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.