Merry Christmas To All... And To All A Good Night!

Wow, what a Christmas this was! Christmas mass went really well and we had a blast. We had some friends over on Christmas Day Night (if that makes any sense) and had a blast with them - played games, watched movies, and then I fell asleep. Way to act super old, Anna. Then came the presents... I can't believe how spoiled I am! :) I got a Bose sound dock for my iPod, beautiful scarves (ha ha, Eva, I got mine first!), my favorite makeup, a ticket to the ballet with my mom and dad and (drumroll please):

KINGS/LAKERS TICKETS!

That's right, I, Anna T. Smithson, will be at the coming Kings/Lakers game! Honestly, this is a dream come true! I will be wearing my gold Bibby jersey and screaming like a banshee. It's going to be a blast!

I also got a pair of GAP "curvy" jeans. All you ladies out there, you must get a pair. I went in today and bought another pair for myself. Seriously, they are made for "women whose waist is smaller than their hips". Um, hello!!! Honestly, they are a perfect fit and come in short for us little people. Pricey, but worth it (and they're on sale now!).

Today I went shopping with my sister and for one of the few times I can remember, spent my Christmas money on something totally frivolous that I normally wouldn't buy myself. I bought the silver Motorola Razor phone. OMG, I love it! To let you know how far in the dark ages I've been with my cell phones, I've never had a phone that has the following features:

• a camera
• cool ring tones (like REAL songs, not something that sounds like a bad keyboard)
• voice activated dialing
• pictures that pop up when people call
• that thing where when you turn the sound down it goes "beep beep beep" until you're all the way down. I love that and have been jealous of other cell phone owners...

I'm in heaven. I've been playing with the dang thing all afternoon. Now I just need people to call me...
I'm such a spoiled brat.

Things I Can't Live Without

1. Bath and Body Works Vanilla Lotion
2. Starbucks White Chocolate Mochas
3. Illuminations
4. Chocolate
5. Buttered Noodles
6. Any kind of pasta for that matter
7. French Fries
8. Target
9. Anything From Victoria's Secret
10. Office Depot

I invite you to share. It's like a Christmas list, only not...

Rum

Rum is no longer my friend.

Ugh.

So I went out last night with Brigitte and company... it was a friend of a friend's graduation party. We knew the bartender and got the hookup on drinks. Brig and I had a lot of rum. At the time it seemed like a good idea, however, this morning, not so much. In fact, I felt like my head was going to implode. That's right, implode, not explode. Ouch. I didn't actually get up until 10:45 (which is super late for me) and I'm still feeling the pain. I don't think Brig has actually been able to eat yet.

However, we are cute drunks:


And apparently, I don't really like the taste of rum, but Brig is ok with it:


Things only got better from there...

Seriously, though, it was a really fun night - it's been a long time since Brig and I partied it up. :)
I will be spending the rest of today relaxing and then will sing at church. Always good to follow a night of drinking up with a little mass.
Peace.

Wow!

What a week! I seriously feel like I've been in a tornado for the last week and then tonight (just now) it spit me out. Now I don't know what to do with myself!

Thursday and Friday nights I had my dress rehearsals. They went pretty well. A couple of sour notes, but over all, not too bad. Adam and Eva and Oma came out on Friday night and the weekend went into full effect. We had so much fun!

First things first. Friday night when I get home from rehearsal the whole gang was there. Eva has what looks like a donut box. She tells me no Christmas is complete without Ginger Bibbys®. At this point a little light bulb goes on in my head. She spent all day on Friday making me the most amazing ginger bread cookies that were decorated like Mike Bibby. They're so awesome that I'm even taking one into work to show it off tomorrow. She went through a whole design process and had several prototype Bibbies until she got the perfect one. HOLY CRAP!!!



And she even made little Ginger Nanners® (my nickname) to go with the Ginger Bibby®!


In addition to that, they gave me the gold Bibby jersey for Christmas... I LOVE IT! :)

Saturday was a day of fun. We woke up to go to Jazzercise, Eva almost ruined a poor little kid's dream of Santa because there was a Santa's workshop instead of jazzercise, we went to Target, had lunch with mom and got to see her awesome shop, and then went to the concert. It turned out really well (in my completely unbiased opinion) and I think everyone had a lot of fun. One of the coolest parts for me was the audience sing along. It was amazing to hear 3,900 people singing back at me!!! Adam and Eva were hilarious to watch - Eva was holding her music at the precise angle and they just looked like they were having a blast.

Today we did the lay around. Had a yummy breakfast and took a long nap. Holy cow, I was so tired from the whole weekend! Went to church, had dinner with a friend and here I am, blogging away. I think it's bed time now. Good night!

All in all, it was a great weekend. I had so much fun with the family!

God's Way

So I'll bet this title stumped you... allow me to explain.

Well, I was on my way to work this morning - not running late or anything, just kinda cruising. However, when I cruise, I like to do the speed limit. Especially if I'm in the fast lane. Back to the story. So I'm cruising and this lady pulls her little gold Mazda in front of me. Without a blinker. Which I guess I'm ok with since I just moved back from San Diego, where I think there's actually a law against using your blinkers. She pulls in front of me and slooooooooooooooooooooows doooooooooown. A lot. Now, I'm driving thinking "Hey, did I do something to make this lady mad? Is that why she suddenly slowed down?" People are zooming past us in the slow lane and there's about a five car gap between her and the guy in front of her. Now I'm getting really curious. By the time I decide to pass her, it's too close to where I turn left, so I decide to wait it out and pray she goes straight. Then her left hand blinker comes on. Darn it. Once we turn I zip past her, but take a little look to see who she is (not a mean glare or anything, just a look). She was just a normal lady. Not on a cell phone, not old, not tending to kids in the back seat. Just a normal, middle aged woman driving her Mazda slow. That really got me thinking. Maybe she slowed me down for a reason. We had to cross some rail road tracks - perhaps I could have been hit by a train had I sped over them like normal. Maybe someone would have run the red light if I cruised through the yellow one. Who knows. It sounds weird, but I had this odd feeling that the lady in the gold Mazda was there for a reason. God's way of slowing me down today.

Maybe I was just hungry.

In other news, Adam, Eva and Oma will be here the day after tomorrow! Woo hoo! We start dress rehearsals tomorrow night, so I'll be having some looooooooong days. But it's worth it. I absolutely love performing and everything that goes with it!

Oh, and I have some more "Operation Little Elf" pictures. Mrs. Claus took some on our final day of decorating:

Lights?

So yes, we have a final count. However, today as I was leaving for church I noticed some "suspicious activity" up in the court. Another neighbor is just now putting his lights up. I'm going to have to hold off on revealing the final count until we can confirm that our house is better. As far as I could tell, it's just icicle lights and a little light tree, but we need to make sure. So the light count revealing is on hold in case we are going to need to add on.

This weekend was a lot of fun. Went to church and out with a friend on Friday night. Saturday we finished the lights on the house and I went out with Brigitte to watch boxing with some hilarious beer-drinking boys. Today was spent decorating for Christmas and cleaning up. Laundry and all of that fun stuff.

This week should be pretty busy - I have rehearsals or dress rehearsals almost every day. I have to miss two Christmas parties on Friday because of rehearsal. But it's all worth it because we're going to have a great program put together! I'm so excited that so many people I know are coming to see it!

Have a great night! :)

Lights

Got ya with that title, didn't I?

No, you can't have the final light count OR any pictures. For two reasons:

1. We aren't finished. We have some more "out-doing" to do.
2. It's raining. I am not standing in the rain in the middle of the street to take pictures.

I'm going to keep you in suspense. :) But yes, you will eventually get both pictures and a final count. We had a little "situation" tonight. Below a fuse on the front porch and took out 1/4 of the house. Fortunately "Big Elf" was able to perform some fuse maintenance and we're up and running again. Gotta be careful with the electricity and these rain storms...

HOWEVER, you MAY see pictures of Thanksgiving:


And of us in SF (yes, I know I suck at getting the red eye out):




I'm so hot in a beanie.

So kidding. I was totally sick and thought my head was going to fall off.

Anyways, off to watch "ER". :)

Leaf Thief

This weekend Dad raked and raked and raked to get all of the leaves cleaned up in the front yard. He had about 8 of those big Hefty plastic trash bags filled. We have a service through the city that will come and pick them up for you if you call and leave them on the curb. So, when I left for work yesterday morning, there were 8 big old bags lined up on the curb. Fast forward to 5:00. I came home and as I'm pulling up, notice that there are only three bags left.

Can anyone guess the first thought to race through my mind in light of recent events?

A leaf thief.

For that brief 30 second period I was fully convinced that someone stole 5 fifty pound bags of leaves. I'm not kidding. I thought "Holy crap, the people who broke into my car came back today. Since my car was gone they stole our leaves." Then I thought "You idiot. Why would anyone steal leaves?" As it turns out, the wimpy city dude decided that these three bags were too heavy, so he left them. But honestly, I was convinced we had a thief on our hands.

Rejoining the Living

Finally, I feel somewhat alive again. Wow, that was one killer sinus infection. Thankfully, my fantastic doctor gave me some great antibiotics and a good decongestant, so I slept for the first time in a while last night. I think that definitely helped. My head doesn't feel like it's going to fall off anymore. Now if only the little bit of dizziness would go away, I would be a happy camper!

I can't believe that Christmas is only 26 days away! Holy cow, I need to start shopping! AND I need to send my cards out! This year seems like it has gone by so quickly! I think it's the moving/job switching, etc. Definitely a quick year!

Game tonight - Go Kings! If only we could win this one and make it a 7-7 record! There have been some good articles about Bibby in the paper lately. :)

Yeah for the Hullabaloo!

Wow, the past few days have been awesome!

Kati came home on Tuesday night... I was so happy to see her again! I hadn't seen her since July, which was the longest ever! Wednesday was a short day at work, so I got to come home early and relax a little.

Thursday we went to Adam and Eva's for the 2nd annual Hullabaloo! It was amazing! The chocolate fountain was the best! I'm fully convinced that they haven't turned it off and are still dipping strawberries and bananas! It was great to see the family again! Adam and Eva did a wonderful job - DELICIOUS TURKEY, YUMMY food, and a beautiful set up. We played fun games and just had a fantastic time.

We came home on Friday and went out to a club with some Brig, Amber, Kati and a bunch of friends from high school. It was a lot of fun, but in hindsight, probably not the best idea with the little cold I've been brewing.

Saturday the family went to San Francisco. It almost killed me, but I went. Once I got hopped up on Benadryl D it was a little more bearable, but I was fully convinced I would cough until I died and that my head would roll off my neck. However, we did have a ton of fun doing some shopping. Mom and Dad got me some awesome makeup and I got the coolest purse ever. I've been wanting a big slouchy hobo bag and found the cutest one at the big Macy's. It's a Kathy van Zeeland and Kati came home with a really cute purse by her. Here's mine:

http://www.kathyvanzeeland.com/detail.aspx?ID=255&PCode=H13110

I have the one pictures (in wheat) and it's so adorable! :) Yeah!

So today I am resting. It's much needed. I think I need to get into the doctor tomorrow (probably should have gone on Friday). If I had to place bets, I have a sinus infection and something going on in my left ear. Just a guess though.

Germs

So I have no voice. Nice. No idea where that came from since I don't feel sick at all. Really odd. On Friday night I had a sore throat, which felt like an allergy post nasal drip thing. I've developed a little cough (irritated throat), but (knock on wood) I'm not sick. However, even if I was, EVA, I won't be airborne by Thanksgiving. My germ gestation period will be over by then. Believe, me, I know how to time it. Get sick just enough time before a holiday to not only feel crappy on the holiday, but to not infect anyone else (misery loves company). Besides, snot production is not up and I have a fully functioning nose.

Right now Kati is on a plane home! Woo hoo! I have been so excited all day! I can't wait!

In other, more scary news, Brigitte's sister is having brain surgery right now. I can't believe it. She feels like a little sister to me. She had migraines and they did a CAT scan and found a tumor. Today's her 15th birthday! She's in surgery right now, so I'm thinking TONS AND TONS of happy thoughts!

What A Weekend!!!

This weekend was awesome. The only downfall is that I have a semi-sore throat (it's actually feeling better today) and that my voice is a little funky. I'm thinking allergies and I'm hoping I'm not brewing a cold.

Ok. Yuck. Moving on.

Friday night Kelly and I went to see the opera. We saw Die Fledermaus, which was very well done by our local opera. I was quite impressed! Kelly and I dressed up all fancy and had a great time! The singers were very good and they added some unique little twists (political commentary, dancers and special guests) just the way that they would have done during Strauss's time. :)

Saturday night I hung out with Brigitte, her boyfriend and company. We went to a friend's house to watch UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships). So, it's a combination of boxing, wrestling and martial arts. The only real rules are that they can't bite, head butt or kick each other in the wavos. They basically roll around on the floor and try and break each other's arms and ankle. CRAZY stuff. I don't think that it's something that I would necessarily choose to watch if I were flipping through the channels, but it was pretty cool to watch with Brig and the gang.

Operation Little Elf is almost complete! We've now worked for 3 weekends and are finally nearing the end! Keep the votes coming for the number of strands we're going to use... some of you are very close and some of you are way far off!

I'm so excited - my dear baby sis is coming home on Tuesday! That's only two more days! Yeah!!!

Low on Power

Wow, so all it takes is a little vandalism and a quarter life crisis to get you all to write, huh? :) Seriously, thank you to all of you who have been leaving comments... it makes me feel more like I'm writing to friends than talking to myself.

So today we had a power outage at work. For about an hour and a half. So they emailed everyone to tell us to "leave the site and work remotely". Which translates to "working from my sofa". Nice. I'm loving this work from home thing. I think I actually get MORE done because I don't take those little "stretch breaks" where I walk to everyone else's cube to talk. Instead, I slam through my emails, run to Longs to get my allergy medicine, walk to the dog, clean the bathrooms and vacuum the house. A much more productive day. The best part about it was that I went in and the power outage happened just as I was going to lunch with some friends. So we had a fantastic lunch and then all headed home. Life is good!

I'm feeling a little more on track now. Not quite sure what that whole crisis was last week, but I'm feeling much better this week. Less like the world is caving in. With all the stress I put myself under, it was bound to happen. I'm just glad it was a mini meltdown. :)

Yes, so I'm still listening to the Madonna CD. Eva, you're right... it's the perfect work out music. And it will be great at clubs. Madonna has found her groove again (I was a little worried after the last CD). I've heard that she's going to be on the cover of the next Rolling Stone issue. Thank God my subscription lasts through the end of the year (I do not recommend that magazine - they're so overly political that I think it really takes away from anything they actually say about music).

Now I'm off to relax a little and then to watch ER. God, I love that show. THE plane crash is this week. I can't wait for it!

French Dip with a Side of Creepy

So Mom and I made a little Costco run tonight (got a great book called "Wicked" - it's the story of the Wicked Witch of the West... I've heard great things about it). We were going to have the hot dog special (who can turn down a hot dog and a coke for $1.50?) until I smelled the hot dog of a little girl in front of me. I swear, I threw up a little in my mouth. It smelled like poop. So we nixed the hot dog idea and made a run for our favorite BBQ place. We ordered some french dip sandwiches to go. The waiter/cashier guy was totally flirty, but definitely nerdy. As in too nerdy. And a little too flirty. So I was all to happy to leave once our food was ready. No, it's not that easy. Mr. Overbearing decides he wants to carry it out to the car for me and "my sister?". Lame. To all you men out there, take note of this: even if a girl's mom looks young, don't pretend like you think they're sisters. It's insulting. So Overbearing carries the food out to my car and exclaims "Nice car! Is it turbo charged?". Keep in mind that I have a crappy rental car right now. I told him it's actually a crappy rental car, at which point he asks me what I really drive. I tell him a Pontiac and he says "Wow, must be fast". Yeah, buddy, that's the way to score a date.

In other news, did anyone see "Lost" tonight? It was very cool to see how everything weaved together and to learn about the other half of the survivors. I can't wait to see Sayid kick Ana Lucia's ass for killing off Shannon!

On that happy note, I'm off to read until I fall asleep!

Madonna

Ok, so I've come out of my quarter life crisis just in time for the release of the new Madonna CD, Confessions on a Dance Floor. I absolutely love it! The first single "Hung Up" is on the radio right now - it's a very catchy tune! She's gone with this 70s/80s disco vibe with an electronic twist. It's really working! My favorite tune is "Hung Up" (totally digging the fake little flute part), but I also like "I Love New York" and the classically-inspired "Sorry".

I am genuinely amazed at her ability to span generations. Her music continues to evolve and change as the times change. And dang, that woman looks good at 47!!!

Click the "Listen to the Song of the Day" button to the right to see and hear Madonna's song! Once you're on the page, click "watch the video".

If you have the album, please let me know what you think!

one word...

...to describe my life at this very moment in time...

grrr.

I am just not happy with where I'm at. Don't get me wrong, I know I have more than most, and that I should be thankful for what I do have. But I'm just not happy. I need to find a way out of this funk...

The Rape of Big Red

Now I'm really convinced that this week shouldn't exist.

Today I walked out to my car to leave for work and found that it had been broken into. The quirk is that someone peeled the door open. No, they didn't smash the window, they peeled. The officer said it was definitely more than one person because one guy had to use the crow bar and the other guy had to pull. They walked away with 10 CDs, a pair of cheap sunglasses, my rosary that hung on my rear view mirror and a crystal that Brigitte gave me that also hung on the mirror. They threw everything around inside my car and cleaned out the glove box and console. The officer kept asking me if anyone was mad at me because of the level of vandalism. Most of the time criminals would just have broken the window for a quick in and out. I honestly can't think of anyone that's mad at me. And I don't generally hang around the type of people that would destroy my car if they did happen to get mad at me.

So, my day has been spent calling the police, the insurance company, the rental car people and the repair shop. Not sure how much it's going to be, but my police officer said they will most likely have to replace the whole door to make it structurally sound. Great. I'm sure that will be a quick fix.

My poor Big Red. She's been through so much...

Here are some pictures:




To the bastards out there who broke into my car: you'd better watch out. Stealing a rosary is a pretty serious thing, and God just might smite you. I'd be looking over your shoulder if I were you. Oh, and, if they find you, I'm pressing charges. Felony breaking and entering, baby.

Holy Crap!

So just when you think it's going to be a great day...

Maybe not.

My day started ok. I got up, took my shower and did my hair. Ok, so all I really had going for me was that I was having a good hair day. I didn't listen to my mom and take a coat, so of course it was freezing outside (note to self: put some sort of brownish jacket on Christmas list). Then I was behind EVERY slow driver the entire way to work. Then I sat in these looooong meetings all day, which were good, just looooong. Which then put me behind on my actual work. So I came home at 5pm (later than normal because I go in early) and continue to work until just now (9:30ish). Yeah.

The icing on the cake? The freakin' Kings lost. Fabulous. The game started out really well and then just spiraled downhill. I don't understand. I'm not even going to try to at this point. I'm hoping that by April we have this all figured out and can win us a championship!

I'm going to bed. Peace.

Weekend Wrap Up

What a cool weekend. Pretty mellow, but nice. On Friday night I had a wonderful night out with Brigitte and Amber - we had dinner at Mongolian BBQ and then spend some quality time together at Target. Girls, it was a blast!

Saturday was the beginning of "Operation Little Elf". That would be the Christmas light decorating. Determined to out do the neighbors and get a jump on things, we started the untangling process early Saturday morning. This also involves checking for burnt out bulbs and loose wires. Cody begged to help...

...so we let him be the look out in case the neighbors tried to spy on us.

"Big Elf" and "Little Elf" only decorate in their festive holiday shirts!


Today was a mellow day as well. Went to Kohl's, which is very quickly moving up my list of favorite stores (I love the Candies line of clothes, shoes and bags) and then a nice long nap. Sang at church and came home to watch my Sacramento Kings WIN! Yes, we finally won a game. It's been a slow start to the season, but it was a great win! Woo hoo!

Some of you might be wondering at the color/name change of the blog. I was getting a little tired of green, and we all know that blue is my favorite color, so I went with it. A nice little change. Let me know what you think of it! As far as the name, I was listening to some Travis Tritt tonight and heard his song "Down The Road I Go". Kind of a cool little song and it's all about living life and not knowing where it's going to take you. But you're going down that road. I like it. So I'm going with it. It was either that or "Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof". Nah...

Moody

So today I'm in a kind of weird mood. Almost bratty. But not quite. I'm not really sure what has brought this mood on, but I'm feeling very opinionated and not having a very easy time keeping those opinions to myself. Hmm. That could probably get me in trouble. Thankfully, the day is almost over and I'm in the clear.

I can't wait for it to be fall. I mean, really fall. I want winter storms. I want snow in the Sierras. I want to drive up to the snow, go skiing and drink cocoa. I want to fall asleep listening to the rain outside my window. I'm so happy to be home where the leaves have actually turned colors for the fall. Don't get me wrong, I loved the palm trees, but the leaves are beautiful too. And, now for the most exciting part of fall:

Daddy's little elf is home.

No, that's not dirty in any way. Every year that I've been home for more than 3 days before Christmas, I have helped my dad decorate our house for Christmas. We have the Chevy Chase complex, where our house has to glow from outer space. Mom says it looks like the Las Vegas strip, but we love it. And this year, we're determined to out do the Mafia neighbors (yes, the Sopranos live next door) and REALLY get the house glowing. I'm totally stoked. I'm voting for the purchase of more lights, but Daddy seems to be holding off. In fact, I'm going to create a little poll. (see below right) Let's guess how many strands of lights it's going to take to totally deck the house out this year!

I went swimming last night. Tomorrow will be two weeks since the running ban, and the knee feels a little better, but is still sore. So, like a good girl, I'm going to continue my ice/heat therapy and I'm not going to run. My shoulders are loving yesterday's workout - and I forgot how good swimming is on your tummy since you're almost always holding it in! Nice!

Anyways, I'm off to do therapy and watch ER. Woo hoo, yeah for Thursdays!!!

Massacre

So tonight was the Sacramento Kings season opener. Let me sum up the game with one line, said by the commentator after the Kings scored in about the third quarter:

"Well, that should stop the bleeding for a while."

Not a good sign.

 

At all.

 

Final socre: Hornets - 93, Kings - 67

 

The game looked somewhat positive at the beginning - our new guys are creating some great defense, but the team looked sluggish and like they were forcing plays. I have to say, I miss the Webber-Bibby pick and roll. However, I do think that they can pull it together. I mean, we have 81 more games to go, so there's bound to be a win or two in there. Most sports analysts are giving the Kings a pretty good chance at the title this year - but it's a matter of seeing how well all of the new guys mesh with the old guys.

 

Other than that, today was pretty mellow. Nothing super exciting to report.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I dressed up like Madonna. Yes, Kyra, my hair is blonde (although I recently I had a little dark added so it's my "winter blonde"). Yes, the people on my team at work dressed up. It was awesome. I was nervous because when I got to work, I didn't see ANYONE dressed up, but as it turns out, the people who participated were just the late arrivers. We took second place in the group contest. We lost to the Mario Brothers, who weren't even that good. We think it was rigged. Our theme was "Rock Stars" and we had Bob Marley, Ozzie Osborne, Billy Idol, Tommy Lee, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, and pregnant Britney Spears. Email me if you'd like to see a group picture. Let me tell you, it took guts to wear this. You don't know how many looks I got today and how many people made comments about my belly button ring ("Is it real?") or my belly itself ("That's hot!") Without further ado, I give you my Madonna costume:





Now I'm off to wear it to rehearsal. Might as well get some mileage out of it! I would love to hear what everyone else was - post it for me in the comments section! I'm willing to post pictures as well!
By the way, tomorrow is the season opener for the Kings! Woo hoo!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Madonna

Ladies and gentlemen, I have my Halloween costume. My team at work is entering the costume contest under the "rock star" theme. I am Madonna. "Lucky Star" Madonna.


That is my costume. I'm going to curl my hair and make it BIG and then pull it up with a big black bow (like she did in the video). I promise to post a picture tomorrow, with lost of commentary about what happened at work. I'm a little nervous to be letting it all hang out at work, but everyone else is going all out. We have a guy bleaching his hair to look like Billy Idol and we have a pregnant girl letting it all hang out as Britney. Should be interesting!

We went to the ballet last night - it was really cool! They did "Dracula", in honor of Halloween. At first we didn't like the guy playing Dracula because he actually wore makeup when no one else was (they had two mini-ballets before they actually got around to Dracula), but once it came time for the main event, he was amazing. GREAT makeup for that!

I love this time change. Early to bed, early to rise. My kind of timing!

Why I'm Sleepy

Ladies and gents, I've discovered why I've been SO tired lately. It's really been bugging me because normally I bounce out of bed, but this last week, I've been dragging in the morning (and most of the day). Today, I finally read the warnings on my knee medicine. It was right there in black and white all along:

Possible side effects: Stomach upset is the most common side effect. Nausea, vomiting, bloating, gas, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision, loss of appetite may also occur.

Thankfully all I've had is the drowsiness.

I did try swimming yesterday. Sort of. I was a little scared, so all I did was use a kickboard and do freestyle kick. It felt good to use my legs again. And I'm not any more sore today than I was yesterday!

Thank God tomorrow is Friday. I can't wait to sleep in this weekend and to get some rest! I feel like I've been going non-stop for the last two weeks!

Coupons, Concerts and Comas

First things first: Did you know that Target has a COUPON BOOK? Yes, you read that correctly. Somehow, one ended up on my desk at home today (my hunch is it came from Mom). It's about a quarter of an inch thick and has all kinds of goodies in it. Goodies that I probably don't need, but will now buy because I have a coupon for them. And, to make it even cooler, it's a flip book, so you can watch little Spot, the Target dog, do his thing.

On to the concert part. Tonight we got our music for our "Home For The Holidays" concert. HOLY COW. Amazing music. It's more like a Boston Pops show than anything else. I guarantee it will be amazing! Email me if you want tickets - I can get them for you without the extra fees! (Adam and Eva, see your email)

This ice/heat thing on the knee is getting old. In fact, the whole knee thing is getting old. After the broken foot fiasco, I'm getting pretty tired of having my right leg elevated. I want to run, darn it. Tomorrow I think I'm going to give swimming a try. We'll see how that goes. The saving grace there will be the spa, I think.

Finally, I have a funny snippet from an email a friend sent me (said friend will remain anonymous as I haven't asked permission). This cracked me up:

 

"I've decided that dating sucks so bad that we would be better off if we just went into a coma and waited for some guy to visit the hospital, fall madly in love, slip a ring on our fingers and we'd be engaged when we woke up. Think about it. Everyone knocks Sleeping Beauty and all those fairytales as anti-feminist, blah blah because the chick has to be "saved" by a man, blah blah. Actually...that's like my dream scenario. You have a big giant dinner, stuff your face, dessert, some wine, oops! prick your finger, fall asleep, and when you wake up some handsome prince is hovering over you saying "I killed the dragon, marry me". Sleeping Beauty didn't have to walk through grocery stores for most of her twenties feeling like shark bait clinging to a life-raft watching creepy dudes look at her. Sleeping Beauty didn't have to try and figure out which guys were more like Prince William and which guys were more like Scott Peterson, which of her first dates were married, gay, sociopaths, serial killers, etc. She wasn't accused by the Prince of "miscommunication" or "reading into things" because she was kind of... in a coma."

 

Seriously funny. Thank you, anonymous friend, you made my day!

Weekend Update

Now, not that I like to poke fun at a horrible situation, but with some people, you've got to wonder about where their priorities were:

Hurricane Survival Kit
Toilet Paper........................................check
Bud Light..........................................check
Keystone Ice........................................check
Budweiser............................check
Red Dog..............................check
Misc. other bottles of alcohol......................check
Piece of plywood to float your chick and booze on...check

Next time let's all be more prepared.


So this weekend has been full of ups and downs. On Friday I when to the doctor because my knee has been bothering me. I have steadily worked up to a 10 miles per week running schedule and have been feeling pretty good. Then on Monday/Tuesday, I noticed that my right knee hurt when I placed weight on it and bent (like the motion of walking up stairs). After the broken foot fiasco (walked around on it for a year) I figured I might as well have this one checked out early and save myself some pain. Diagnosis: Tendonitis. Cure: A pill called Voltaren, a lot of ice and no running for two weeks. The doctor's specific words (imagine me looking at her with big old wide eyes):

"I'm going to say the words that every runner hates to hear. You can't run for at least two weeks. You actually have to pamper that leg. I know it's hard, but you have to. Try biking."

Yeah. Like that feels anything like running. I mean, I love to bike and all, but it's just not the same. Hrumph.

The up part of the weekend was my concert. We did such an amazing job! I am exhausted today though. We rehearsed Friday from 6-10pm and yesterday from 10:30-2:00pm. Then performed. It was a long weekend, but definitely paid off! I have pictures (I'm not sure I can post them, so email me if you'd like to see them) and today I am just going to relax all day long! Woo hoo!

Stupid People - Motorcycle Riders

Here's the first edition of "stupid people". I tend to be running across them more and more lately, so I thought I'd call them out.

For our first edition, I'd like to discuss motorcylists. I know you may think that you're the best driver in the world, or that you're going too slow to get hurt. Well guess what, you still can get hurt.

Today I was the passenger in a car on the way back from lunch. We were driving down a road that has two lanes on each side. There was an SUV in front of us and in the lane next to us, so we couldn't really see too far ahead. All of the sudden, there are plastic parts flying everywhere. We all slam on the brakes and come to a stop. Up ahead is a motorcycle laying completely on the ground, smashed to pieces. The rider gets up and is stumbling around, looking pretty dazed. We're not sure if he hit someone, or they hit him, but he was the one that ended up on the ground. Very stupidly, he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and was missing much of the skin on both of his forearms - like he threw his hands out in front of him to stop himself while flying through the air, only to slide across the concrete on his arms. His legs were all cut up and he had a major limp.

Now, I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like all that much fun. In fact, I can think of a lot of other things I would like to do besides sliding across concrete on my face. I think the guy was ok (I talked to him to ask if he wanted me to call 911 and he pointed at the 10 other people who were calling on their phones and said "I think they've got it"), but he could have very easily gone under the wheels of one of the cars driving behind him.

So, if you're out there riding a motorcycle because you think you're cool, heed my advice. I saw an accident today that looked very ugly and could have been MUCH uglier. It's not worth it!

Fantasy NBA Anyone?

So I've started a league - first come first serve - only 12 spots open, so far 5 are filled. I know a few more who will be joining for sure *cough*Justin*cough*. We're going to have our live draft on October 30th. If you would like to join, please send me an email so I can get the invite out to you. I even talked Kati into it! Woo hoo! It's going to be lots of fun!

For those of you watching Lost, I have a few questions.

1. Where the heck did the polar bears go? We haven't seen hide nor hair of them since season one.
2. Where is the dinosaur sounding creature? Again, haven't seen or heard them since the first season.
3. What the HECK is up with the "others"? OMG, I'm going to have nightmares after seeing them... didn't their legs look like ghosts or zombies?
4. Who dies next week?!
5. Do you absolutely LOVE this show?! :) I'm addicted!

I had my hair colored again today. A little darker for the fall. I seriously love my hair guy. Not only does he do a fantastic job on the color, but he gives you a GREAT head massage while he shampoos and conditions. And he's always telling me how pretty I am. Love that in a hair dresser. :)

Things I Just Don't Understand - Jacked Up Trucks

Maybe it's because I'm little.

Maybe it's because I have a little car.

Whatever the reason, I just don't understand jacked up trucks. Today I'm driving home from work and this truck pulls up to me at the stop light. I'm not kidding, I really think the actual truck started at my roof. Below that was all wheels. My question is - why? I mean, seriously, is there any purpose for that? It doesn't really look cool. It can't be great for your gas mileage. I would need one of those ten foot collapsible ladders to get into it.

And of course, it's always a guy and they always have to stare down at you like they're going to run you over. Well, by the time his big fat tires can even think about moving, I can be half way down the block!

Seriously, if your car is "lifted", please, please explain it to me!

Kings Update:
We lost our game tonight, but it was a really good game. The troubling part was that in the last minute one of our new (and very good) guys, Jason Hart, got hurt pretty badly. They don't know the exact injury yet, but he tried to shake it off. The next play he went to run and just crumpled to the floor. Being the good Kings player that he is, the managed to get the ball to another of our players, but time ran out before we could score. He got up and tried to walk but had to stop every few steps. Finally they picked him up and carried him off. It seemed like he was pointing at his hip. Not sure what that injury is, but it's not looking good.

mellow weekend

let me tell you, i could get used to this relaxing weekend thing. this is the first weekend in a while where i've forced myself to do nothing all weekend long. it's really hard for me, because if i sit down to watch tv, i feel like i should be doing something else at the same time.

yesterday i went to target (counts as nothing - i can't just go cold turkey) and then came home to read and nap. it was so nice to lay in bed and hear the fall wind blowing outside while i read and cat napped. today i've done nothing as well. i'm planning on another reading/napping session and then going to church. i might practice singing (performance next saturday!) but other than that, i'm going to veg. this is the life! i'm still fighting the urge to turn my laptop on and get some work done, but i'm going to try not to.

i think i might even take the day off from the gym. i've been SO good. this week i've done 10 miles - three on tuesday, one mile on wednesday, five miles on friday and a speedy mile last night. i am down to a 7:41 mile, which is not bad considering that i haven't really been keeping up for the last six years and i really haven't run since i broke my foot. i am learning that i roll to the right on that foot because it's making my ankle sore on those long distance days. i'm taking the advice from a friend at work who qualified for the boston marathon and doing some balance exercises to get my foot used to not having that balance bone in there. i think it's going to help, but that right leg is still pretty shaky!

ok, off to do some more relaxing! have a great sunday!

Picture - Check out the NEW Kings uniforms for this year!!! These will be the alternative (sometimes away) and we'll keep the purple for home. NICE!!! And of course, there's my main man... 
 

Hooray for Basketball!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Sacramento Kings Basketball has begun.

So we got our butts kicked. It's only preseason, so that doesn't matter anyway.
And Rick Adelman has decided to become a pimp. He wore this silver jacket that made everyone thing something was wrong with their TVs. Seriously, the thing was weird. It made it look like little lines were moving across your screen every time he turned. Not sure what was going through his head on that one!

I have a much more important announcement.

Mike Bibby has decided to step up and lead the team. For those of you who don't follow Kings basketball, Bibby has the skills to be a leader. He's always lacked on very important thing. He couldn't speak.

*drum roll please*

This summer, Mike Bibby learned to talk. Yes, he spoke before, but now, we can understand him! It's coherent! Now he can lead! It wasn't that he didn't want to before, it was just that the other guys on the team couldn't understand him! They interviewed him and my head snapped around. It's like a whole new person!

So the team actually looks good for this year - we a have a lot of new people, but if everyone stays healthy, we should be doing all right. On a side note, they did a half time special on the team and showed a little ritual they do every year. They all get ready to come running out of the tunnel at the beginning of this first game. They tell the rookies that they get to run up front. Then, when the music cues, the rookies go running out - all by themselves. The veterans are just standing in the tunnel laughing. It's pretty funny to watch!

On that happy note, I'm going to take off my Bibby jersey and go to bed. Good night!

Weekend Wrap-up

Very observant Eva! Yes, the mood of the day is gone. I'm very sad about it. But the website that provided me with the faces just disappeared. www.unkymoods.com. Gone. Overnight. No warning. I was very sad. So, mood be gone. You'll just have to guess at my moods from the tone of my posts. Definitely an easy feat since I never tend to be sarcastic.

I had a very interesting weekend. Surprisingly, lots of shopping happened. I got a few new outfits for work and some goodies from Bath and Body works. Now I can walk around in a cloud of Warm Vanilla Sugar again. :) I'm sure the people who sit near me at work are excited about that one. They had one of those buy three, get one free deals. By the time all was said and done, I had a little more than three, but it was worth it.

I also hit up Illuminations. That was a surprisingly cheap trip, but I think that was because I went in knowing what I came for, went straight to it, and then straight to the register. I'm in DEEP trouble if I let myself look around that store. This weekend's purchase was the pumpkin pie candle. Ladies and gents, it smells exactly like pumpkin pie. It's not fall until I buy that one. Now, we can get into the holiday spirit! Woo hoo!

I was a good girl at the gym this weekend as well. On Saturday I ran 3 miles and on Sunday I ran 5 miles. Woo hoo! I've discovered that on my long days, the 3rd mile and the last 1/2 mile tend to be the hardest and that I stop sweating around 3 1/2. All interesting facts that I'm sure you love to hear. No really, I have felt so much better since I've been running these last few months. It's always been a major stress release for me and I guess I sort of forgot about it when I broke my foot. It was hard to get back into, but now it feels good. No, that's a lie. It hurts like hell. But I like the fact that I can make my body do what I want it to do, you know, the whole mind over body thing. The actual five miles feels like crap, but once I fall off the treadmill and stop feeling like I'm gonna yak, I really do feel a lot better. I swear.

On that happy note, I'm off to bed. Night!

The coolest blog EVER!

Ok, so I have to give some props to another blogger out there. Eva passed this on to me: it's called "Pink Is The New Blog".

http://trent.blogspot.com/

It's like "People" magazine, only snippy. I love it. Go down and read the comments he makes about Kirstie Alley today. ROFL. Seriously funny.

 

So today was the early trip to the Bay Area. It was a great, very productive trip, but now I'm super tired.

 

All right, now time for the gross news. Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are pregnant. Eww. He's 43 and she's 27. That's the equivalent to her having sex with her dad. Eww. Seriously, I was shocked when I read it today. Really shocked.

 

Eww.

Traffic Hazards

So do you remember the day I talked about the local radio traffic reporter saying there was a traffic alert because a cow was walking across a road? Well, yesterdays, it got better. I swear, I'm not making this up. Yesterday there was a major traffic alert because there was a goat wandering around on the shoulder of one of the major highways. A goat. I don't know that I have words for that...

Today is my big presentation - 11:00am. Think lots of happy thoughts for me!

My latest choir adventure is still going wonderfully! FYI, our next performance is October 22nd - please email me if you would like to order tickets - I would love to have you there!

Ok, time to finish getting ready for work. I'll fill you in on the presentation tonight! See ya!

Attack!

Cody and I were almost viciously murdered tonight. Ok, maybe I'm being a little dramatic.

When I got home for the gym, I felt bad for the dog, since he hadn't had the chance to run on a treadmill. So I settled for taking him for a walk. He was so excited to be going and practically drug me down the sidewalk. About halfway through, we get to this open area. This mangy looking dog comes up to us. I'm looking around for his owner (DEFINITELY a "he"). Nowhere to be found. No leash. He comes up and takes an aggressive stance with Cody and then starts sniffing and jumping at him. Keep in mind, it's dark and I have no idea what to do. All I could think about was getting Cody away from him. This dog was scary looking, like a mix between a pit bull and a lab. Very beefy but unkempt looking. So I'm trying to back away and get myself between Cody and the other dog (yes, in hindsight I understand that this is a bad move - but I really just wanted to protect him!). I'm stomping at him and yelling "no" and "stay" and "sit". All while pulling Cody away. The dog would let us walk a little then circle around. So I'm yelling and stomping and trying to get away. Cody, bless his little heart, is following my commands - he's stopping, sitting and staying. *sigh* Well trained dog. At this point, I'm panicked, so I call my mom who jumps in the car to come find me. Finally I make it to the edge of the little park area and have put some distance between me and the big ugly dog. At this point I tell Cody to run and we take off together, running for about a block before mom got to us. SO SCARY. I don't know what I would have done... I was trying to get Cody's leash off the whole time because I didn't want him to get tangled up if he had to fight... and the sweet little thing is just trying to sit and stay because I'm yelling it in a firm voice.

Moral of the story - keep your freaky, mangy, scary dogs locked up and/or on a leash!

The 3 Step Approach To Spider Extermination Part 2

Now it's 4 steps.

As detailed by Eva, there is generally an intermediary step between Stomp and Swim. This step is explained below:

1. Spray: In order to properly exterminate a spider you need to ensure you have some way to disable said spider's movement. I find that hair spray does this most effectively. Extra strength Suave. It has great hold, but comes off most surfaces.
2. Stomp: This step is crucial. "Smash" may be substituted for "stomp" (SSS Approved Smashing Materials: shoes, books, binders, anything heavy that rolls, cups, glasses, plates but never, NEVER anything that involves touching the spider, even if it's through toilet paper). The key is making the first stomp or smash effective. There are several reasons for this. First, we're not into torture here. We want quickest, most painless end for our little arachnid. Secondly, the only thing worse than a spider crawling around your room is a half dead spider wiggling it's legs. Yuck. Make it a good stomp.
3. Scrape: This is the especially icky part. Generally by the time I get around to stomping, I'm so worked up that I go a little overboard. This leaves an unsightly mess. Beware. In your panic you may reach for anything, ANYTHING to remove the remains. Don't use important documents such as receipts, bank statements, cards from family members. I recommend about 30 squares of toilet paper.
4. Swim: How, you ask, does swimming become involved in the spider termination process? Well, you have to get rid of the body. I use the patented "Rush and Flush" method. This involves me putting the little body on any surface I can spare (without touching it, of course) and running as fast as I can to flush it down the toilet. One tip: don't run too fast. Those suckers are light and tend to have a lot of lift at high speeds.

Kids, remember the four "s": Spray, Stomp, Scrape and Swim and you'll be spider free!

Choir

Oh my gosh.

Everyone at some point in their life needs to join a 200 person choir. It's taken me the last 24 hours to collect my thoughts on last night's rehearsal. It was absolutely AMAZING! I have never sung with such a large group of people before and was amazed at how the director ran his rehearsal. No one talked in between when he was talking about changes and there was no plunking of parts. For those of you who don't know what "plunking" is, it's basically where you have to stop rehearsal to play one part out on the piano so someone can get it. Everyone just sight read (meaning it was the first time they had seen the music but were able to sing it correctly just by looking at it). Completely amazing. The biggest test is how quiet a choir can sing. It's very easy to get a loud sound from such a large group, but to get a quiet, in tune sound is much more difficult. This group was great. Let me put it this way, I could have sang louder by myself on the quiet parts than the whole choir did. Absolutely amazing.

Maybe I haven't collected my thoughts since all I can seem to say is amazing...

The 3 Step Approach to Spider Extermination

So tonight Brig and I hung out. In one of our more brilliant blonde moments we came up with the three step approach to spider extermination. It's really quite simple, you just have to remember the three "s".

1. Spray: In order to properly exterminate a spider you need to ensure you have some way to disable said spider's movement. I find that hair spray does this most effectively. Extra strength Suave. It has great hold, but comes off most surfaces.
2. Stomp: This step is crucial. "Smash" may be substituted for "stomp" (SSS Approved Smashing Materials: shoes, books, binders, anything heavy that rolls, cups, glasses, plates but never, NEVER anything that involves touching the spider, even if it's through toilet paper). The key is making the first stomp or smash effective. There are several reasons for this. First, we're not into torture here. We want quickest, most painless end for our little arachnid. Secondly, the only thing worse than a spider crawling around your room is a half dead spider wiggling it's legs. Yuck. Make it a good stomp.
3. Swim: How, you ask, does swimming become involved in the spider termination process? Well, you have to get rid of the body. I use the patented "Rush and Flush" method. This inolves me putting the little body on any surface I can spare (without touching it, of course) and running as fast as I can to flush it down the toilet. One tip: don't run too fast. Those suckers are light and tend to have a lot of lift at high speeds.

Thanks Brig... it was a really fun night! :)

Massages, Auditions and Babies

What a crazy title, huh?

First things first. I had my first massage yesterday. It was AMAZING! No, they didn't put any of the scrub "there". The only slightly odd thing was that the girl who did it was a girl I went to high school with. Ahh, the joys of moving back to your hometown. Anyways, it was so nice to be treated like a princess for a little while! They gave me a warm footbath, then used the vanilla/orange sea salt scrub to make my skin soft and then massaged in the shea butter. Very nice. If I were rich, I would do it too.

After the massage I had an audition for the Sacramento Choral Society! I couldn't believe it... I had emailed the director earlier in the morning and he called that afternoon to see if I could come in that night. I sang one of my German arias and an Italian aria. He was impressed and invited me to join! Woo hoo! They do one big tour every year or so - this year it's to China! How cool is that!?

Finally, tonight I went and saw Billy's brand new baby, Samuel Aden. Holy cow, the kid is cute. I'm convinced he's gonna be a singer - he has a set of pipes! No really, he was absolutely adorable and Billy and Barb look really good. I was so happy to see them all!

After that I went to the gym and ran 4 miles. It's the first time in a long time I've been able to run like that. Not the greatest of times, but it was 4 miles none-the-less. I feel so much better when I run distance! I just find a pace that I feel like I could run at for hours and stick to that pace until the end. Then in the last minute or two I turn it up to a sprint. Seriously, it feels great!

Ok, I'm off to bed. Peace.

Picture - Mr. and Mrs. Denny! 
 

Joanna and Chris's Wedding!

Holy cow, it was a blast. Jo and Chris went all out - I have way too many pictures to post (there are two below), so email me if you want the link and you can look at the rest. We had the rehearsal dinner at Casa Guadalajara on Friday night. For those of you who don't know, it's only the best Mexican food in all of San Diego.

On Saturday we got up nice and early to have our hair and makeup done. We had a little puffy eye scare, but nothing that an ice pack and some makeup couldn't fix. :) We were at the salon for about 3 hours and then went back to Joanna's place to help her get ready. I got to drive her down to the church, and I have to say, she was the calmest bride I've ever seen. Seriously. It was awesome... we had one last little drive together. The ceremony was beautiful... all of us bridesmaids said we weren't going to cry (me especially since I had to sing!) but the minute those doors opened and Joanna started walking down the isle, we all lost it. She looked so happy and so beautiful!

The reception was a blast. There was much dancing, much fun and many pictures. With a little bit of alcohol thrown in. We partied until around 11pm and then all went back to our hotels. Me, two groomsmen and a friend of Joanna's decided to go out bar hopping. We ended up at "The Top of the Hyatt" (I swear, that's the name... bonus points if you can tell me where it's located). We ordered drinks and some appies and 45 minutes later were still sitting there. So we walked out and went to Santanas (our other favorite Mexican food... although it's more like Mexican "fast food"). We got in about 2am and it took me 25 minutes to pull the 67 pins out of my hair. HOLY COW! No wonder I had a headache!

The next morning Joanna and Chris had a brunch at their hotel to continue the festivities. It was awesome. The four of us who went out (wow, 3am and 8am are awfully close...) banded together in misery. Not really. We were actually doing pretty well, having worked off of just a few hours of sleep. It was all very lovely and we had a wonderful time!

Joanna and Chris, I know you're in Hawaii right now, but I also know you'll catch up when you get back... thanks again for letting me be a part of your special day. You made it wonderful for yourselves as well as your guests! Aloha!

On that note, I'm headed to bed. ALOHA to all of you!

Picture - Anna and Joanna at Church 

Good Girl

I have been such a good girl.

I've been running again. A lot. It's making me feel so healthy! Not a ton distance wise, but I'll build back up to that. I've been going almost every day and seriously, the legs are coming back.

On another happy note, I finally made the appointment to have my Zimbali Butter Scrub. Eva and Adam gave me this certificate to an African-themed spa here, to be used for the Zimbali Butter Scrub. I have a HUGE presentation on Tuesday, so I set it up for Tuesday night - my little reward for getting through a hard day. I can't wait... they use sea salts and shea butter and give you a massage. Kati got me all worried asking EXACTLY WHERE they put the butter, but I have to assume they're good about it and it doesn't go anywhere butter and sea salts shouldn't go. Then she mentioned the Brazilian wax.

They better not be putting it there.

ANYWAYS, I'll give you guys an update after that's done. I seriously can't wait!

Land of the Cacti

Ok, sorry to all you "Zonies", but I officially do not like Arizona. Yesterday's trip was hellish. First things first, I got up at 4am. That sucks. A lot. No matter how much I pretend it's a vacation. Then I got a big old Starbucks mocha at the airport, drank it and then got on the plane. The coffee hit bottom about 20 minutes into our flight and my stomach decided that it did not like coffee at 5am. So I felt sick for the next two and a half hours.

We arrived at 8:30am and it was a balmy 92 degrees. Lovely. Our rental car was a black Kia with black leather interior. We were later told by the guys we went to lunch with that no one in Arizona does black leather seats. Shame on Hertz. Later in the afternoon we reached 113 scorching degrees.

The best part of the day was the plane ride home. If you recall a few weeks ago, we had an aborted flight to Arizona due to "electrical failure". Back to yesterday - we get on the plane at 8:30pm. We taxi out toward the runway when suddenly all of the engines shut down. The flight attendants are huddled in the back of the plane, standing on the seats and looking above the overhead compartments. The pilot comes on and says that we had smoke on the back of the plane and were going back to the gate to have it checked out. One hour (and a dozen mechanics) later they assure us that we can take off. I asked the flight attendant if she was sure and she told me that the pilot had "reved the engine too fast, causing it to smoke and the air conditioning sucked that smoke in". Nice. Who built the plane, Pontiac?! So we take off to the flight attendant saying "enjoy your flight". We made it, but it was definitely difficult to enjoy. Keep in mind that we're now in hour 20 of my day. We finally make it back home and by the time I'm in my bed it's after midnight. What a day! I had to go into the office for a while this morning but decided at 11:30am to work from home. Which meant working in front of the TV and taking a nap. I love my job!

...

4:00am sucks.

I Said Hip Hop, A hippy to the hippidy hip hop you don't stop

OMG. I love it. I may suck, but darn it, it's a lot of fun.

First of all, Eddie, the instructor is so hilarious. Tonight's phrase was "the choreography says yes, the body says no". lol. We did a really cool dance this time (last time was good as well) to this kinda hip hop/bluesy music. I even learned tricks from the good dancers - like they put a little baby powder on the floor in the corner and then step in it so that they spin better. Tricks of the trade. I'm working on my attitude. And swinging my hips. The rest of the girls do it with attitude... I feel like the Tin Man trying to swing those metal hips. But I'm getting the hang of it... I figure if I keep going. maybe my body will loosen up! :) I'm hooked... I'm going every week from now on! Brig and Amber, you have to try it again! Seriously, you feel less dorky the second time around!

So tomorrow is the LONG day from hell... 4am to 11pm. Blah. I'm going to Arizona for the day which will be fun, but definitely draining. It's time to get this little dancer off to bed! Night!

Picture - Budweiser Donkey 

The State Fair

So today we went to the state fair. It was definitely a lot of fun, although I was a little disappointed compared to recent years. I think it might have had to do with the heat and all, but still...

This year was a "Let's Go To the Beach" year, so the theme was surfer. Very cool. We went to the hall that showed all of the beach and surf history, and took some cute pictures.

Anyways, there was lots of neat stuff to see. We went to the horses (of course) and got to see a couple of trick riding shows. Let me tell you, they do some cool stuff... I would be very afraid to be hanging upside down on a horse while it's trotting! Then we watched a show where they showed off a couple of the different breeds of horse. Mom LOVED the Lipizzaners and I loved the Arabian (see picture below). Seriously, I really want a horse. It's now second on my list, with a house being first, but trust me, I will definitely have one in my lifetime.

One of the coolest things that we saw was the Motocross freestyle jumping. OMG. Amazing. We were actually attracted to it on our way out - we were walking past some bleachers when we heard an engine rev, looked up and saw a guy ABOVE the bleachers almost letting go of his bike. It was amazing... they were doing these tricks with 250 pound bikes and it always looked like they weren't going to land it, yet somehow they did!

It was a long HOT day, and we ended up staying for just over 7 hours, which is a family record. The best part of the day (besides the horses)? The cinnamon rolls. Oh my God. Yum. Kati, I don't care what they have back east, it doesn't beat the State Fair cinnamon rolls. SO GOOD. Lots of cream cheese frosting. Mmmm. That was after my lunch of BBQ'd corn on the cob and a sausage sandwich. I swear, it seems like I go to the fair to eat... if it hadn't been so hot, I probably would have had a hurricane and a funnel cake.

Speaking of hurricanes, I'd like to insert a brief moment of silence here for the people of New Orleans.

*one minute of silence*

 

I can't believe that in just 6 hours or so, New Orleans will probably be in some serious trouble. For those of you not following, the city sits 6 feet below sea level and is about to take a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane. That adds up to about 12-15 feet of water throughout the entire city. Not to mention the winds... I hate to see such a beautiful place destroyed... we had a fantastic time there a few years ago and I'm glad I had the chance to see it. I guess we'll all see how things went when we wake up tomorrow morning!

 

Well, that's it for now. See below for some cool pictures from the fair!

Picture - Beach Babe 

Picture - Ma and Pa surfers 

Picture - Arabian Running 
 

Things That Bug Me Part Deux

Remember this one?! :)

1. Jealous people. I can't stand people who are jealous. Helllloooooo, the grass is always greener on the other side. Contrary to popular belief, most people's lives aren't perfect, even those people that you are jealous of. And if they're doing well, great for them. Don't bring them down just because you are unhappy!

2. Long talkers. OMG. Say what you have to say and be done. It's fine to be long winded when you're talking to friends or having a nice chat with your family. But at work, let's be short and sweet. If I can cover three things in the time it takes you to do one that is of equal importance, something is wrong. Say it and shut up. We have other things to do.

3. Annoying laughs. Do people who sound like idiots laughing know they have annoying laughs? Someone needs to tell them...

4. The guy who goes slow in the fast lane. I'm just reiterating. Here in the great state of California we have two lanes going most directions. If you're going slow, MOVE OVER!

5. Fresh Basil. I had a hard time finding it at the store tonight and looked stupid in front of the cute produce guy. It blended in with all the other leafy green herbs!

A Reality Show I Thought I'd Never Watch

"Tommy Lee Goes to College"

Yes, you read that correctly. Mom and I got hooked on Tommy Lee's show tonight. We watched three and a half episodes (well, Rockstar INXS was on during the third one so we had to switch back and forth on commercial breaks). He may be stupid, but he's definitely funny and entertaining. I loved when he moved in with this totally nerdy guy (I have nothing against nerds, in fact, I am one.... Shout out to all my band geeks!) and decked out their dorm room. He comes back in and there's a big screen TV and a bar. The guy sits down to play video games with Tommy Lee and says "Where's all my stuff?". Hilarious.

We can't believe he made the marching band. I mean, yes, he was the drummer for a world famous rock band, but he seriously sucked at the quads. I can't wait to see how he actually ends up doing in the field show!

So I need to explain the artist of the week. I think you guys will all really like her. This first song is the only song that she has out on the radio, so you may or may not have heard it. Her name is Anna Nalick and she has this amazing voice. It's sort of a cross between Jewel and Fiona Apple. Very interesting and the lyrics are pretty good as well. I bought the CD and am very happy with it!

Picture - Whoa 2 
 

Mullets and Rotten Teeth

So this weekend I went to visit my family. I was invited to a birthday party that my aunt and uncle's friends were having and agreed to go (Kati, it was Monica and Gary's! - they're so cute!). The theme for this party was "white trash". Everyone had to dress up and to bring some sort of white trash food. Adam "grew" a mullet for the occasion and Eva had some beautiful teeth. It was absolutely hilarious! The food that they took was fried Twinkies... and let me tell you, it was actually pretty good! The winner of the contest was the Bologna cantaloni - the people fried Bologna and once it curled up they squirted squeeze cheese inside. There was tater tot casserole with burnt weenies sticking out and all sorts of other dishes. Everyone was dressed up (I left my white trash clothes at home, although I did get a nice tattoo on my arm that night...) and the winner of the contest was totally decked out. SO much fun!

I had an awesome weekend... it was so good to see my family again! Woo hoo! And Eva, I LOVE the truck!

Also, see the pictures below and the song of the day!

Hip hop tonight - Brig and Amber, be there or be square!

Picture - Whoa... 
 

I've Found My Calling...

... I should have been a hip hop dancer.

So tonight I wrangled up Brigitte and Amber to make a trip to the once a week hip hop class at our gym. I was fully convinced that I was going to look like Elaine from "Seinfeld" out there, especially once we got there and found that EVERYONE there was tall, skinny and willowy. Me, I'm short and a whole lotta muscle. I have never been called willowy in my life. Anyways, they put you in this glass room in front of the bikes and treadmills for all to see. Sort of like a wooden floored fishbowl. And to make matters worse, they CRANK up the music so that everyone looks over to see what's going on.

But, whatever. I went in there expecting to look new and dumb, which I probably did, but I had the time of my life. I'm going every week. Brig and Amber, that means you're going too. Seriously, I'm totally tired from it - definitely a much harder workout than I thought. And it's a really nice break from the running and squats that I'm used to. So we got in there and were learning all the moves... they went kinda fast, but he ran through everything a bunch of times, over and over, probably so that we could get it. I think we did pretty good! :) In fact, I think the three of us could get pretty good at it! No matter what, it was a ton of fun and a nice way to get exercise with some friends!

Next up, Wednesday night Salsa. I'll keep you posted!

Things to Do at a Stoplight

We've discussed booger picking in depth.

Yesterday I saw something that I don't think anyone else has. I was on my way to work and stopped at a light. Now, you know how some of the lights are kinda long and you get a little bored? The guy next to me had the perfect solution.

So, I'm at this light and I start to look around. You never want to look too long though, because then people catch your eye and you get embarrassed because you were staring. So I'm looking to me left and I hear a sound from the right. My windows are rolled up. I look over to my left and there's a guy in a pretty beat up truck. It's a nice morning, so he has his windows down. And he's playing a harmonica. Yes folks, a harmonica. He was actually really good and I was sad when the light turned green. At the next light he pulls up next to me, reaches down, picks up his harmonica and starts playing again. Isn't that amazing? Seriously made my day... much better than picking your nose!!!

Today is kinda mellow. My throat hurts and I'm not feeling too well, so I'm just kinda chilling. Our fantasy football drafty is at 3:30pm, so I'm trying to get some reading and napping done before then.

Have a great day!

Parking

Explain parking to me. Why do people not understand how to do it? I have two problems with the way that other people park, both of which happened to me today. After work I went by Safeway to get some groceries for dinner. I pull down the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the aisle, driving THE RIGHT WAY DOWN THE ROAD and some jerky business man (don't get me going on them... see today's song of the day "Nobody Else in the World But You") comes speeding from the other direction and honks at me because he wanted to make a sharp turn instead of turning the same width that us mere mortals have to. First of all, drive on your side! Secondly, don't honk at me! I wasn't doing anything wrong! Third, STOP SPEEDING! I admit, I have a little bit of a lead foot, but for God's sake you're in a PARKING LOT!

When I came out of the store the second pet peeve happened to me. This one is much worse. Some person parked their big ass SUV in the compact space. Next to the drivers side of my car. Not only could I not get between the cars, but then I had to look like an idiot climbing in through the passenger side. I looked like I was breaking into my own car. ALL YE OWNERS OF LARGE CARS:

DON'T PARK IN THE SMALL SPACES!

I don't care that you're in a hurry or that the big ones are further away. You knew that when you got a big car!

Thank God tomorrow is Friday. I'm out...

Drama

Wow, ok, so today was hectic. Exhausting. Long. Draining. And any other word that describes those sorts of things. I felt like I had a thousand things to do and not nearly enough time in which to do them. And, of course, no one was helpful. It seemed like every email looped around and around. No one wanted to take responsibility so I ended up being "the bad guy". *sigh* Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.

I think it was all a little overwhelming because I'm super tired. I think I've been spending too much time at the gym. I swear, my family and I are becoming gym rats. Eva left me an IM the other day that said something along the lines of "Is there a cute boy at the gym or something?" :) No, but I am feeling so much better since I've started working out. Worlds better. I rowed last night on the rowing machine until I got blisters. It's a great stress release and I'm loving the spa/sauna/steam room thing. AND Brigitte joined yesterday and worked out with us. I'm so happy that she's there!

One final thing. Let me know if you're interested in a fantasy football league - I've got one started up and we're always looking for more! Draft day is August 13th!

Ok, so now I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted.

Forget Something?

Ok, so I had to share this story with you... seriously, how PISSED would you be?!

From CNN.com:

Man forgets wife at gas station

ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- A Macedonian man left his wife at an Italian service station and only realized he had driven off without her six hours later, news agency Ansa said.
The couple, who were travelling with their 4-year-old daughter, pulled over for petrol in the coastal city of Pesaro as they were heading back to their home to Germany.
After filling the tank, the husband drove away -- without noticing that his 30-year-old wife, originally from Georgia, had got out of the car to go to the toilet.
The woman, who had no money or documents with her, contacted the police who eventually traced her husband to Milan, some 340 km (210 miles) north of Pesaro, Ansa said.
The husband told police he had not missed his wife because she always sat in the back of the car with their daughter.


They say "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". I'd say she was scorned.

Babies Galore!

Holy cow, it seems like everyone is having babies all of the sudden! Like, when did my friends get old enough to have kids!

First of all, congratulations to Billy and Barb - Billy is one of my really good friends from high school and they just had their first baby - a healthy little boy! Yeah! He's absolutely adorable!

Yesterday I went to a really cool baby shower. It was for a coworker who has sworn up and down that she and her husband weren't going to find out what sex the baby is (she's about 5 1/2 months along). They had a co-ed baby shower, which was cool because her husband and his friends could participate. They played some fun games, like matching celebrities to their children by their names and naming nursery rhymes based off of one line. It was more like a big party than anything else. Then they walked around and had everyone pick a colored safety pin (blue for a boy, pink for a girl) depending on what you thought they were going to have. You were also given a little bag and told not to open it. They had everyone open their bags at the same time and inside were little pink mints that said "It's a girl!". How cute is that?! Their parents were here from back East, so they were crying and everyone was super excited. Very cool.

Today has been mellow. We went to church and then to brunch. I finally found a choir here that I'm going to join. I've been looking for somewhere that does a nice blend of traditional and contemporary music. I'll start rehearsing with them in a few weeks. Yeah!

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Shuttles and Planes

So, today I get up at 4:00am in order to make a 6:40am flight to Phoenix for work. I'm at the airport on time, meet my coworkers, and get some coffee. First sign that things weren't going to go well... BAD coffee. The Starbucks lady at the airport pumped TONS of syrup into my white chocolate mocha... way too much. It ended up tasting goopy. Yuck. Then we get on the plane, taxi out, hear the engines rev to take off and...

stop. The pilot comes over the loudspeaker to tell us that we had "electrical problems" and that "an engine line light" was on. So we turned around and had to go back to the terminal where they were going to do repairs.

Two questions:
1. Did I really want to be flying on an airplane that was having engine problems?
2. Why did it take us getting all the way out to the runway to discover this light? I mean, in my car the "your car is broken lights" tend to come on right when your start the engine. Did they come on when the pilot turned the plane on and he just hoped it would go off (I do that sometimes with the car...)?

So we ended up being delayed so long that we missed our meetings in Arizona and just scrapped the flight. I'll end up going at the end of the month instead. But that made for a very long day and thankfully my boss sent me home early to nap.

Now that I think about it, my flight was very much like the NASA space shuttle... only they didn't ask me to hang underneath the plane while was flying to fix it. Thank God. I don't know too much about electrical systems. Besides, they don't say anything about parachutes in those nifty safety talks.

I'm definitely going to bed early tonight!

Final Hours of July

Holy moly, I can't believe today is the last day of July! It's amazing how fast the last couple of months have gone... one minute it's the end of May and I'm getting ready to move. The next thing I know it's August! Crazy!

So I think my personal trainer tried to kill me on Thursday. I mean it! I get to the gym and he says "You're advanced... my @$$ hurts, yours is going to hurt too. You're doing the workout I did yesterday." I thought this was said in jest. No, he really had me do his workout. The good news is he found those muscles in my butt that I've been wanting to tone. The bad news is that I did squats and lunges to the point that for the last few days sitting down has been painful. It's really interesting because they're very focused exercises, so you don't have to do a ton of them to get toned up - it's all about doing a few of them but doing them well. I wish I had the money to afford him... 20 sessions = $1000. A little out of my budget...

I discovered a GREAT new store on Saturday. Well, it actually isn't really new, but it's a store I haven't shopped at before - I went to Kohls. Very cool place. They are a department store, and have the cutest clothes and shoes. Brand name. Very good sale prices. I came out of there with a bunch of new shirts and some new tennis shoes for the gym. They're very cool Nike's that are red and white and black. :)

That's pretty much it for my weekend. I relaxed, went shopping and went to a graduation party where I got to see some people I knew in high school. Pretty cool! Hope everyone else had a good one!

Driving

 think I might have road rage. I firmly believe that I should own the road. No one else should be on it because everyone else drives like idiots. Several scenarios led me to believe this today:

1. Don't go slow in the fast lane. Unacceptable. They call it the fast lane for a reason - it's for the people that are at least going the speed limit. 25 in a 40 zone is not going the speed limit.
2. When you are turning out of a parking lot and would like to cross all lanes to go the other direction, please use that little pedal on the right. It's called the accelerator. The whole point is that you can get your car moving. You are probably going to cause an accident if you swing across 4 lanes doing 25 mph while the people coming at you are doing 40. And also, wait until people aren't coming! That way they don't all have to slam on their brakes and honk!
3. If you're an old man, don't stare at me at a stoplight. In fact, I don't care who you are, don't stare at me period! First of all, it's rude to stare. Secondly, if you're an old man, chances are that you aren't going to get a date out of it. I admire your courage and all, but quit it!
4. Finally, a word of advice. We live in the 21st century. Your car is not supposed to blow smoke. Never. Only big rigs get to do that. It's really gross to drive behind you and smell the yuckiness because you're too lazy to fix the car. If there's a black cloud that seems to follow you everywhere, I'm talking to you.

Thank you for listening. Now get off my road.