Happy New Year 2008!

Happy New Year World!

Thanks for a great dinner out... you saved my ass from having a notoriously lame New Year's Eve.
Don't forget to send me your letters... dated January 1st 2009.

a little late... but better than never...

so... a little bit of a holiday wrap-up... well, at least a Christmas "wrap-up" {no pun intended, really}. So we (Tony and I) went to dinner with John and Mabelle... we did our gift exchange... I got an NYU sweatshirt... I've been wanting one since I went to NY and never had the opp to go there to pick one up. Since Mabelle went there, it was cool that she got me one... and she actually got it at NYU... not some internet site. I got her some (in my opinion) cool plates from Pottery Barn (so cool, that I got myself some too... that's how it is for me at Christmas time... I find something for someone and then I want it too... ugh!) I also made her some of the b&w animal prints on little canvases... I guess those are really for Dally... but... still....

Since Tony and I are giving each other a "Master Suite" we didn't want to go nuts for Christmas, so we set a limit. I thought that was fun... to stay within a limit and all. Anyway... I got some fun goodies, including the re-release of U2's Joshua Tree. I also got some p.j's and some crayon pencils... I got him a baseball autographed by Tony Gynn and a "home" door mat. See? Fun!

It was hard to be at work the 3 days after Christmas... ugh... it was downright painful... but the weekend finally got here and now it's over. Where does the time fly?
We went to Dally's Baptism today. I swear he is the best dressed kid I've seen next to Suri. When you compare his gown to that other kid's at the church... I felt really bad for the other kid b/c his gown looked so cheap and gross. I know that is such a mean thing to say, especially about a baby... but it's the truth. I will post pics of that soon. The gown was BEAUTIFUL Emma. Good job! And then the reception to follow... a real class act!

I work tomorrow... but am looking forward to Tuesday where I will spend a big chunk of my day making samples for a possible client for cotton candy paperworks. Wish me luck.

happy holiDUH!

Let's see... the house is coming along nicely. Tony thinks it might be done early. With the holidays, I'm not so sure. We'll see. We decided to get some central heating and cooling since the house is torn up anyway... what better time? I must say it is VERY nice to be snuggly warm... we even got one of those programmable thermostat dealios, so it can be warm when we wake up, yet cool while we sleep... ahhh... JOY! Yes... even in California we need heat. Should you have forgotten, San Diego IS a desert and if you remember your geography lessons from 6th grade, it gets cold in the desert at night.

With all great things, there comes a little pain... and that pain is that there is DUST everywhere. UGH! So I am currently going through my studio, top to bottom, dusting. This makes for a GREAT time to clean, organize, and PURGE any and all things that are no longer cool.

The holidays are such a fun time to get together with friends old and new. I just went to lunch with Wendy who used to work with me. She looks so adorable, all pregnant and such. Stupid me forgot to take pictures of us... but I'll get another chance at her baby shower. I had lunch with Jean and Lindsey yesterday, where we did our gift exchange and guess what I got?? Still guessing? Well... I got a SEWING MACHINE!!! This is the last of the craft groups that I want to learn and I will be complete. That is until something else emerges... but I am SO FREAKING EXCITED to start sewing!!! (Oh yeah, didn't take pictures of the lunch either... but again, I get a 2nd chance at Bill's b-day next Saturday.) There are so many projects in my head that I think I might explode!! We're having dinner tonight with some more friends... I promise to take pics.

For now, here is a pic of the house update... it's got a roof and a sliding door now! Whooop whooop!

nothing new...

Hey everybody... are you ready for Christmas or what? Only 10 more days... not to brag or anything, but I've been done with my shopping, etc. since Thanksgiving. Now I am aggressively trying to make some inventory to sell on my "crafty" website. We finally got the option to buy stuff on there, granted you have to have a paypal account... but it's a start. Check it out when you get a chance.
http://www.cottoncandypaperworks.com/

Currently I am making some canvas items to be used as home decor. My focus right now is baby decor, because I have a friend who is pregnant and one that just had a baby. Oh, and we're TRYING to have a baby, so babies are on my brain. Here is a sample of the black and white animal canvas's I'm making. These will be available on CCPW (short for cotton candy paperwprks) soon.

I also sold another banner... it says "Merry Christmas." These suckers are available at http://www.cottoncandypaperworks.com/ too.

I am finally over the flu I had. I still have the cough and I'm sure I will for another month or so. It takes SO long to get over a cough, especially while smoking 10 packs a day.

Take it easy readers... it's the HOLIDAYS!

Honolulu Marathon- by Alicia

And now for Alicia's story! Okay! Details from this race: When I first went to the Expo I really thought I was in a different country. There were Japanese EVERYWHERE! They had different Organizations (like we have Team in Training, Team Diabetes, etc.) but I was as tall if not than most :)! The Honolulu Marathon decided to use this new technique of chip timing. Rather then having the customary chip, they had a strip about 4 inches long with a chip encased in it. You tied it to your shoe and it would track your times throughout the race. Anyway, I got a room in Waikiki the night before to play it smart to get to the start. Shuttles only run from 2:00-4:00 a.m. I had the front desk wake me up at 1:30 a.m. Of course, nervous as all get out about getting up in time, I hardly slept because of the "Nite Life" in Waikiki. But I read somewhere that as long as you get an 8 hour sleep in 24 - 48 hours before the Marathon, you will do good. I was wide awake at 1:05 and decided to stay up. Got my things ready and took a look outside from the Lanai (Balcony) at the sky to see if it was raining (it had been down pouring the week up until Saturday Morning). I had a cheapo rain poncho with hood and figured if I didn't use it, I only lost out on about $3.00. Well, I didn't see any clouds so I left the pouch in the room. BIG MISTAKE! I walked towards the shuttle pick up and it started to rain, heavy at times and I kept hearing my Brother's words of wisdom, "It's better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it." As I walked faster towards the pick up area, I passed clubs along the way in which people were still up and partying. I found out later that the clubs don\'t close until 4:00 a.m. And this was now 2:00 a.m. The rain started coming down heavier and I hopped on a bus. The bus got us to the area (in about 10 minutes) and it stopped raining. I thought to myself, "Cool, no big deal now about leaving the Poncho behind." I found my starting "corral" marked 5-6 hours. It was still hours before the race started and I was dressed in my USA FIT tank top with the "No Whining" symbol on the back and the weather felt tolerable. I found a bench near Ala Moana Shopping Center and thought I could get in a few more winks. Not even 5 minutes later I hear footsteps and a guy came by and sat on the other bench and started to smoke a cigarette! Imagine that! I go 50 feet away from the Corral and found a secluded bench to have a smoker find me! 10 minutes later 5 more guys show up and smoke...BTW, these are runners too! Anyway I check out the place and they have NO food at the staging area. No Bagels, Hot Water, doughnuts, Banana....nothing! So far I've learned to always be prepared by bringing some food with you (I did have a Banana with me) and bring a throw away jacket whether there's any chance at all of you needing it. About 4:30 I make my way back towards the restrooms and I thought how nice that they marked the Porta Potties Men / Women. There I was 3rd in line when suddenly it started to rain, rain very heavy. Where's my Rain Poncho? No one in line moved. No one wanted to lose their spot. Then the wind started to blow and it was starting to get cold. Okay, not cold but when your wet it doesn't take much wind to make you feel colder. After about 5 minutes it let up. Then about 4:50 p.m. We all started to line up down poured again...everyone headed under the parking garage at Ala Moana for cover. We looked like a bunch of rats running for cover. Then it stopped and we lined up again and then the fireworks happened. This is what I was waiting for! Then about a minute before the start it started to rain and this time it wasn't going to let up. We all started the race in the dark, in the rain and we all just kept going. What else can you do? Running in the rain isn't so bad, it wasn't cold but the only thing was it was dark and you didn't know if you were going to step in a pot hole until you were in it. There were flooded streets and everyone was slowing down because you really couldn't see to well. Nothing like running with soggy shoes and socks. I found out later that the starting temperature at 5:00 a.m. Was 72 degrees with 89 percent humidity. After about 15 minutes the rain let up and we headed towards Waikiki racing against the sunrise because you were running towards it and wanted it on your back before it warmed up too much. Coming up on Diamond Head incline wasn\'t so bad and it was probably due in part because it was early in the race. I saw neighborhoods that I never would have seen before if not for running through them. I saw the Hawaii Film Studio and saw the back drop of the clouds against the mountains as the sun started to come up. Everything was beautiful and GREEN! The Japanese runners kept stopping to take pictures of the sights and even pictures of other runners. Then I noticed a bunch of them stopped and tied their shoestrings. I later found out that a lot of them had not peeled the timing strip off their Bib and attach it to their shoe. One time running through Waikiki (8 miles into the race) a Japanese guy poured Gatorade on himself thinking it was water. I'll bet he was waiting for it to rain again soon. It wasn't more than about 5 minutes when it started to rain again. About mile 12 I was still feeling pretty good and the GU was working, the Banana I ate during the 3rd mile was kicking in and I felt good. Soggy shoes and socks, but I still felt good about my pace. Then I came around an area called "Hawaii Kai" which is a loop run and you can see people coming back from the other side. I was on mile 13 and I turned and saw the miles on the other side (don't do this, it will only discourage you) and it read 18 miles. That was kind of a let down because you saw people for miles before you know you could get to where they are. Then it hit at mile 16 the sun came out and it was HOT! The sun was up and I wished it would rain. They were handing out sponges and it felt good then it started to rain and I grabbed someone's throw away and put it on. But I forged ahead and I saw two ladies I started out with on the "other side" where they were just beginning. I kept my pace going until I came back towards Diamond Head from Kahala and it was warm and the hill was not forgiving. This was about mile 24 and I started to "hit the wall" I started to walk a little bit and the hill kept going and going. Finally we were coming down the hill towards the end at Kapiolani Park and I was about 1/3 from the finish when this Japanese woman stopped in front of me. I touched her shoulder and I said, "No, let's keep going, your almost there, we'll finish together" I don't know if she understood my English but I know she knew what I meant. She nodded and started back up and we ran through the finish line with our hands up in the air together and she told me, "Arigato!" I saw the picture, we finished together! They gave me a shell lei at the finish. I was disappointed as I was looking for the medal. Wobbling my way through the muddy park I found my sister and (you know that first 10 minutes after running you are so disoriented?) I had a cup of water in my hand and waved at her and threw water on her at the same time! Anyway, I wanted to get back to the room to shower and check out but realizing I didn't cross the started until a half hour later, I was already running into about 11:15 a.m. I got my finishers shirt and THEN I was handed my MEDAL! Woo hoo! I was about a half mile from the room and started to head back and started to run (yes, again) and people kept telling me you can stop running now.....but I wanted to get back to my room before Noon! It was a great run and of course I said immediately after, I will never do this again! But now I know where I can improve on and I WOULD DO IT AGAIN! I later found out that about 7,000 runners didn't get properly timed because they had the timing strips on their Bib and not on their shoes. My time was 5:47:45. Looking at the whole picture I did well in my group considering rain, humidity, heat and hills. Would I do it again? Oh yes, and I will do, "Better than EVER!"..... Alicia......Infrared Forever!

busy busy elves...

I feel like I am working in Santa's workshop. I am busily (is that a word?) making Christmas cards and word banners for clients... and I am so loving it! The cards are coming out SO SO cute and I'm just getting started on the Merry Christmas banner, but I can already see how cute that will be!
I'm still nursing this cough. It's what I have left over from that horrible flu I had. It's sort of like left-overs from Thanksgiving dinner... it's never ending... but not as tasty. Because of all of the self-medicating I am doing with OTC stuff... I walk around with my head in space... it's really weird. It seems to be helping, just a little tiny bit. In general I feel like poo... but the meds help me get up and at least pretend to be human.

The re-model is coming along nicely. There is a roof, sort of. It's been rainy, stormy, and cold here in SoCal, so maybe that is going to slow things down? I'm not sure since I don't know much about the construction world. So, we'll see.

So...here's to Mucinex, Sudafed, Tylenol, honey and apple cider vinegar! May the buzz be with you!

it's beginning to look a lot like... the flu

I have been kicked in the ass. In hindsight, it gave me some warning signs as early as Thursday afternoon. I bet it was that crying baby at Michael's. That baby probably had this strain of the bird-flu and it passed it on to me with it's violent crying. Anyway, hindsight is 20/20, and since I wear glasses, we know my eyesight is not 20/20. Therefore, this sucker snuck up on me like a schoolyard bully, kicking me in the shin, stealing my lunch money and sending me back to my mommy, crying like the big fat baby that I am. Holy shit. I can't remember the last time I have slept all day. Usually the shear act of calling in sick to work gives me a new-found energy that defies logic. This time was different. This time I called in (on Friday) and headed straight back to my bed, not moving again until about 5:30 p.m. No shit. I didn't eat, didn't drink (which doesn't support the whole "stay hydrated" theory), I didn't go pee (which totally supports the no drinking thing)... NOTHING. I had one foot in the grave. My sweet husband got me some dinner, which I forced down. About two hours later I went back to bed. This time was not as effortless as before. I was delirious with fever and I'm certain that my brain was frying and I was on the verge of a seizure. I had crazy dreams in the few minutes I was able to sleep and played horrible scenarios over and over in my mind in the hours that I was not. I have a very vivid and active imagination. Mostly brutal and violent scenarios. Too psychotic to repeat in this family friendly blog.
I had to wake up Saturday morning to take my car to the dealer's. Really just to drop it off and pick up my loaner b/c the Germans (and English) like to take their time when fixing the cars they've produced. Fine with me. I jumped in my beemer (loaner) which doesn't have seat warmers (yes, I live in San Diego and have seat warmers in my car), today I needed the seat warmers because if you've been paying attention... I have a fever and am freezing my body off (not just my ass). Making the most of my travels north, I stop at my LSS to pick up my check for teaching and pick up a few must haves. Still freezing, still feeling like poo, I push forward. I stop at the nearest CVS (drug store) to pick up some Tylenol (ours was all expired, WTF?) and some NyQuil, oh and some more deodorant... mmm... Secret, Asian Pear scent... mmm... love it. Finally back home, I change into PJ's and plant myself on the couch. Haven't eaten yet, I manage to choke down some oyster crackers. I somehow got some pizza into my stomach and vegged out in front of the tv watching a Lifetime marathon of Christmas movies. Good times. The NyQuil I took did NOTHING to help me sleep. So much for the sniffling, snuffling, snaffling medicine so you can sleep medicine... AGGGHHH.... I couldn't sleep and then started coughing and snorting, gagging, almost vomiting, and finally got up and went to the couch. There's no reason why Tony needed to suffer. I took some Tylenol and hocked up a few loogies. I think I finally fell asleep at like 4 a.m. I didn't get up off the couch until about 2 p.m., sleeping most of that time. This coming from a girl who CANNOT take naps. I can't. It is not possible for me to take a nap. I can run a freaking marathon and still not be able to take a nap. That's how horrible this thing is. It has kicked some ass and taken my name. It is NOT going away. I plan to go in to work tomorrow, possibly infect some people, and then with some luck come home early. I'm sure my co-workers think I just wanted an extended weekend. I always think that they think that when I call in. Call it Catholic guilt. Maybe in my feverish delirium tonight, I will meet with God and ask him about that Catholic guilt thing.

House update and overall Holiday chat...

Well... I came home to THIS on Wednesday... pretty cool... it's moving right along... I hope that it's done before February b/c I want to get IN THERE and start decorating!!!

The long holiday weekend was FABtastic! Dinner at the in-laws was fun... we played HOOPLA (by the makers of Cranium) and that got everybody involved... of course! YOU can do it better than I can when YOU'RE NOT EVEN PLAYING!!! Tony had a memorable time trying to describe Tupperware... ahhh... good times.

Black Friday was a non-event for us. We got our Christmas tree up and ready to decorate, the few stores we went to were not packed at all... hmmm. Got my hair highlighted on Friday as well... can't really tell that anything was done, unless you have studied my hair and can notice things like that.

Saturday we woke up early and went to Rosarito to play paint-ball with the "gang." I had to at least try it... that was the rule. I did. In the second round I got pelted really good and I was out for the rest of the day. I have a narly bruise on my leg... I shot photos the rest of the day. That seemed to get me out of the spotlight. We all went and had lobster afterwards. I'm not a huge lobster fan, so quite uneventful, again. The border wait was subdued by the fact that we watched a movie on the DVD player.

Sunday we decorated the tree... I went to an Art Festival, that was just ok. Then I worked on some projects and all of a sudden it was time for bed. Whew! The weekend blew by so quickly, yet I feel like I didn't do anything. Oh well.

Inventive Christmas Tree Preservation idea

this came from Jean Clayton of Oceanside.

Jean writes:

To make your fresh Christams tree last longer than ever, drill a 1/2 inch hold in the "butt" (for those of you without an imagination, drill the hole in the center of the cut truck portion of the tree) of the tree. Drill the hole deep enough to fit 1/2 the length of the tampon you're using. Stick an unwrapped (take it out of it's outer shell too, if it has one) tampon into the hole, letting it stick out by 1/2 the length of the tampon. This allows the tree to absorb any water in the tree holder bowl, no matter how low the water gets.
Jean says her tree hardly lost any needles and wasn't dried out, even 3 weeks after Christmas!

Brilliant idea Jean!

HONEY! We've got a MAJOR mole problem!!!

Have you seen what's dug up our front lawn??

The damn thing even built some skating ramps to boot...

ha ha... just kidding... I'm so funny! This is actually an update of the house remodel... the digging is to connect the plumbing from the new bathroom to the sewer line... yadda yadda yadda...

here's the back of the house too...

the holidays are upon us...

Just a quickie update here... not much going on... which is GREAT. Just catching up on a lot of little things I never seem to be able to get to, like mending a hole in my pj's. I have a couple of classes that I am co-teaching this week and next... so it will be a little bit busy... but not too bad. Other than that... nothing exciting to chat about. It's Sunday and The Amazing Race is on... with Desperate Housewives after that.... ahhh... I love fall TV.
Have a happy week!

Long Beach Marathon- by Holly

First, seriously, Long Beach was BEAUTIFUL!!! Wow... had no idea! Of course, you look down in one direction and it's harbor beauty and the other direction is stinky oil refineries, so hey, you just look one way... ;-) No seriously---it was a GREAT place for a race. This race had MORE aid stations than any other race I ever did!!!!! They were so well supported, great energy, and the fans cheering were SO FRIENDLY! It will be my most "friendly" race! Even the TEAM IN TRAINING cheering folks were friendly? OMG, yes, that is what I said!! One of their coaches jumped on the course and ran a block or so with me to cheer me on at Mile 23ish.... never in my life would I have believed it if I didn't live it! And now for the gorey details... the first half was GORGEOUS for me! The second half???? Let's just say that I found new meaning to the word PAIN? And you guys know me... do I EVER stop and use the restroom during a race??? 13th mile sent me glorious side stitches, nearly hunched over... I had tummy probs from dinner before I went to bed the night before and they went away until about Mile 13... and then BAM... I blew about 15-20 minutes on pain and slowing down...grrrr... and it sent me running for the toilet. It really wrecked the midsection of my run... because I had about a 10:40 pace up until that point---ARGH!!!!! I was better by 16...and near perfect again by 18-19...and Mile 20+ was fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!! So I got the majority of my miles under control...and we had a GREAT course, GREAT weather, GREAT energy from all those volunteers and fans... all those things helped me cope with the on-the-course problem, get over it, and get rolling again. so could I have cracked 5 hours?? I'm thinking I would have come closer... so what the heck did I eat the night before that rocked my world??? Not the regular pasta I always have----we did the pasta feed with regular pasta (instead of my whole wheat stuff) and the killer was 4 bites of a piece of pizza with friggin' GOAT CHEESE on it!!!!!! DARN IT!!!! aw man!!! between that, that usual excitement/anxiety of night before race...who knows. But I did still beat my PR (NYC/5:33) and did Long Beach at 5:25, so hey, every minute counts! But if I ever walked away from a race and was totally done, ready to stop, how would I ever be ready to set my next PR??? hee hee. Carlsbad---bring it!! With a vengence!!! But yes, I did sprint at the end and it was all downhill and felt amazing... seriously, Mile 23 on was great... legs felt great, no pain in the calf, no feeling of blisters, no nothing! side stitch was gone...and I was plowing forward, happy to see all those people, and all that beautiful sunshine, palm trees, blue water coastline...it was a gorgeous moment. One of my favorite finishes... and as soon as I stopped to take a breath, I looked up and there was Michael, who had finished 30 minutes BEFORE that... but he waited in that Medal area for me and that was the best hug I ever had!!!! And day after? or the day AFTER the day after? Doing ok... quads are definitely worked. I had backed off my trainer's sessions the last few weeks and I think I might have needed to keep up some of those lunges and squats... and shoulders/upper back are sore... Chiro is my friend! If I sit for a bit and stand up... it SUCKS.... but once I am moving, I feel pretty good... so hey, victory!!!! ;-)

New York City Marathon- by Len

OMG !! The experience of running the NY marathon is difficult to even put into words. For anyone that runs marathons, the NY marathon is a MUST !! I have been going to all kinds of sporting events all my life, and have never witnessed anything like it. There are THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE cheering you on, screaming your name EVERYWHERE (except the bridges - and the views, runners costumes, and camaraderie is soooo incredible you don't notice.) If you like crowd support, you'll love NY. If you like great bands during your run, you'll love NY. If you like diverse cultures, you'll love NY. If you like police officers and firefighters in full uniform cheering you on, you'll love NY. If you like running with 39,000 people who will motivate you and share the experience of a lifetime, you'll love NY. If you are a runner, you'll love NY. I got on a marathon shuttle (in my Infrared shirt) the morning of the race, and a city councilman from the Bronx who was running a marathon for the first time was seated in front of me. He was running with a camera crew that was videotaping HIS ENTIRE race. I started talking to him about how great the experience is of running your first marathon, and in true Infra-Read fashion, I told him to just enjoy himself. I also told him what Christine told me "you only get one first marathon, enjoy it !!" He loved that advice. The race starts off in Staten Island, where 39,000 runners from over 125 countries and virtually EVERY state are gathered in an actual Fort...Fort Wadsworth. I'm not sure what war it's from, but it's a pretty neat looking fort, and right away the uniqueness of the NY marathon begins. There's a band, bagels, donuts, gatorade and people walking up to you asking where you are from. Because it's cold (47 degrees), people are wearing clothes they are going to just leave at the site...therefore, nobody is worried about "looking good" in garbage clothes. A young good looking woman in her 20's from Europe took off her shirt and running bra right in front of me and started body gliding her nipples. I didn't know what to do or how to react, so I just turned my head and didn't look. I felt really awkward about it. I'm thinking about relaxing and preparing myself for a race - not how sexy the half naked girl in front of me looks. I bought a disposable white "shell suit" for $15 which felt like paper. I looked like the Good Humor ice-cream man. The wait was about 3.5 hours and I was told that I should put my name in paint on my arm - so I did. An announcement was made to lineup in preparation for racestart. Trish and I lined up way-way-way in the back - in true Infra-red form/style. I was told to try to run on the top level of the bridge because people on the bottom level get hit with pee from people peeing off the top level. Only in NY could you see people peeing off a bridge while standing next to a police officer and not get arrested. When I ran over the first bridge, there were 4 helicopters and a blimp flying overhead - I thought I committed a crime. There was a beautiful view of the NY skyline on my left and a river on my right. I tried to hold back my speed to save as much as possible for the end. We stopped and took a couple of pictures - something that was done by MANY runners - believe it or not. There was a boat on the river which shot three geysers of red, white and blue water as a tribute to the start of the marathon. It was an awesome sight. We ran at about a 12 minute per mile pace and had to step over hats, gloves, sweats, and and tons of clothes people ditched once they started racing. Some of that stuff seemed pretty nice - fuel belts, water bottles, cool max, you name it, people threw it away. When we got off the bridge, a police officer was there to greet us and said in a thick NY accent "welcome to Brooklyn.." We stayed in Brooklyn for a long-long time, and I wanted to stop at every pizzaria we passed to have a slice (but I stuck to gels.) There were people on BOTH sides of the street - 3-4 rows deep, screaming typical inspirational cliches like "you can do it.." "way to go," "you look great...,""only 24 miles to go..." There was a band playing "Eye of the tiger", later a steel drum band, a gospel choir, bag pipes, hip hop bands and lots of great rock and roll. There were over 100 bands on the course....it's CRAZY !! Someone offered me my favorite treat - a zeppolli, which killed me to have to decline - I LOVE ZEPPOLI'S. For those of you who don't know, a zeppoli is a fried dough ball with powdered sugar. Unfortunately, I got cramps the EARLIEST I ever got cramps (mile 9), and STILL had the time of my life. I enjoyed it sooooo much, even though my time was HORRIBLE !! I had to insist to Trish (my running partner) that she go on without me, because the pain shot from my calves into my knee, and I thought my running was finished. There were people with NO LEGS running on prosthetics, people dressed in costumes - Darth Vader, Chewbaca, Princess Leia, Wonder Woman, Superman, Blues Brothers, Buggs Bunny, a NY Met, and other fun outfits I'm sure I'm forgetting. If they could run, I could run - the pain was nothing compared to running with no legs or an uncomfortable costume/suit. When I got to Manhattan, the crowd support, which I thought couldn't get any better, actually somehow did. On 1st Avenue people were lined up behind barracades 5-6 people deep. I saw Elaine and Sydney at mile 18 and it perked me up. I listened to Billy Joel's "Keepin' the Faith" on my Nano, and it seemed to pump me up even more. I saw Elaine, Sydney and my Uncle at mile 24 with my "Go Daddy Go" sign and I knew I had the race conquered. Then I saw the single greatest sign in my life at mile 25. At mile 25, in typical NY fashion, someone had a sign that read "Finishing is your only Fuckin' option !!"I laughed about that for the rest of the race. I got inspired and sucked it up as I ran through Central Park in awe at the beautiful trees, ponds, and buildings. People EVERYWHERE !! I saw my picture on the jumbotron which was setup at mile 26. What a feeling...I could taste the finish line. I felt as if the crowd had carried me from mile 3 to the finish line. It was like a rock star who falls into the crowd and the crowd passes them around - the support is beyond articulation. I apologize for rambling, but I know my fellow marathon buddies will understand at least some of what I am feeling - I need to share it, but more importantly, I have to URGE YOU, BEG YOU, PLEAD WITH YOU, to RUN THE NY MARATHON !! It is a life changing event that will change your perspective about the world. I've never experienced anything like it, and I can't imagine I ever will again. Run NY, Run NY, Run NY, 2 million people are waiting to cheer you on ! I can't wait to see all of you and share my stories. Believe it or not, there's much, much more. See you soon, Len

Wedding # 2 pics are up on flickr...

just click to your right... yeah... over there....

p.s. you don't have to tell me what a shitty photographer we had... you get what you pay for!!!! Anyway... there are at least a FEW good ones in the bunch...

funny freaking video!!!

Wedding #2...

How many people get to have two weddings? Not many. As for as much work and stress as this was... it was a total BLAST. It was so cool to be able to have two totally different weddings... and I commemorated that by having two different dresses and two different hair styles. FUN!
The rehearsal:
It was hilarious because the priest kept getting Tony's name wrong. It was Toby and Tommy for awhile and then at the wedding he used Jose. People in the pews were SO confused!!!

The Wedding Ceremony:
Total Catholic tradition... and on top of that, total Polish tradition. The mass was even in Polish, except for the actual "marriage" portion (whew... I might have been saying "I do" to some stuff I didn't agree with!). It was really long, as per Catholica standards, but not knowing what was being said made it even longer. I felt bad for Tony and all the other non-Polish speakers, because I'm sure it was worse for them. I can understand some words here and there, but sheesh...

After the ceremony:
It was a gray and rainy day, so we couldn't go to the pretty park we originally wanted to get out pictures taken. Since we've technically already got "wedding" pictures (from wedding #1), I thought we should have some fun and get our pictures taken somewhere totallu UN-traditional. We thought maybe WalMart, or a bowling alley, but we decided on an old Irish Pub. Way fun!!!

Reception:
WOW! The room looked AWESOME! And let me tell you, these Polish folks are PARTIERS!!! Man oh man. Things didn't even START to happen until like 9 p.m. Way past MY bedtime. I stuck it out though... and at 1 a.m. when the place turned the lights back on, those folks were STILL dancing their hearts out. Whew! The food was fantastic as well. Apps, soup, salad, pasta, main dish (chiken breast & filet combo with green beans and new potatoes), ice cream, wedding cake and a whole sweets table to munch off of the rest of the night.

All in all it was a huge success... thanks to the hard work of the fam back in MI... I pretty much didn't have to do anything (a few things here and there... but nothing too crazy) except deal with "politics" and typical pre-wedding stress.

Needless to say... it's nice to be back to a "normal" routine... nice that my house didn't burn down and nice to look forward to nothing on the calendar! Tony and I even agreed to keep the holidays very low key. Our gift to eachother is the re-model. I think that's a good gift! I surely don't want to stress out about Christmas shopping and all of that business! KEEP IT SIMPLE SILLY!

It will be 2008 before we know it.

Thanks to my loyal readers for the well wishes and postive energy coming this way. It was a crazy year, 2007!

quick update... on borrowed time...

I have to sit in my dad's car and cruise the neighborhood to find some "free" wireless acess that is not locked. Therefore, I will make this short.

Tony and I are here in Michigan for the church blessing (a.k.a. 2nd wedding). Our house managed to escape the flames and we are very blessed to be safe and that our neighborhood was not affected. We do, like the rest of San Diego, have to now deal with bad air quality... ashy, icky, brown air. In fact our running group cancelled this weekend b/c it is not safe to exercise outside right now. So, in a nutshell... WE ARE SAFE. Thank you to all the well wishes and concern, we really appreciate it.

I can't believe the coverage on the news out here. It just surprised me, but I guess that just goes to show how major the fires are/were.

Michigan is beautiful this time of year...so I am LOVING it right now... even though it's totally rainy today. The trees are awesome with their changing colors and I am digging the cool, crisp air.

I'll post again as soon as I can, which may be when I get back.

Ciao for now!

the race, the lottery and the fires... the good, the bad, and the ugly...

whew... what a spectrum of events going on... flying back home last night we flew over LA and I saw a bird's eye view of what was going on down below. Bright orange flames licking the mountain ridges. A lot of them and in like 10 different spots. I land and Tony picks me up and I ask... "is that smoky smell coming all the way from LA?" Well... it was immediately obvious that I didn't see the news all day (as we were busy with the race, details later) and that San Diego was once again on fire. It has been said that this set of fires (there are many "sets" of fires all around...) is worse than the Cedar Fires that happened a mere 4 years ago. The winds are high right now which is causing the fires to "jump" around. The embers from one fire float up into the air, and are blown into another area and start a whole new set of fires. What's scary is that is happens so quickly and really no one is safe, because of the winds and the floating embers. VERY SCARY! I am due to leave for Michigan tomorrow morning and right I am thinking... do I pack up the stuff I would want saved, just in case my neighbor has to grab the box for me? Do I fall into the trap of "oh, it won't happen to us?" Tony's making fun of me for wanting to be prepared. He's making me so mad because of it. Like WHAT WILL WE BE ABLE TO SAVE WHEN WE'RE IN MICHIGAN? Ugh. I'm putting stuff aside and my neighbor promised to grab it in the case our area is evacuated while we're away. I'm not too worried about my safety... hell, I'll paddle out into he ocean and camp out there until stuff chills out. It's my STUFF I WORRY about. AAAGGHHHH!

OK, I'll stop... people at this very moment are having to pack up and evacuate... those are the people to worry about right now. Prayers for Southern California would be greatly appreciated right now.

The lottery... for CE... my application is "still pending" at this moment... UGH.

The race.
tres cool as usual. I love going to San Fran. That is one crowded city sister! Anyway... the hotel we (my mom and I) stayed at was cute. Old, but cute. That is until the keeper was a jackass and wouldn't let us stash our lugagge for a while so as to allow us to grab a bite to eat before we left for the airport. So here we are lugging our luggage through the city and trying to eat some pizza, in the crowded eatery.
The race course didn't change much from last year. It was a perfect race day. The weather was just perfect. The morning was not cold at all... so there was no need to be all bundled up in trash bags, etc. The views are spectacular, as usual, and although that mile 6 hill is horrible, it didn't seem so bad this year. The time flew by!!! Joyce, Mabelle and I ended up doing the race together... my mom hung a little behind, but still made great time and completed the route like a champ.
The necklace this year is AWESOME! I wasn't too happy with the design the last two years, so this was a very pleasant surprise. Everything else was pretty status quo... great ending, good organization... whew! 23000 women (well, maybe a few men mixed in there) rasing a TON of money for a great cause! We kicked some cancer ass!

off to San Fran

for the Nike Woman's (1/2) Marathon with some friends and my mom... should be loads of fun... this race always is. Here's a pic from last year's event... can't wait to see what the necklace looks like... yeeeeeeeeeehaw.........

random stuff and some before pics

Random stuff...
I love to balance my checkbook. Even if I hardly have any money in it... I just love doing it (of course it's more fun when I end up with a hunky balance after all is said and done...).
I get to stare at mountains from my cubicle window. This usually only happens when the skies are clear... but it's kick-ass.
I LOVE October. Love it. I love that it rains. I love the weather. Since over half of my October was spent being sad, I will extend my favorite month through November.

Here are some pics, as promised...

Remodel day 1

Some very exciting things were happening at home while I was at work yesterday... the construction people starting to do their "thang." I know it doesn't look like much... but I needed to snap some pics to use as a "before" type of picture as well. I will post the "before" pics soon... but you get an idea with the banner above. I have to snap some of the inside too. The back room will soon be our MASTER bedroom, complete with two glorious chandeliers, a Jack & Jill bathroom, and a walk-in closet. YAY! No more doing the pee-pee dance while someone is taking a shower. I think the construction guys said it would be done in February... oh, I can't wait. With this remodel, I think the house will actually be bearable for quite a few more years.
I know what you're thinking... great, one more thing to be stressed about until February. Well... I know... but I think this one will be ok, since the "stress" is contained to our house. Besides, this is Tony's project... he gets to stress over it. I had my share with the 2 weddings. His turn.

Donna Seermon... this one's for YOU...

what?

The other day I was asked why I was crying... granted it was during a pretty intense conversation... but let's put things in perspective... getting the wrong order at Starbuck's can send me into uncontrollable tears, let alone an intense conversation that was not going well. So, to answer the question... why am I crying? Uh... duh... not only is losing a preganancy really really really freaking SAD... but now I get to deal with the hormone circus going on in my body. I can only assume that THIS is what post-partum depression is like... and if if is... HOLY SHIT! The worst part is that after running from the barista with a half-caf, decaf, one pump, no foam, no whip blah blah blah and walking around like a zombie all day... I have no little bundle of joy to say "it's all worth it." Guess what... THAT'S WHY I'M CRYING. Shit.

So besides this "situation" I also have to keep everyone happy when it comes to wedding #2... because it's all about them... right? Shit again. (I just want to cuss left and right, but I'm holding back). 14 more days of mr nice guy. 14. I am counting them down. After these 14 days... I'm no loger going to bend over backwards to please everyone else. I have my reasons for doing it for the next 14 days. After that though... watch out.

Nobody understands... I know this much is true... unless you've been through it. I'm not sure how long this will last, but WTF? I'm not very happy right now and one of the hardest parts is putting on a happy face for others. Screw it. After this weekend, after next weekend (the Nike 1/2 marathon), and after the next weekend (wedding #2), no more happy faces. Maybe THEN I can get over it by not holding it all in all of the time. I am going into hibernation for a couple of months. I don't want to see anybody, talk to anybody, do anything... NOTHING.

draggin' ass a bit... but need to step it up

Well... it's been awhile since I last posted... and without going into too much detail, yet... I'm hanging in there. It's not easy getting through the day without tearing up at least once... but I'm sure this too shall pass.

Anyway... I've got some things coming up on the ol' agenda that I can't be draggin' ass for. I've got the Nike 1/2 marathon on the 21st... then wedding #2 on the 27th... oh, and the lottery for CE'08 will be up soon... so "The Secret" states that if I put it "out there" in the universe that I'm going... then I'M GOING!!!!

AS excited as I am to get married, again, I can't wait until it's over. I can't wait until I have NOTHING to do on the weekends except garden or WHATEVER I WANT. Don't get me wrong... I appreciate the whole second wedding and all... but I just want to chill out and hang for awhile. No obligations...

An old Navy buddy of mine was here for the weekend to check out the area so she and her husband can move here. Do you dig it? "An old Navy buddy of mine." I sound like a salty old sailor, don't I. It's true though, we were in the Navy together some 10+ years ago... time sure does fly!

so close yet so far away...

It is with a heavy heart that I must report that we lost the baby. We learned a hard lesson here in that now that so many people know we were expecting, we have to trace back and un-do it all.

If you don't mind, I really don't feel like talking about it and I don't want to re-tell the story over and over... so, just give me (us) some space and we'll be back on track soon.

Thank you for understanding.

Christine & Tony

wedding pictures, 2 lines and a bean...

First... the wedding (#1) pictures are up on flickr. Click on that cool thing to your right and it will take you there.

Next... here's a little riddle...
What do you get when you pee on a stick and see 2 pink lines appear?
A BEAN!!!

That's right folks, just a mere 4 weeks after we got hitched we went and got knocked up. The medical folks say we're at 7+ weeks... but physiologically the bean is only 5+ weeks young. For all purposes moving forward, we will use the medical timeline and say we're at 7+ weeks. Some FAQ's that have come my way will be answered below:

Q: How are you feeling?
A: generally fine. Just tired and my boobs are killing me. So far there hasn't been any puking, but sometimes I will smell something just horrible and it makes me queasy...but no puking yet.

Q: Do you want a boy or a girl?
A: We'll take a baby, preferably healthy. If there was a gun pointed to my head and I HAD to declare a preference... I would say a boy... but really... we don't care...we want a healthy baby.

Q: Is this a honeymoon baby?
A: No. It hatched about a month after the wedding...

Q: Do you have a name picked out?
A: No. And even of we did we are not telling.

Q: Are you excited?
A: Duh!

Q: Have you told your family, friends, etc.? Are they excited?
A: Yes, and DUH!

Q:When are you due?
A: About April 28th

Q: Is this a first grand baby?
A: First grand baby on my side... 900th for Tony's side... (he's got a big family)

So there you have it...

why the wait?

Seriously? Has it seriously been over 2 weeks since I last updated this blog? Sorry to my 4 loyal readers. I would hate to dissapoint you. I actually don't really know how many people read this thing, since you are all LURKERS and don't leave comments (I threw that in there for YOU Donna). Anyway... here is the latest and greatest... a laundry list of what's been keeping me away from blogland...
Wedding #2- Just when you thought all the work was done (for wedding #1) you turn around and have to start the THANK YOU note black hole once again. UGH... I am so behind with the TY notes from shower #2. Those NEED to get done ASAP.
Creative Escape- OMG! As if I thought any less... but this year was AWESOME!!! (So was last, but whatever... live in the NOW.) We (Shannon and I) got there at like 2 a.m. on Wednesday morning. We decided to drive through the night so as to get some rest before our adventure began on Wednesday on the 11 a.m. bus tour of Bazzill Basics Paper and Scrapbooks, Etc. I'm soooo glad we did that b/c Wednesday was EXHAUSTING!!! The tour was fab as usual... BBP has a new warehouse... so now I can say i\I've seen 'em all! They had a warehouse sale that I just couldn't pass up. I HOOKED Mablee and me up with some shiznit... whew! So much, in fact, that I had to ship it homeinstead of haul it in the Mini. Scrapbboks was fabulous as well... but by that point i was ready to go already. We had a luxury bus for the tour, so my scrappy friends and I just chilled until the rest of the group paid for their goodies and got on board. Mouth announced some information regarding another place we just had to visit named "Melrose Vintage." This place TOTALLY was awesome. Very shabby chic. I wanted to buy furniture as well as scrappy stuff... but Shannon needed a ride back to SD, so I couldn't just ditch her for a 1925 style cradle. There's always next year! Once we were done shopping there and dropped off our "guest", we met up with Donna's hubby and went to eat at "Oregeno's." Can you say DELISH? Very good stuff. MMMMmmmm... I'm thinking of it now.... back at the room, we rented "the Waitress" with Keri Russell... good flick. Good night.
DAY 2 (Thursday)- Started the day off at the lazy river. Not as good as the lazy river from the bachelorette weekend. Not at all. Quite disappointing in fact. BUT WHO CARES??? REGISTRATION started at 1 p.m. baby, and let me tell you, I was the first in line (until someone bigger and louder than me- if you can imagine- bullied their way in front of me). We zipped through reggy and got started on the Technique Boutique. Fun as usual. Checked out the Trunk Show... good stuff to see. Too many pushy people... but I got through it. Then there was the "Welcome" ceremony (not really a ceremony...) and we were off to dinner again with the girls and Dave. This time we opted for greek but it turned out to be greek/italian. I had a little of both, YUM again. Off to bed... we have to wake up very early for b-fast and our first class!
DAY 3 (Friday)- 1st day of classes. Soldering. Purse thing (not my favorite). Lunch. Heidi Swapp (FAVORITE) and then a "free" period. We went back to the on-site store to pick up some must-have's from the classes. Then it was time for dinner and then the "Friday Night Extravaganza." As tired as I was... (this FNE didn't start until like 8:30 p.m. or so), this was a kick-ass thing to do. It was like a rush getting through these projects... very fast paced, but fun. We getback to the room afterwards and b/c I was so amped, I couldn't fall asleep. So my bunky and I stayed up talking until like 1:30 a.m. or so. BIG MISTAKE. HUGE. Waking up at 6 a.m. was not fun. No way Ho say!
DAY 4 (Saturday)- UGH! I was so tired....but CE waits for no one! The show goes on. Breakfast and then we had cards, layouts (not my fav), lunch, Rhonna's book and then the kick-ass plastic folder book! SWEET!!! Loved it all. I finally got RAK'd at the last class... whew... I bet I'm always last b/c of my last name. Next year will prove my theory (as I will use my new last name). Off to the good-bye dinner... ate dessert first (OF COURSE), then dinner (very yummy), then prizes (didn't win), then the keynote speach by Allison TylerJones, then the finale of "who wins a spot for next year?" (not me). Off to the room, said our goodbyes, packed and went to BED!!!
DAY 5 (Sunday)- SLEPT IN! Yahoo! I love sleeping in at hotels b/c they have the BEST dark curtains that can keep out the light of a nuclear explosion. Nice and cold and dark in the room. Talk about a recipe for a great night's sleep! Once we packed it up and got our selves organized and fit back into the mini, we went and had lunch with Donna and Dave at Oregano's for old times sake. Yum. Note self: a small pizza at Oregenao's is not small. Said our good-byes, once again and headed west.
The mini was awesome on the trip. One tank of gas on the way there and one on the way back. Awesome mileage! I was glad to be back home and with Tones. There is nothing like being back home. It wasn't the hot oven I left, which made the homecoming that much better! Until next year, CE... keep the ideas coming!

my 2nd shower of the year...

man am I stinky! Ha ha... stupid joke alert! So, my wedding shower- Michigan style went over without a hitch. Good food, good drinks (that punch was gooood!) and great, fun people hanging out with us! We played games and ate and played games and ate some more, oh yeah, and drank some (a lot?). Thos Poles sure can put it down! I got to spend some good quality time with my pops and SISTER and family and friends... came homne with some nice presents to share with the husband. Everybody was excited to meet Tony in October and nobody seemed to care that I was already married... they knew the routine... the next one is in the CHURCH... so they were cool with celebrating all over again. Initially I thought they'd be like "WTF... you're already married... give me back that spoodle..." but they weren't, so it's cool.

no... you are not seeing things...

THAT my friend...smack dab in the middle of that last mosaic... it the pre-party package from CREATIVE ESCAPE.... *God music is playing*.... the mecca of creativity is soon upon me... a mere 19 days... this year they sent us a "let's get it started" package with some fun goodies.

I CANNOT FREAKING WAIT.

will a mosaic do?

so much going on... so many things in my head trying to bust out... I wish everythng were as easy as a mosaic...

off to version #2 of the wedding bliss process....the SHOWER... EnJoy the process I say... whew... that's a tall order... but I am trying...

I've been very tired... is it the heat? pms? a hatching egg? my fat ass? hmmm... only time will tell

oh my God, what is wrong with me?

I am so tired. This, I know, is becoming the norm in our society. It is. If it weren't, there wouldn't be a need for drinks like Red Bull... we wouldn't need wings because our own two feet would be enough. And now you can get Red Bull from a fountain... which means you can get a Super Big Gulp of Red Bull or Throttle or Vault or Cocaine (not the real stuff, the liquid stuff...duh...)... isn't that crazy? I thought I was bad for drinking 13 diet Pepsi's a day. A baker's dozen in a sense. I haven't taken myself to the level of Super Big Gulp Cocain addiction. Whew. I feel healthier already.

VIDEO- bride gone wild

one down, one to go

Weddings that is. The first one was freaking fantastic. Can #2 compare? Well.. no, it can't. It's apples and oranges my friend. That's what makes the whole madness of two weddings so MAJOR!

Wedding #1. 07/07/07. YES... I am JUST NOW getting to write about it... I'm a newlywed, give me some slack .

Let's see... the ceremony didn't start until 4:30 p.m. on that day... so I had plenty of time to chill out with the MOH. The funny thing is that at about 2 p.m. I looked at the clock and said "oh, I've got about 2 hours still..." then BAM, I look at the clock and it's 4:11... I've got 4 minutes to get to the staging area! I wasn't even in my dress yet. I started to sweat (p.s. we're in Escondido...so it was freaking HOT). So, fast forward to walking down the aisle... the mariachi band is playing the "wedding march?" (not, here comes the bride).... WTF? When the ceremony is over and we are walking out as Mr. & Mrs., the band starts playing here comes the bride.... FINALLY, Gosh! Oh well.

Pictures. Pictures. More pictures. Then we get to go to the cocktail hour. We are not at the reception for more than 10 minutes when my dear husband spills a glass of wine on me.... whew... glad we got THAT part over. At least it was white wine, you can start breathing again.

Did I mention table #1 caught on fire? Yes, it was a small fire, no trucks or anything, it was 99% contained... just a bread basket... I guess when they said the bread was right out of the oven, they weren't exaggerating!

Dinner was AWESOME... not your typical "wedding food" which I would have been perfectly satisfied with... sheesh, what CAN you expect for $100 a head? HOWEVER, I was very excited to find out that the food was GOOD and I WANTED to eat it. I did. And so did everybody else... voluntarily!

The cake was quite tasty. I already knew it would be, so no real surprise there. They were cupcakes actually. The cuteness of them only made them taste better.

There was dancing... a lot of it. People really got into it and as far as I can tell... it was a FUN wedding. I truly believe people had fun. Yay!

I did get pretty buzzed. I don't remember dancing with some people that claim danced with me. I still think they might be f*cking with me. I didn't get stoopid drunk, which is good. Just funny drunk... and that is something I feel comfortable owning up to. There's a short video to the right. Don't know if you'll appreciate it as much as I do. Just know that is was definately one of the top 3 weddings I've been to, and not just because it was mine.

Honeymoon pics & trainer

In case you haven't noticed... the honeymoon pics are officially loaded up on flicker... just click on the link at the right and check 'em out!

So I'm a little backwards in my thinking... now that the wedding/honeymoon is over... it's time for me to get serious about getting in shape! Especially if I want to pop a kid out one of these days... I need to be strong. So, although I contemplated getting skinny ala Nicole Richie, I decided to spend my money on a trainer instead of cocaine, vicodin and pot. However, if this trainer guy doesn't work... I don't object to the latter. So far, after my first work out (today), I am appropriately DEAD and will see him again. WTF? I know! He lets us bitch the entire time we are being drilled, knowing that we really do LOVE it and will be coming back. NOW THAT is a business man if I've ever met one. He really knows how to deal with his customers and I love him for that. Talk to me tomorrow when my legs and ass feel like spaghetti. Mmmm... spaghetti sounds good.

new last name.... new hair...

well... the big day has come and gone! Oh, I can't tell you how perfect the wedding was... if it weren't for my MOH, it wouldn't have been as cool or smooth... but stuff really seemed to work out... except for the fire at table one... or the glass of wine on my dress 5 minutes into the reception... but hey... what would we be talking about right now?
I don't have any pictures to post yet, except this one of my new Posh Spice haircut... we are off to Cancun this morning (it's 4 a.m.), so I will have much to share when I return...

T minus 5 days... still cool as a cucumber...

ahhh... only 5 more days until THE big day... yesterday we went sailing with a group we've never sailed with before. Just hung out on deck... didn't have to do much work (nice change form the usual)... and got this cool shot of the Coronado bridge...

in 9 days...

all of the favors will be opened...
all of the feathers will be in place...
the mariachi's will be playing...
we all will be drinking...
two of us will be saying "I do"...
yes I'm ready...
no I'm not nervous...
yes I'm excited...
no I'm not packed yet...
yes it's almost here...

YES!

oh lazy river.. how I miss thee...

We're back. Much more relaxed than before, but also much more stressed. Relaxed b/c we had a fab-tastic weekend in Phoenix. Our trip went smoothly... no babies were born in the car, no strippers, no jail. All in all, what I call a success! It was H*O*T hot! But it was a {dry} heat. I'm sure I could get used to it. This place we went to was AWESOME! And the parts that weren't so AWESOME, they quickly reacted to make them awesome again! The lazy river was the bomb and I so could find a way to work from it. I think only one more tube would do the trick... oh and WiFi... We had such a blast, even without anything too outlandish to do, we had our share of laughs and silly stories... and our share of saving the world talks...
For the guys that ended up with the mangy strippers... we probably saw better boobs than you did...
but here are some other pics too... of us and our "wild" weekend...

oh, I almost forgot to add the "stressed because" part... anyway... stressed b/c...HELLO? It's only 17 more days until the wedding.... you figure the rest out...

4 girls and the open road...

This weekend the girls and I are heading East... well, as far East as Phoenix... for some fun in the sun, some margaritas, and some crafting! Now THIS is what I call a bachelorette party! The boys have opted for strippers... TYPICAL. We have mani's/pedi's on the docket, as well as some massages. The best part is the lazy river waiting for us... ahhhh... I can sense it now... my fat ass in an inner-tube, with my butt coming out of the hole, soaking in the cool water as the 114 degree sun beats down on me... it's a sight I'll tell ya...

you'll have to wait for the pics before you can get really jealous...

did I tell you about the Bazzil tour we have planned? Hmmmm.... mr. Bazzill himself will be guiding us... can't wait!

oh the irony...

recently, someone said I must be pregnant because I look "weird."

100x7= cool

ahhhh... relief... I put my ultra top secret favors together today... they are still needing their ultra top secret tags tied to them... but the biggest part is done... this little task was looming over my head... now that they are {almost} done... I can relax... until tomorrow... and to think my dad thinks m&m's aren't *good enough*... he is going to shit when he sees these... oi vey!

according to my jazzy new ticker up there... there is only 1 month, 1 week and two days until the wedding... HOLY CRAP batman!

I am not MIA

I am not missing in action... or maybe I am??? This is just the beginning... I just had bridal shower #1 yesterday... and it was awesome. It's crazy how you spend so much time planning (well, I didn't, Jean did)... let me rephrase, I spent so much time anticipating the big day and it was all over so fast! Just like *that*. It was a huge rush of excitement followed by a huge rush of relief.... I survived!

Thanks to all of you... you know who you are... for making the day perfect for me! Love you!

got DYSON?

OMG! This really IS the best vacuum out there! It makes me want to vacuum all day and all night.... it's beautiful!

and now she's 37!

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a good one! My friends and I went to the Tractor Room in Hillcrest (www.thetractorroom.com) for dinner and it was great to have everyone together... eating and ME opening presents! Who doesn't love presents??
I love the gang. The gang is the bomb!

this is how i feel today...

...enough said

one half base times height

and to think that teenagers think that high-school geometry is a waste of time! ha! my proudest achievement this weekend was calculating to the nearest half roll of sod for our little patch of grass in the backyard. i blame that half roll on the fact that every roll is probably not exactly the same size, and that I probably could've done a better job of making the pieces exactly flush against eachother... but, regardless... can you get better than that? it's so nice to see a real, green patch of grass in the backyeard, better known as the Przeworski desert. I literally had tumbleweeds blowing around there last summer. that and i'm almost done with my ME book... ahhhhh.... life....

the bane to my existance...

is this thing I will call COW. Now, the planning of COW started a long time ago. You would think that with all the planning that went into COW, things should be as smooth as silk. Right, that's if I were planning COW. Instead, we had a bunch of drunk monkeys planning COW. In order to execute cow, I now have to make sense of the sandscript left of the remains of the planning of COW. Because of all the attention COW demands, I had to ask for help on non-COW things and as a result I have been pegged as non-COW loser that needs help managing her non-COW. Fuck the COW and all things related.

have you seen it?

OMG!!! I love "Notes from the Underbelly"... it is freaking hilarious and hits so close to home....

it's on Wednesday nights... check it out!

A: Uh, because it's GRAND!

Q: Why do they call this canyon the Grand Canyon?

Wow... no pictures that I post can ever do this place justice, but I will post anyway. You can literally spend hours just staring at the awesome colors as they change throughout the day. Granted, we only got to spend an hour and a half there, but I got the jist of it. Then it was 7 hours back to my parents house. Sheesh... overall it WAS worth it!

fortune. good fortune.

ok... I have this *thing* where I can't throw away a fortune (you know, the kind you get in a fortune cookie). i almost feel like it is bad luck or something. i'm a freak. so now i have all of these fortunes that i have collected along the way. what to do with them? oi! I am sticking some of 'em into my "wreck this journal" project. cool project... check it out wreck this journal.

well...now that you mention it... there are some other things I just can't bear to throw away... and not just b/c of environmental concerns, although that is a perfectly good reason too.
they are, in no particular order:
-a cool box. sometimes uncool ones too... but to throw away a perfectly good box?
-a jar. cool ones especially (i've got my eye on the french jelly one in the fridge right now... have already warned Tony not to toss).
-tins. oh GAWD! the marketing industry is killing me b/c A LOT of things come in tins now. Candy mostly... I'll buy the damn candy just to get the cool tin. Whate ever happened to band-aid tins? Band-aid is missing the mark here!
-a fortune. already noted.
-free samples. they will sit around, unused, until I get so sick of looking at them. it kills me to toss them. but HEY, they were FREE!
-any sort of notepad/journal/notebook/tablet

I'm the "Super American!"... day 4

We are a rollin'! We are hot! We have this city DOWN! We know the metro like we were born on it! We wake up early, Mabelle and I wanted to check some stuff out that Emma had already seen. So we went and checked out the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower...minus the strong willed vendors (we saw a cute gaggle of little kids going on a field trip to the tower...very cute!)... Then we went on the hunt for the only scrapbook store in Paris and wouldn't you know it, I left the address in the hotel. Damn it. We couldn't find it from memory so we head back to the Louvre to do more shopping. then picked Emma up and went over to the Latin Quarter. We had breakfast from the supposed "best bakery in Paris", but my quiche was not noteworthy. Regardless, we had our breakfast and walked around, looking at the cute shops. Once we were spent there... we decided to go find the scrapbook store. This time I had the address. We found it and it was surprisingly huge. Most of the stuff in it was stuff you could get in the states, but I did manage to buy a few little stamps that were French.
Once we blew our nut there, we went back toward the hotek and stopped at the mall across the street. The one with the kick-ass gourmet grocery store. I pulled the "American Poster Child" move when I helped a French chick, only after her own people ignored her after she dropped a jar of chili's on the floor. Mabelle says George Bush was proud that day!

Back to the room to pack up all of our loot. As usual we stayed up talking, solving the world's problems and planning our next trip. Sleep is over-rated anyway... yeah right!

Montemartre Day 3

Day #3.
We slept in today. Learned our lesson from yesterday. We went to Montemarte...very cool. Had breakfast at a cafe/pub. Very coool. Saw Van Gough's house. Neat to see... but nothing special. Saw Moulin Rouge (the place, not the show). Got near "Pig Alley" or Pigalle... where the porn shops live.
Off to Notre Dam. Quite huge and very impressive. Lit some candles. Good jou jou. Did some shopping around there. Yes, even at church on a Sunday we can find ways to shop!
Back to the room... Emma and Mabelle went off to see Moulin Rouge (the show this time) and I hung back to chill. The girls had a near mugging experience but Emma was at the ready with her heel, ready to take action if the thugs got any closer. She is a crack up!
We went off to dinner, as late as usual. It was mediocre this time. I guess you CAN find a crappy meal in Paris.
We then chatted until 4 a.m. Had to be up at 7 a.m. the next day... our last full day in Paris.

c'est combien ca? Day 2

Day #2.
Up at 7 a.m. Off to marche dux puce (the flea market). We get there (the book said it opened at 7 a.m.) and the vendors are *barely* setting up. WTFO? We somehow decide to come back at about 11 or so... once things are set up and ready to go. Oh, by the way, it is still rainy and chilly.
We decide to go to the Louvre. It was totally better than what you saw on the "DaVinci Code." I even snuck in some illegal pictures of Mona. She didn't mind. She even thought it was quite mischievous of us! We then shopped some at the stores around the musee, had lunch, and then checked things out from the outside.
We headed back to the flea market. This time we were successful in finding the actual "flea market" part, away from the "swap meet" part. I think the French forgot that they were selling JUNK, because you'd think we were at Bloomingdale's with the prices we saw. Umm... yeah, we'll be heading out to the OB flea market when we get back to the US. We came, we saw, we left.
We headed back to the hotel, but first stopped at the market across the road from our hotel to get some water, Orangina, and snacks. We end up taking a 2 hour power nap. Once we woke, Emma said she felt ill, so we did what good people do... we left her in bed and went to check out the Eiffel Tower sans sunlight.
What a sight! Mabelle and I practically got attacked by two peddlers, trying to sell us some overpriced mini towers... but we survived... even after the "there is no George Bush here!" insult. Woooo... what a burn!
Once we got back to the hotel, Emma still didn't feel like going out, so Mabelle and I went on the hunt for food to bring back. Since we were out so late, 1 a.m. ish... some of the restaurants were already shutting down... so we landed at a Tabacci and got some... drumroll please... baguettes with meat and cheese. Oh, and some pomme frites for Em.
We watched some t.v. and actually went to bed at like 3 a.m. We deicided we would wake up at like 8 or 9 on Sunday... since we learned our lesson today.

J'taime Paris!! Day 1

I am back kids and bottom line is... I loved it. It was AMAZING! It was a great trip. I cannot say enough to describe how awesome it was. Instead of babbling about it... I will tell the story.

Day #1.
Arrive in Paris at about 7 a.m. My passport does NOT get stamped. I was pissed. Not a great start to my awesome weekend. Whatever. Get on the train. Get off the train, at the wrong stop. As I try to exit the station, my ticket doesn't seem to work (apparently you have to run your ticket through the machine again to get out). So this grampa guy tries to do me a favor by letting me "piggyback" off of his exit and although I follow him out the gate quite closely, my backpack gets stuck in the closing doors. Great... all I need is to get stuck in some French jail. Low and behold, the man helps me rescue my backpack... I know he was regretting helping me. Close call.
Once I find my way back to the hotel...or should I say, by the time I find my way back to the hotel, it is about 10:30 a.m. I told you I got off at the wrong stop! Anyway... I go to check in and the room won't be ready until 2 p.m. I check in my luggage and scurry off into the city to explore and do general recon. It it chilly and rainy in *gay Paree*. I didn't wander off too far before I decided to try to get lunch. They didn't start serving lunch at most restaurants until 11:45 a.m. So I went about trying to get some good pictures. The architecture alone could use up most of my 2 gig memory chip. 11:45, time to eat. So I did. By the time that meal was over, it was about 1 p.m. and I decided to go wait in the hotel lobby. I was cold and very tired. So I sit. I don't realize it, but I doze off... that is until mr. hotel manager guy wakes me up telling me that I can't be sleeping in the hotel and that I must move on. I realize that this dude thinks I'm some gypsy or something... trying to catch some z's before hitting the streets at night... Hah! I tell him that it is HIM I am waiting on, to get my freaking room ready. He apologizes and goes to check on my room.
I get to the room. Drop my stuff on the ground and immediately jump in the shower. I can't figure out how to turn the heater on, so instead use the hair dryer to warm the room up. I try to take a nap but keep having nightmares about cheese? That I believe is a "work" issue that I have. Anyway, Tony told me that Mabelle and Emma were running late. Well... by 9:30 p.m. I was getting worried enough to call Tony back when they walk through the door! Yay! Our adventure can officially begin! After they take a few minutes to decompress and wind down, we head off to dinner. It is now 11 p.m. We go to a local restaurant, and although we were basically ignored at the door for a good 15 minutes, we get seated. Let's not forget that smoking is allowed, practically condoned in ALL public places. I feel this is their way of weeding out the Americans. Gross! We are sitting at the table for about 20 minutes, no lie, before the waiter comes to greet us. No shit. Then he hands us menus, in French of course. Now, the menu outside was also in English, so why does he have to mess with us like this? Mabelle and I go back outside to decide what we want to eat for dinner. We memorize the menu so that we can also advise Emma. We order. For 34 euros we get a starter, a main dish, dessert, coffee, a glass of champagne and a bottle of wine. Not a bad deal if you ask me. Well... our starter gets there at about 12:30 a.m. I got escargot. Very good. Then our main dish comes at about 1:15 a.m. I got a rack of lamb. Delish! Dessert came at about 2:30 a.m. I got some sort of pistachio ice cream... it was ok. All the mean while, Emma and I are drinking all the alcohol on the table. Emma is cracking me up and poor Mabelle is close to sliding under the table from embarrassment. We didn't get outta there until about 3 a.m. Oi vey, the foreshadowing of our entire weekend! Off to bed, we have a 7 a.m. wake-up call!