED it!). It was great to meet her family and see all of their friends!

On that note, I'm off to read a little and then go to bed

Today's Triathlon Training:
Biking: 300 yards

Products I Love - Aveeno

Ladies and Gents, it's back, the latest edition of "Products I Love". So today was the first day I've worn a skirt in a while, so in preparation, I shaved my legs. Quite I feat, I know. Well, as much as I love the Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar, sometimes I need something a little more moisturizing. Today I rediscovered Aveeno. Absolutely amazing stuff. Put it this way, by the time I went to the gym tonight, my legs still felt soft and smooth with none of those little dry bumps. Great stuff! It's also good on your face in a pinch!

By the way, being the nerd that I am, I'm keeping a spreadsheet of how many yards, miles run and miles biked I'm doing in preparation for the triathlon. I'll be posting that on here as well... updating as often as I train. (look to the right for it)

I've also learned today that I have patience I never knew I had. Thank God for small miracles!!!

Today's Triathlon Training:
Biking: 10 miles

KINGS GAME!

Oh my gosh.

Tonight was seriously one of the best sporting events of my life. First and foremost, thanks to Mom and Dad for getting me Kings/Lakers tickets for Christmas. You couldn't have spent your money better!!!

Brigitte and I went to On The Border for dinner. It was so yummy and we had a lot of fun just chatting. The whole place was decorated with purple and black balloons and all of the waiters and waitresses were in some sort of Kings shirt/colors.


After dinner we headed over to Arco Arena where I purchased my foam finger. I've been wanting one, although I wasn't all too sure what to do with it, but I needed to have one.


There was flames, confetti, thunder sticks and lots of screaming. We cheered our little heads off! Mike Bibby had a fantastic game, scoring 29 points, going 8 for 18! Here's my boy:



Bibby hit a shot with 7 seconds remaining in the game - I jumped up and screamed so loud it made me cough! That boy is on FIRE! He was named Western Conference Player of the Week this week! Go Bibby Go!

I can't believe how incredibly loud it was and how enthusiastic the fans were! We had a few Lakers fans behind us, but all in all, it was Kings or nothing! To top of a wonderful game, WE WON! That's right, 114-98, take the Kobe Bryant!!! WOOOOO HOOOOO! We even got cool little beer cozies and little purple megaphones... WHAT A GAME!!! This puts us in 3rd place in our division and 7th place (AHEAD of the Lakers) in our conference. We should *crossing fingers* make the playoffs. Woot!
Here's Brig and I being happy:


I'm totally wired, but have an early meeting and a long day tomorrow. I'm going to try to get some sleep now!

Today's Triathlon Training:
Running - 1 mile

Favorite Sounds

Name your top 5 favorite sounds:
1. The "Amen Chord" (think of the end of every hymn - same chord progression)
2. Rain on the windows
3. Cody's barks when he's told not to bark (they're muffled and more like doggie back talk)
4. Almost any two people singing harmony
5. Silence

I've started a log of my training so I can record how many total yards swum, miles run and miles biked to get ready for this triathlon. Should be an impressive number!

OMG OMG OMG, tomorrow is the Kings/Lakers game! I'm so excited! I've decided to go with the gold jersey (I've been told by the experts that I will not look like a Lakers fan because EVERYONE knows the gold jerseys). I'm so stoked!!!

Today's Triathlon Training:
Rest day

Jazzercise, Food and San Francisco!

What a weekend!

I spent most of Friday night in the car - a nice 3 hour 20 minute drive to the Bay from here. Fun times! I sat up and watched Dr. Phil with Oma and relaxed - it was so nice to see her again and have some time just to talk and catch up!

On Saturday I met up with Adam and Eva for Jazzercise. I have to say, I was skeptical, but VERY happy that I went. Eva met up with the instructor to pick "cool" music. As it turned out, all of the cool songs happened to have the killer routines that went along with them, so I got the workout of the century. It was sort of like weight lifting and hip hop class combined... I loved it! We danced our little booties off (I even let out a little "woo" towards the end when I got really into it...)! After class we took a little drive through a beautiful neighborhood to the friendly local Starbucks for a treat. Then I had to race back to Oma's to get showered up to go meet Grandma and Aunt Sandy for lunch. We went to Applebees (yum - no matter how hard I try to order something else, I always end up with the chicken and broccoli feduccini!). It was really fun and great to spend somet time with them! Then it was back to Oma's to change into some slacks and make the drive to San Francisco. I met up with Ted and we hit the town in his convertible mustang (ok, it was his rental, but it was still sweet cruising across the Bay Bridge in it!). We went to this place called manger's. It's an Italian/Brazilian restaurant... and it was DELICIOUS! I had the spinach and cheese raviolis with roasted tomato sauce and Ted had the Brazilian Steak Rechaud (you finish cooking it at your table!). The decor was amazing as well... it was just a really fun place to eat and it was nice to really enjoy a meal with an old friend.

http://www.mangarosasf.com/

After dinner we walked over to the Fugazi to see "Beach Blanket Babylon". What a crazy show! It was really a lot of fun and it was great to see fantastic singing, hilarious comedy and HUGE hats! Basically, the show has been running for 30-something years and is constantly changing. So if you saw it last year, it's totally different now! Check out the link below (click on "skip intro" and then "hat gallery") to see some previous hats and to learn more about the show! I definitely recommend it to anyone in the San Francisco area!

http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com/

This morning (which came way too early, by the way) I met up with Oma, Adam, Eva, and Emy for breakfast! I'm so glad I had the chance to see Emy while she's in town - it seems like it's been forever! We went to Hobees- another place I recommend! YUM!

Now I'm back home, getting ready for bed and the long week ahead of me. Only two more days until the Kings game! Woo hoo!

Good night!

Today's Triathon Training:
Running: 1 1/2 miles

Can't Wait For The Weekend!

Woo hoo! This weekend begins a series of amazing, totally fun weekends for me! I'm heading to the Bay to do a bunch of fun stuff, all squished into two days! Friday night Dad and I cruise in and hang out with Oma. Saturday morning I head out to Jazzercise with Adam and Eva. I absoultely can't wait!!! Eva has even had her instructor pick out "cool" music for us to dance to in my honor. Now I just hope I don't make a total ass of myself! Saturday afternoon Daddy and I have lunch with Grandma. Saturday night I'm meeting up with Ted, a good friend from my San Diego days to go see "Beach Blanket Babylon" in SF. I'm stoked! I've heard that it's absoultely hilarious! Sunday morning we pack it all up and head home to work out and get to church. It's going to be a crazy but exciting weekend!

The triathlon training is going really well! Today I had my body fat measured at 24 Hour Fitness. I thought this would be depressing, but I was actually surprised. I thought my little tummy would be the bad area, but I'm actually doing well there! My only real place to work is the backs of my arms (tricepts) and swimming should handle that. Just in case it doesn't, I have some time set up with one of the guys at the gym to show me good excercises for that area. Go me!

Other than that, nothing new! Like I said, this is the start of a crazy few weeks, all of which won't really calm down until mid-April. Just how I love it!!! :)

Today's Triathlon Training:
Weights - 45 minutes

Rainy Tuesday

What a day, what a day. Actually, it was sort of uneventful. I was pretty busy at work, but actually had a little down time to catch up. Finally! It's been a crazy few weeks for me, with a crazy few more to come because of end of quarter!

Only one week from today I will be watching my beloved Kings take on the Lakers! Holy cow, I'm so excited!!!

So funny gym story for today. My friends Michelle and Kelly and I went over to the gym after work together. Kelly had to do some paperwork at the front desk, so Michelle and I went to change in the locker room. Some woman in the showers was HACKING up a loogie. Not just a little accidental cough or something along those lines, but actually working it up out of the lungs hacking. For like 5 minutes. Like a man. SO GROSS! Michelle says "That's why you wear shower shoes" ROFL!!!

Today's Triathlon Training:
Running: 1.5 miles
(ok, so I might have overdone it on Sunday - today was a take it easy day)

Triathlon!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am entering a triathlon!!! Holy cow! I can't believe it either. It's a buig chunk of everything - first you swim a 1/2 mile, then you bike 13 miles and finally you run a 5k. It's on June 4th - the Danskin Women's Triathlon. I'll be going to LA with some girls from work and I'm really stoked! I started my training this last week... I did a lot of swimming and today was my hard day. I'll keep you all posted on my daily progress at the end of each blog entry! I think I worked it out a little too hard today, so I'm going to try and take it easy for the next few days... don't want to hurt myself before I even get started!

http://www.danskin.com/raceinfo.html

The rest of the weekend was spent performing. I'm so proud of the show! I was worried that parts of it were not going to come together (as were the other 300 people involved), but at the last minute it somehow all fell into place. We start working on Dvorak's "Mass in D" tomorrow - no rest for the weary!

Ok, off to watch the Oscars!

Today's Triathlon Training:
Running: 2 miles
Biking: 13 miles
Swimming: 1/2 mile