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!