End of 2007

Well the year is over and it has been a good one in many ways like getting married :o) but it was also a sad in one, we lost Brenda. We will always remember her though and will continue on in our hearts in 2008. I'm sure she'll be there at my next triathlon :o) more on that later.



Rocky and I are hosting a small gathering with Olivia, Jeanette, Phil, the two of us and of course the puppies. So off I go to enjoy a lot of yummy food and good

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Years 2008.

Christmas here and gone

Christmas came and went and it left me about one size bigger in my pants...haa, haa. We had a wonderful time with Rocky's family although I did miss seeing my parents :o(

Friday Rocky and I had last minute shopping to do for each other so we split up. He went shopping in the Berkely/Emeryville are and I headed out to Walnut Creek. I dropped my car off to get the oil change and then went on a shopping mission. I managed to get it all done, get the oil changed and run one more errand and get the heck out of there before it got any crazier at the mall. I met up with Rocky at the Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley for lunch and then we headed back home to wrap more presents and relax.

Saturday we took the doggies to Pt. Isabel and went on a nice long walk then as we always do we gave the doggies a bath and then headed home. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and doing laundry. In the evening Rocky and I had dinner at a new Salvadorean restaurant we found in Berkeley, Plantano. It was super yummy.

We spent Sunday afternoon at Rocky's uncle/aunts house in Concord. We had lots of yummy food and great laughs. We did a white elephant gift exchange and Rocky and I came away with Caranium Turbo Edition and I got a bracelet. Not too bad, we love the Cranium game and are hoping to play it on New Year's :o) We got home fairly early since this was a lunch party so we spent the rest of the day relaxing and being in a food coma.

Monday I didn't do much but lounge around til the afternoon and then made my jalapeno thingies for dinner at my brother/sister-in-laws house. We headed out around 5 with the doggies and headed to Daly City. My brother and sister -in-law had made a nice spread of food :o) more food for our bellies. We had another nice evening with family, ate and another white elephant gift exchange. This time we came away with a gift card and a grilling cook book :o)

Tuesday was the major food coma day. I haven't had a chance to take part in the Reyes Family Christmas Day Brunch because usually by the time I get back into town they are done with breakfast this year since I stayed in town I was able to eat all the yummy food. Rocky's mom and dad made steaks, several types of omelets, fried rice, bagels, english muffins, mimosas and bloody mary's....holy smokes...lots of food but all very good. I tried a little of everything and afterwards passed out on the couch with the doggies for a nice long nap. Later in the afternoon we played Turbo Cranium which wasn't so turbo, it seemed like it took forever to finish the game which we actually didn't finish since it was then time for dinner. Yes, dinner. More yummy food and more stuffing of the belly which really really put me in a coma. So we headed home and I passed out feeling a bit icky :o(

Wednesday I wasn't feeling so great so I really did NOTHING. THe doggies and I slept, watched T.V., slept some more and just relaxed. I've had a bad headache for a few days and a few bloody noses :o( I think the heater being on so much and the icky weather is really messing up my sinuses. I'm hoping it goes away soon.

Yesterday and today I've spent the day running errands, hitting the stores for those holiday sales since I had a gift card and some shopping cash :o) I've also been cooking and trying out new recipes. Hubby has been working so the doggies and I have been trying to stay busy til he is off this weekend.

We are hosting New Year's here at our house on Monday which we are looking forward too. There will be 6 of us, so it'll be mellow but I'm sure we'll have a great time.

All in all the Christmas vacation has been good, fun and very relaxing. I really needed the break and will be nice and refreshed to go back to work next week. Now if the weather would just get better I'd be much happier.

Have a great weekend!

1 more day

til Santa arrives :o)

hope everyone is having a great break, boo, hoo for those that had to work today. I am about to go cook up some jalapeno thingies for the Christams Eve dinner at my sister-in-laws house...yummers!

on a happy note..

..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEENU!

Grinch Police

Today is my last day of work and I don't return til next Thursday, woohoo! But this morning the Danville Police were being Grinch's and pulled me over. My vacation starts with nice big fat $321 ticket :o(

I come up Crow Canyon from 680 to Danville and the speed limit is 40mph all they way through except for one SMALL section that is 25mph because of a school there. I am ALWAYS really really careful going through there because I know the cops hang out there just like they do on Sycamore Valley Road because of schools and because a couple of years ago they had a few kids killed there :o( so I totally understand why they are so strict. Sometimes though it's hard to come off that pedal quick enough and drop from 40-25 because in that area you are either going downhill or your just on a steady uphill and then all of a sudden you hit the yellow flashing lights for the school. Well this morning I didn't slow down to 25 which I knew and then I ran the yellow light, cop said it was because I wasn't going the speed limit and if I had been then I would have gotten the red light and had to stop. Anywho, he pulled me over because he said I ran the red light....WHUTTT??? No I didn't! I fully admit to going 35 and not 25 and I fully admit that I ran the yellow light but I DID NOT run a red light :o( I think my tail may not have been all the way in the crosswalk when the light turned red so I'm thinking that's why he said I ran the red. I dunno, gonna have to go back and read the darn driving book. He said that since I do have a clean record I can go to school, YAY, and it won't go on my record. Yeah, cause that's what I want to do, attend driving school :o( I guess the good thing is he only gave me the ticket for the red light and not for speeding but I'm still sad cause I've had no tickets in SO LONG!

I gotta say though that he was a very friendly cop and not a jerk. He told me that they are cracking down in that area and if I drive there everyday that I should be very cautious not only cause they are there but because it is a school zone. Then he wished me a happy Christmas. I'd be a lot happier if you tore up the ticket and gave me a warning :o) no luck!

Punk Rock Pooch

Can you tell that they aren't enjoying this? hee, hee :o)

Last night was a mellow night at home. I made some pasta for dinner and aftewards we just relaxed. It's been crazy at work for both of us and we have a few busy evenings this week so it was nice to just hang out.

It's POURING today so it's a pretty icky day and I'm sure happy I'm not out on the road. People try to be super cautious when it's raining and instead end of driving like morons and almost cause or cause accidents. I hate driving in the raining. This morning on 580 it was raining pretty hard but visibility was still good but some guy driving next to me, in the fast lane, was driving at like 40 mph glued to his steering wheel like he couldn't see and was weaving in and out of the lane :o( I was next to him and had to floor it to drive past him before he ended up hitting me. First of all what the heck are you doing in the fast lane? and second of all if you are that scared to drive maybe you should ride BART. Urrrggghhhhh!

Tex & Rex

Presents, Presents, Presents!

Daisy: I demand my presents now! I am dressed in this gingerbread dress and I want my presents now! Don't I get anything for being such a good girl and dressing in these crazy little but cute dresses which I have made clear I do not enjoy wearing? I guess I'll just sit under this tree for 11 more days :o( GEESH! I tell ya!

Daisy: Give me my toy back! That's my gingerbread toy, it goes with my dress, how rude!Patch: haa, haa, it's MINE now!

Happy Friday!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Siesta

Oh how I wish we had nap time at work. I am falling asleep :O( My boss was too so he decided that instead of staring at his screen any longer he'd go wrap presents for his clients. I unfortunately am still staring into some spreadsheets :o(

Yesterday was a very long day but it was a fun day. I even got to do some Christmas shopping during the day :o) My boss's wife own's a gift shop and she has a lot of nice gifty stuff but she closes at 5pm and I can't make it down there after work because I get off at 5 so yesterday after lunch he let me go shopping :O) I picked up a few things to finish off the peeps on my list. Now I really am officially done...YAY! Now I just need to finish wrapping.

My first stop after work was to the Blackhawk Country Club. The homeowners association here in Blackhawk where we work invited us to their holiday party. We had a drink and had some appetizers and laughed our heads off with the lovely ladies from the HOA. We didn't stay long though because I had to go to Stitch-n-Bitch at Amy's. I haven't opened our gift yet but I understand it's a small fire extinguisher....uhhhh, THANKS!

I headed over to Amy Poo's house and got there about 7ish to join the ladies for some pizza, wine and chatting. I did no knitting, I was too pooped. It was a nice evening and once again THANK YOU AMY for having us over. I think this will be our last one til January. I really need to pick up my knitting again. I have lots of projects & yarn that I need to and would like to do.

I made a quick stop by Target, AGAIN and then made it home. Hubby had been out Christmas shopping so I picked up a few special size boxes for wrapping the things he got. By the time we got settled it was midnight, way too late for me.

I really really would like a nap.

Chug Chug, w00T w00T

Nothing exciting to write about other than interesting stuff on the news. I've got a holiday party at 5:30 and then Stitch-n-Bitch at 7pm, busy girl. I'm looking forward to seeing the ladies and getting some knitting done. Hubby is off to do some christmas shopping :o) hope I'm on the good list :o)

w00T w00T

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - English-language dictionary Merriam-Webster said Wednesday that an expression popular with people that play online computer games was voted its word of the year for 2007.

The word "w00t," spelled using the number zero in place of the letter "o," placed first in a Top Ten list based on votes by visitors to Merriam-Webster's website.

The word is described as an exclamation "expressing joy, possibly after a triumph or for no reason at all" and is similar to the word "yay."

An example given by the dictionary is "w00t! I won the contest."

The word is also considered an acronym in the online gaming world for "We owned the other team," according to US-based Merriam-Webster.

Merriam-Webster said "w00t" hasn't made it into the dictionary but being chosen as word of the year "just might improve its chances."

The word is part of computer hacker vernacular referred to as "l33t," or "elite," speak used in competitive online computer game forums.

The customized language combines letters and numbers used in their stead, such as a number three for the letter "E" or a number four for the letter "A."

Second-place in the word-of-the-year contest went to "facebook," making an unofficial verb of the name of the popular social networking website.

The meaning given to "facebook" is to post a picture, party news or other information to profile pages at the website.

Also finishing in the top ten of the competition were yet-to-be-sanctioned words "blamestorm" and "sardoodledom," according to Merriam-Webster.

A blamestorm is a verb described as a group discussion of why a deadline was missed or a project botched and whose fault it was.

Sardoodledom is derived from English playwright George B. Shaw's criticism of French peer Victorien Sardou and is used to mean contrived plots or stereotypical characters in dramatic works.

Chug Chug Chug (people are moron's is all I have to say about this article)

BERLIN - A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing two pints of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new rules about carrying liquids aboard a plane, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred Tuesday at the Nuremberg airport, where the 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a vacation in Egypt.

New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked.

Instead, he chugged the vodka — and was quickly unable to stand or otherwise function, police said.

A doctor called to the scene determined he had possibly life-threatening alcohol poisoning, and he was sent to a Nuremberg clinic for treatment. The man, whose name was not released, is expected to be able to go home in a few days.

WINDY!

It's feels like we are in the windy city of Chicago around here. It's SUPER windy and the high for today is going to be 50 degrees. YIKES it's getting cold. It's so cold that my doggies, well Patch, doesn't even want to get out of bed in the morning.

See him behind Daisy? Oh and No, I did not teach my dog to do this, he somehow I guess watched the humans and figured out how to sleep like us and that it's nice and comfy and cozy if he crawls under the covers, puts his head on the pillow and cocoons himself. This is how he sleeps when he is in the bed with us. Funny Dog!

Last night was a mellow night for us. I had to do some grocery shopping so I did that on my way home from work, got some gas and the headed home for a nice dinner with my hubby. After dinner I got started on wrapping some of the presents we've bought. I have to go to Target, AGAIN, because I realized I don't have bows and ribbons but that's okay cause those have to go on at the very last minute. Patchie Poo likes to play with the ribbons so by the time Christmas rolls around my presents are ribbonless. Funny Dog!

Under a Rock

Sometimes I find that being a TiVo watcher isn't such a good thing because you miss the "happenings" of the day. Like commercials for the 10pm news because I'm watching shows on my TiVo which means I don't watch commercials. I often don't find out the major news headlines of the weekend until I log on at work on Monday's and see them on yahoo. I had NO IDEA that the weather in Oklahoma was so terrible :o( oopsy, my brother lives in Oklahoma. I was swamped at work yesterday so it wasn't til later in the day that I read about the ice storm. I'll have to call them and make sure they are okay.

The weekend was super busy for me but I got a lot done.

Friday night I went home, changed clothes and then the hubby and I headed out to do some christmas tree and gift shopping. We hit a yummy mexican restaurant in Castro Valley and then went to the tree lot. We found our tree within a few second of walking into the lot which was nice cause not too much time was spent out in the FREEZING cold. We decided to go with the Charlie Brown looking tree and it's about 5ft tall. I like the trees with more spacing in the branches because you ca really see thew ornaments and they don't seem to be as messy. We had them cut off a bit of the bottom to straighten it out, they put a net on it and then the little man from the lot stuck the tree in the car. Next stop, Target.

We needed to pick up ornaments, lights and some gifts. I think we were there for maybe an hour and we managed to get quite a few things off our shopping list. We went PetsMart for some doggie litter and then we made our way back home. We were very productive if I say so myself. Hubby and I are a good team :o)

Patch, being the center of attention decided to sit on the tree skirt

Daisy wasn't too sure about this whole Christmas tree thing, so she hid behind the couch

:o) aren't they cute? Our two little helpers

We decided to decorate the tree so by the time we hit the sack it was a little past midnight. We were short a string of lights so I had to go by Target one more time over the weekend but it wasn't too bad and I managed to pick up a few more things we needed to decorate. I love the way our tree and other decorations in the house turned out. It all looks very cute.

Saturday Rocky and the band boy were at the studio all day and into the evening. They are finishing recording their CD. Olivia and I decided to head up to Livermore because I found out last week that the winery I am a member of had a little reception and release of the wines. I wasn't expecting to pick up wine til January but I guess they decided to release wines now I'm guessing for the holiday. Anyway, we spent a nice day up in Livermore tasting some new wines and finished up at the reception at Tamas and picking up my wine. The gentlemen that poured our wine at Concannon was telling us that because of the type of soil in Livermore the wines, especially the white wines, tend to be A LOT sweeter. I finding that I'm not liking many of the whites in that area. I much rather have the reds and then even at some wineries I didn't like those. I think there were two wineries we went to that I poured out all my tastings because I didn't like them. It's all very interesting although I still don't know as much as there is to know about wine but I think each time we go we find out a little more.


I dropped off Olivia back home, she a party to go to in SF with Ms. Brandy so I decided that since my hubby still wasn't home and since I was in Walnut Creek that I would try to get more of my shopping done. Mission accomplished. I managed to find parking right away, hit quite a few stores without being trampled by all the crazy shoppers, I had a slice of pizza and then I was on my way home, sort of, I hit some bad Saturday night traffic :o( I got a lot more stuff off our list though and now I can breathe a little easier. I think I just have my parents and Rocky and I am DONE Christmas shopping :o) YAY!


I got home about 7ish, put my pj's on and watched TV with the doggies til Rocky finally made it home. We were both pooped so off to bed we went. Sunday was going to be another long day.


Rocky had Kali as he usually does on Sunday's and I got up and went back to Target. I came home and did a little cleaning and then our TNT friend Belinda came over so we could help her out with my bike she is buying and also to go on a ride with her.


Rocky switched out the pedals that I was using on the bike for different ones and then he showed her how to clip in and out. She only fell once :o) YAY Belinda. I had a flat tire on my bike so Rocky showed us how to change it. I swear I've been shown numerious times and I still can't do it :o( We then headed out to Berkeley for a nice 11 mile bike ride. Belinda did a great job considering it was her first time out with the clipless pedals. A few more rides and she'll be doing really great. I am still getting used to mine aswell but I felt much better this time and the nice thing about our ride, it was FLAT :o) It felt good to be out although it was quite chilly.


We went home and I had to jump in the shower because I had been invited to a holiday dinner with the ladies at the pet store I shop at. They had a invited a few of their loyal customers/friends for a gift exchange/dinner. We had dinner at the chinese restaurant next door to the store. We laughed a lot and had a great time. I really like those ladies they are great doggie store owners. By the time I made it home it was kind of late for a Sunday so we just watched a little tv and went to bed. My Sunday shows are gone :o( because of the darn writers strike so I don't have much to watch now. It seems like it's going to happen to all my shows though. At this point Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives or Brothers & Sisters are all on a break for a long time, maybe even til next year :o(

4 Course Meal

I'm so sleepy right now. 4 course meals should not be allowed for lunch. We had our Oakland office holiday lunch today and my boss and I were invited because technically that's the office we work for. We have an office in Danville which is a project office and we are here full time but our official Kleinfelder office is Oakland. Anywho, we had a great time and the food was super yummy but now I need a serious nap...zzzzzzz!!!

I'm glad it's Friday, I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit. We've got a little bit of a busy weekend but not too bad.

GOOD LUCK AMY at the Rocket City Marathon!

Tis the Season to be RAINY

Yesterday I had one of many holiday parties to attend. We held a open house/holiday party in our office. We invited our contractors, consultants and clients. We catered with Draeger's and it was super yummy. We had a good turnout and everyone had a great time. Tomorrow I get to attend the holiday lunch for my Oakland office.

Tonight Rocky and I are going to head out in the rain :o( to buy our Christmas tree. We had hoped to bring the doggies but since it'll probably be very wet and muddy they will be staying at home. I doubt we'll get it all decorated but at least we'll get it bought and into our house. I realized last night that I need to go buy some lights, I have decorations but no lights. If there's time then I think I'll sit down and start making my shopping list. I REALLY need to start christmas shopping...eeeekkkk!

Tis the Season

I've been so busy the last few days I haven't even had a chance to update about our weekend.

Saturday we headed to Pyreneese Pet's for our holiday pictures which turned out a little more challenging than last year but we still got some cute pictures and got a great family one for our Christmas cards this year. Ms. Daisy was dressed in a pink dress and Mr. Patch in holiday sweater. Of course it was FREEZING that day and this year they decided to set up the picture booth outside :o( poor little Daisy was shivering the whole time. Daisy is a bit of a wiggle worm so getting her to pose wasn't as easy as Patch. Santa also wasn't quite sure how to hold them both so in some pictures you can tell Patch isn't to certain about what is happening. It was funny.





We were short on time so we headed home after pictures. The doggies were pooped which was a good thing because we needed to drop them off at home to head to the city. Olivia met us at the house and then we headed into SF for the Kathy Griffin show. We headed out kind of early because we weren't sure how bad the traffic would be and good thing we did because we did hit some traffic. We had dinner at a pretty good sushi restaurant in San Francisco with free parking, yay! By the time we left the restaurant and got to the Nob Hill Masonic Center it was 6:30 and we thought we had plenty of time before the 7pm show...WRONG!!! Every parking lot in the area was FULL and no street parking to be found so Rocky just dumped us off and went to look for parking, far away :o(

The show was great although there were some bad sounds issues and we could barely hear her at first. Eventually it all got worked out and we were able to enjoy the show until some darn women behind us kept talking loud and Rocky had to say something to them, how rude!

I LOVE Kathy Griffin, she is hilarious. She made quite a few references to things that had been on the Oprah Winfrey show which of course I TiVo so it made things really funny since I had watched them.

We were out of there fairly early so we hit the Holy Cow in SF and then eventually made our way home. It was a fun evening.

Sunday was spent vegging out with the hubby and the doggie. We had intended on going to get a Christmas tree but it was cold, windy and looked icky out. We chose to put it off til tomorrow.

The holiday spirit is slowly making it's way into our home. I've had a few functions to plan for my work and I've been swamped with work work that I haven't had a chance to really think about our own holiday stuff but last night I put up a few things and it's looking cute.

Olivia and I had dinner at her house since my hubby had band practice and seeing all her stuff up really got me in the mood to decorate our place. By the way if anyone is wondering how the local crabs are doing....OMG...they are meaty and taste yummy. Olivia and I had crab for dinner last night and it was delicious. She also made a salad, rice, rolls and for desert we had peppermint bark.

Okay, back to Christmas.......I can't wait to get our Christmas tree and get it all decorated. It'll be our first Christmas in our new place and married :o) We've also gotta start making our shopping lists and actually get out there into the madness and shop.

BOSTON QUALIFIER!

CONGRATULATIONS to our friend Cindy Short, she qualified to run the Boston Marathon next year :o) WOOHOOO, way to go Cindy.

In order to be able to do the Boston Marathon you must qualify and qualify with a darn fast time. My best marathon time is 5 hours and to qualify for Boston I'd have to run a 3:40...haa, haa, that's never happening.

Anyway, Cindy's qualifying time for her age group is 4:15, she finished in 4:12 :o) She has kicked butt all year getting faster and faster. YAY Cindy!

OOPS...

...I almost forgot

to all our friends running the

Cal International Marathon this Sunday.

Our friend Cindy Short is hoping to qualify for Boston 2008 :o)

RUN FAST MRS. CINDY, we'll be rooting for you.

WUUUTTT????

Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad." read more here.

This is crazy, it was just a teddy bear :o( Remind me not to name my bears.

Lots has been going on in the R & C Reyes household. I am pooped and although we have a busy Saturday I am looking forward to relaxing a little on Sunday.

Monday we just stayed home and relaxed.

Tuesday was a LONG day since after work we headed out to look at cars after work. My hubby's Pathfinder needed thousands of dollars of repair so we went back and forth toying with the idea of buying a new car for him. It's also a huge gas guzzlor and these days there are smaller all wheel drive SUV's that aren't as bad on gas. Anyway, so we headed out car shopping on Tuesday night and came home with another crossover vehicle, the Nissan Rogue, it's Nissan's version of my Honda CR-V. It's very nice and will work great for us. Gas guzzling/Money Guzzling Pathfinder is gone to find a new home.

Wednesday was also another long day for us. Amy and I met after work and had our pedicures done in Walnut Creek and afterwards I headed home to meet my hubby so we could head to Daly City. My BIL's bday was on Sunday and we hadn't had a chance to celebrate so we did on Wednesday. We picked up Rocky's parents and then headed to a Chinese Restaurant that my BIL had picked out. OMG, it was way to authentic for me and I only liked about 2 things of the 7 they had ordered. We didn't order anything weird but they did have things like frogs, fungus and chicken feet on the menu. I also think things like whole chickens and ducks came with the head still attached, eeewww. I did try a little of everything but the only things I really liked were the noodles w/beef and the wonton soup. Then we headed out to Mel's Diner for some dessert. I had a chocolate covered macaroon...yumm! Happy Birthday Martin!

Yesterday I went home and did nothing after work. Rocky had band practice so after he left the doggies and I headed to bed, watched tv a little and then went to sleep.

I am very happy it's Friday, it's been pretty hectic here at work. I'm really counting down the days til we are off for the holidays.

This weekend we've got picture day with the doggies, going to see Kathy Griffin's show and christmas tree shopping.

I still haven't downloaded my pics :o( I'll try to get it done over the weekend.

Have a great weekend!

Less than 30 Days!

I just realized as I started to write this post that my ticker says we only have 28 days til Christmas. When did that happen? I know it's almost December but I think I'm refusing to accept it. I have no desire to go hit the malls with all the other bagillion people shopping. Last year I did a lot online but this year I'm behind on that....*SIGH*

Well the Thanksgiving Holiday/4 Day weekend was good for us. We ate a LOT of food, got to relax, hung out with friends and hung out with our dogggies.

Thursday morning I slept in pretty late because I was fighting off a cold which thankfully didn't develop into anything major and went away. I got up around noonish, YES NOON :o) and started preparing those yummy Jalapeno Thingies from Pioneer Women's site. YUM! Once those were done we started getting ready and headed out of the house around 3 to Daly City. We celebrated Thanksgiving at Rocky's parent's house and this year there were about 20 of us. We had food for about 100. There was the usual Thanksgiving spread, Filipino dishes and all kinds other stuff including some yummy desserts. I was stuffed like a piggie when we left there and even got a nice package of leftovers to take home. It was a nice mellow evening with the Reyes Family.

Friday, I slept in again but not too late. We had plans to meet my friend Debbie and her parents for lunch and then wine tasting in Livermore. We had lunch at a very cowboyish/westerney looking restaurant in Livermore which I can't remember the name of but was really good. We hit the wineries after that and I think we managed to make about 7 wineries. Some we just walked into and looked around and others we actually tasted at. One of the stops I wanted to make was at Concannon. We just opened up a bottle of their wine and really liked it so we wanted to buy some more. I also found a new place I liked, Tamas Estates, so we got a bottle there. Afterwards, we headed home to relax.

Saturday morning, we actually got up fairly early and headed to Pt. Isabel with the doggies for their weekend stroll around the park. We ran into Petra & Domino so we chatted/walked with Petra for a bit before they took off. We finished off the loop and then it was bath time for the doggies. They always hate this part :o( We finished up there and then decided to go bike shopping. It was suppose to be window shopping but now there sits a pretty new bike in our house :o)

Last year I got a new bike to do the Triathlon and although it served it's purpose the bike is too big for me. It's the smallest that came in that model but it's still just a few inches to big so it makes riding it a bit uncomfortable. One of our running friends from the Summer Team is interested in buying my old one and is getting it fitted to see if it'll work for her, if it doesn't then I'll be selling it on craigslist. I can get a pretty good amount for it since it's only a year old and only has 200 miles on it. New, the bike is still quite pricey. Anyway, so we've been looking online for new ones and had picked 3 of them to go look at. I found one that I really liked and had components, fit me and was on sale. The bonus was that when were were finishing up paperwork the guy remembered we were with TNT so he gave us the TNT discount....woohooo...so we couldn't pass it up. I'll have to post pictures later, I haven't downloaded them off my camera.

While we were at the bike shop my BIL, SIL and niece & nephew met up with us so we could go out to dinner. We all drove out to Lafayette and met Rocky's cousin, Rodney, there. We had dinner at Bo's. The food was finger licking good :o) We will definitely be going back there again, but maybe not so soon. It was a lot off food and once again we had stuffed our bellies.

Noticing a trend here? Eat, Sleep, Repeat :o)

Sunday, we got up and headed out on the bikes. We went on an 11 mile bike ride on the Lafayette/Moraga Trail. It was super chilly so we froze and I wasn't feeling so hot from all the food we'd eaten the past few days. It was good to be out though and it was good to be on the new bike which I can tell is gonna make a huge difference in my comfort when riding.

Rocky and I have decided to do the Solvang Bike Ride. Since we aren't planning on a spring half marathon we figured we'd better find a new goal. Rocky is going to do the century and I'm going to do the 50 miler. We will be training on our own. If we joined the cycle team with Team in Training we'd have to raise about $4500 and we just finished fundraising for the run team so that won't work for us :o( I'm sure though we'll find some riding buddies and manage to get the training in on our own. My goal is to eventually complete a century but I think that'll have to wait til next year when I can join the team and fundraise again. It'll be nice though to go down there and see what doing a bike race is like. A few of our running buddies are on the team so we'll know people doing it as well. Should be fun.

My eating for the weekend finished off with a very good salami sandwich for lunch after the bike ride. Then we went home and plopped on the bed with the doggies and watched TV for the rest of the day. It was super cold in our house so we actually had to turn the heater on for the first time. It got nice and toasty to I fit in a nap and then watched more tv.

Monday was back to work and it's been pretty hectic. I've been a good girl as far as eating and plan to be at least until the Christmas festivities begin. I heard on the radio that the average American gains 6 lbs between November and Jauary....YIKES! That's not good!

I Heart My Girlfriends

A few weekendS ago we had a photo shoot with one of our summer tnt participants who's a photographer. She usually does kids but she agreed to take some pictures of our group of friends. We met at one of the beaches in Alameda, she did an amazing job and got some great shots.

Last year for Brandy's birthday I gave her a little plaque to hang and it really relates to our group of friends because life is life and we all get busy and don't always get to see each other but we know that we can just pick up the phone or type an eamil :o) and we are there for each other.

The plaque said:

GOOD FRIENDS ARE LIKE STARS.

YOU DON'T ALWAYS SEE THEM,

BUT YOU KNOW THEY'RE ALWAYS THERE

Birthday Cake & More Birthday Cake

The end of the week last week was a bit stressful because I had Ms. Daisy spayed :o( I had Patch neutered when he was about 8-10 months old but he was quite a bit bigger and I just didn't feel like I had much to worry about. He was in and out of there and recovered great. Ms. Daisy though barely weighs 5lb. I was told to wait to spay here until she was at least 5 or 6lbs and we did but in the last few weeks she has started teething so she hasn't been eating much. Of course we weigh her on surgery day and she's barely 5lbs, oops :O( Anyway, they did lab work to make sure her kidney's and liver could handle the anesthesia. They also hooked her up to an IV during surgery to keep her hydrated and to help with the flushing out of the anesthesia after surgery. She was given lots of pain meds as well. Does this sound like I'm talking about a human? haa, haa, it sure does but nope it was just my little Daisy. She did great during surgery and has been doing great recovering. Her dad allowed her to sleep in the bed for 3 days while she recovered but last night she went back in her crate. Thursday and Friday she was pretty sleepy and whiney but now she's doing good and back to horsing around with Patch. I think she was missing that.

Saturday I met my friend Debbie for lunch. She came over to the house to check it out, she's a busy girl so she hadn't made it over to our house since we've moved in. We went over to Samuri Sushi Boat for lunch and then back to my house to hang out. It was good seeing her.

We headed out around 3pm to meet Olivia in Emeryville so we could carpool over to Mill Valley for our first birthday celebration of the weekend, Ms. Brandy's 34th Birthday. Her BF lives in Mill Valley and she was hosting a birthday dinner at his house. We had some YUMMY Apple Martini's with appetizers and later when everyone had arrived we ate some yummy lasagna, salad, green beans she had made. It was a great evening with friends and yummy food. OH and I can't forget the delicious CHOCOLATE cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDY!

Sunday we headed out to Pt. Isabel to celebrate Patch's 2nd Birthday. His real bday is on Wednesday but we wanted to have something on the weekend with the other doggies. I ordered a cake from Annabelle's Dog Bakery in Walnut Creek, she made his cake last year, and we invited a few doggie friends and their parents to come out and join us. We did the cake first. That was pretty funny. Mr. Patch LOVES his cake and so did the other doggies. In fact Ms. Riley ate her cake, Patch's cake and Domino's cake. I had to serve seconds so the other doggies could actually eat a decent size piece. At one point some strange doggie came over and Patch about took his head off. He was an uninvited guest eating his doggie cake, he wasn't having it. Brycen & Abby showed up a little late so they got to take their pieces home and even got to take a piece home to their sibling, Jagger.

We had a great turnout with six doggies and their parents and even auntie Olivia made the drive out to celebrate.

Doggies: Riley, Domino, Abby, Brycen, Patch & Daisy

and their Parents: Brandon and his girlfriend Leticia, Petra, Rudy and his wife, Cheri, Rocky, myself and auntie Olivia.

Mind over Matter

Zoe Koplowitz finished the New York City Marathon in 28 hours and 45 minutes. NOPE I'm not kidding. She has MS and Diabetes but the 2007 NYC Marathon was her 20th. You can read a great article here about her day in NY. It's pretty darn amazing.

We actually had on our team a lady, Ida, who has MS and she was determined to finish a marathon. Her words, "I will not let MS take over my life". There were times that we would worry about her and didn't think she'd make it another step but she was always out there and always with a smile even if she wasn't feeling to great. She worked with Mama Lisa, our coach, on a schedule that would allow her to do the Nike Half Marathon and then the New York Marathon. SHE DID!

At some point during the race in NY I saw her and she was smiling and just walking along with her partner. She said she was doing great. I wasn't sure if she'd finished because her time wasn't posted but later in the week we found out she had finished in 10+ hours.

I saw her last night at our end of the season party and she just had a smile from ear to ear and showing off her medal.

Like Coach says, if you don't mind it don't matter. She has MS and it doesn't matter, she went out and did the damn thing and finished :O)

New York Marathon Race Report

I have got to admit the the race is a big blur to me. I was watching the race on TV the other day and there were so many parts of it that I couldn't remember going by. I think I was delirious :o( and the pain had taken over.

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, we arrived at the starting area at about 6:30am, all bundled up in many many layers of clothes and we all had brought blankies. We sat around, ate, went to the potty several times and just tried to relax, even though it was freezing, for quite a few hours.

We had heard that they wanted us to check in our bags by 9:15 and if you know me, you know I hate crowds and I hate waiting til the last minute to do things. At about 8:30 I started asking everyone if they wanted to go check in their stuff since the clothes that were keeping us warm we were throwing away anyway so why hold on to our bags. I got a few frowns cause everyone was so cold and didn't want to move so we waited a little longer. At 8:45 I decided that I would start heading over and just check in my stuff. I didn't need anything in the bag anyway.

OMG, it was the most horrible bag check ever. It was almost like the 45,000 people running this race were all at the bag check and not being nice at all :o( We were shoulder to shoulder and people were pushing and being mean. The way in was also the way out of that area so it was a mess. I being little do not do well in these situations and started to panic. I tend to get squashed and trampled on so I found a nook in the crowd that was coming out and I managed to little by little inch my way through. Next thing I know a man had jabbed his elbow into my chest, OUCH! I yelled at him and he wouldn't move his elbow and then proceeded to call me names because he said I wasn't being patient. YOU ARE RIGHT! I am not being patient because I am being crushed by all the darn people behind me and I'm little and it hurts so screw you Mr.!!! I inched on through and luckily my bus was the 3rd one, I checked my stuff in and then somehow manged to inch my way out of there :o( what a nightmare. They really need to redo that whole baggage area thing.

We all met back up in the area we had been sitting and then walked over to our corral. Luckily it was about a half hour wait maybe before the start of the race. It took us about 15 minutes cross the finish line and once we did we were on our way up the Verazano-Narrows Bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn.



I decided to stay with Lindsay and Monica, they had decided to do a 5:3 run/walk and that sounded good to me. Monica and I walk pretty fast so staying with them was fine. Although I was able to do this I could just tell that my body did not really feel like running and I was feeling good but not great, it was weird.

We kept this pace for quite a while but soon Lindsay and I started feeling pretty icky. I think we both over did it on the water and were really starting to feel the effects of it. We both added some salt by eating pretzels and me drinking gatorade and salt tablets. After a little while we both felt better except now it felt much better to walk than to run so we kept a steady pace and kept on moving.

We knew that our families/friends would be at mile 16 so I think the main goal became to just get to that point and we did.

that is the Queensboro Bridge where we came off of

Rocky, Phil, Carol Lee & Lakshman at Mile 16

Rocky bathing me in Biofreeze and putting on my ankle bandage

I had a hard time though because somewhere around mile 14ish my ankle really started to hurt :o( I knew Rocky had the Biofreeze & ankle bandage ready for me but it was hurting really bad. I think it was around this time that Monica and Lindsay started talking to a guy who was walking next to us. We introduced ourselves and found out that he was an ING employee and this was his first race. He looked younger than me and very much in shape, like he should be at mile 20 something at an 8 minute mile not here at mile 14 walking with us. I guess he had a really bad IT band injury and his knee was hurting so he was only able to run 3 miles and had been walking the rest of the way. Anyway, he decided we were fun and motivating so he stayed with us. Plus we had Biofreeze :o) and he needed it.

We were finally on the Queensboro Bridge and it seemed to take forever to get off it. Rocky, Phil, Lakshman, Carol Lee & Kieren were all waiting for us at the bottom of the bridge. The bridge was super quiet but as we got closer to the bottom you could hear all the cheers and I managed to get some energy and run down the bridge to where Rocky was. That's when the tears came. As soon as I saw my hubby I started crying and told him I didn't want to do the race anymore. My ankle hurt and at this point so did my knees and I was ready to quit. He told me to put the bandage on, lather up with Biofreeze and that I would be fine and to be on my way. FINE! I did and on my way I went.

Lindsay and Monica decided to start running. Lindsay was also starting to hurt pretty bad in the back of her knees and said running felt better, I could not run so I stayed back and found that the girls had left me with Andrew. We went miles and miles walking and walking and walking. For a long time no words were said we would just ask each other every few miles if the other one was okay and just keep on going. I think we both felt better knowing someone was there even though we didn't know each other and we were both hurting. Rocky & Phil would be at mile 23 and this now became my goal, GET TO MILE 23!

From 16-23 it looks like we kept from a 15-16 1/2 minute mile. I felt like I was doing 30 minute miles and was never going to get there but I guess we were moving along. I had a moment of panic and anxiety when we made it to 23 and Rocky was not there. We also had the fire trucks/police escorts right on our tail. I gathered myself and just kept going and next thing I know at around 23.5 there was Rocky and Phil were waiting for me. At this point my back was killing me, my hips, my knees and my ankle but now I had them with me and there was no way I was quitting here. They made sure that Andrew and I were okay and they stayed with us. It was cold and very dark by this time, it felt like it was midnight and the race people were starting to tear down the barriers.....YIKES! but we still had a lot of time before the 8 hour cutoff so we knew we'd be okay.

with my new friend at mile 24ish, it's only like 4:30ish but it looks like it's midnight :o( and he's in space blankie because it had gotten super cold. they handed out space blankets at the aid stations. I luckily had kept my long sleeve top and had my hands tucked into it.

Keep on Walking, Walking, Walking!

The boys pushed me along and eventually we split from Andrew. I think he was really having a hard time walking at this point and I had somehow found a little burst of energy to make me move faster through that last mile. I know it was Rocky, Phil and the spectators. Phil was carrying the signs he had made for us so as I walked along Central Park he held up the signs and the few spectators that were left cheered for me. It felt awesome.

When I saw that I only had about 200 yards to go I decided to run in. I finished in 6:59:48.

This by far was the funnest race I've ever done because of all the spectators although at the end it did get lonely because people had gone home. I didn't get to experience a gagillion people cheering me on but that is okay, hey at least the finish line was still up :O)

It was also the toughest race I've ever done. Mentally it was draining and physically it was painful but I'm glad I did it and now I can say I'm one of the few that has gotten into and has finished the New York City Marathon.

NY Trip Report

Thursday

Thursday evening Rocky and I took the doggies to Daly City. They were going to be baby sat by my BIL & SIL (brother & sister in law). At the very last minute we made the decision to leave Daisy behind. Original plans were to take her to NY with us because she is still little and very attached to us but I had a panic moment on Thursday and decided it wasn’t a good trip for us to take her on. Plus she gets cold and the temperatures in NY were starting to drop. I called my SIL and she assured me things would be okay and to go ahead and leave her. So we did.

Fast forward to Tuesday when we picked them up, she did great. Both doggies were super spoiled and loved while we were gone :o) In fact my SIL’s mom wanted to keep Ms. Daisy. Very cute. We are glad that we left them together. It would have been way too hectic for us to bring her.

Friday – Travel & Pasta Dinner Day

Alarm clock went off at 5:30am. Rocky and I were all packed except for last minute stuff so all we had to do was get ready and throw those few things in the suitcase. Olivia and Bree were gonna meet us at our house at 6:30am so we could carpool to the airport. We arrived at Oakland Airport pretty fast, no traffic, checked the car in with the parking lot and got shuttled over to our terminal at Jet Blue. We grabbed a bit to eat and at 8:20ish boarded our plane bound for NY.

Plane ride was pretty uneventful. I did a little reading and watched tv. I brought my knitting stuff but didn’t get any done :o(

We arrived in NY at 5:00pm (NY time). Grabbed our suitcases and waited for the limo service to pick us up. We decided to get a limo because it was cheaper and easier for our big group. This was my first time in a limo so I was pretty excited.

Jeanette and Petra had arrived at different terminals. Jeanette walked over to our terminal and once the limo had us all settled we’d drive over and pick up Petra.

Let me just say that I HATED the whole limo thing. First of all limos have about the same amount of space in their trunk than a car, okay maybe just a tad bigger but NOT MUCH. How in the heck are you supposed to get luggage for 8 people in it? Our driver was acting like it was the first time he’d ever driven the darn limo and had never had to deal with the dilemma of getting the luggage in. We all had to help him. Our luggage ended up in the trunk, in the front seat and in the limo with us. It was not fun and at first it was just 7 of us we still had to pick up Petra :o( Picked Petra up and had to do the luggage rearrange thing and finally we were on our way.

I was sitting on the side part and ended up feeling super sick. I had to switch places with Amy so I could sit facing forward and next to the window. The limo ride was about an hour because of the traffic and when we finally arrived at the airport I was nauseas and had a massive headache :o( We all flew out of the limo and into our hotel, the Hilton. We checked in and put our luggage away, freshened up and then walked over to Carmine’s for our pasta dinner.

Dinner was super yummy. It was family style so we were able to try quite a few different plates. Thank god we had made reservations because the place was packed. The only bad thing was we weren’t able to all sit together. When I made the reservations a few months ago I was told that any groups over 14 had to use the banquet room and order off the banquet menu of $42 pp….YIKES! So instead we made two reservations, one under my name and one under Olivia’s with smaller groups. Olivia’s group was seated downstairs and mine upstairs :o( we all had a good time though and really enjoyed the food.

Dinner reservations were at 8pm so by the time we got out of there it was late and we were pooped. We headed back to the hotel to unpack and get settled and get some sleep.

Saturday – Expo & Pasta Dinner (again!) Day

We agreed to meet in the lobby at 8:00am on Saturday. It was an early day for us but we wanted to get the Expo thing out of the way early before EVERYONE hit the expo. We walked over to Starbucks to get some coffee and a bite to eat and then we were on our way.

When we arrived at the expo it was fairly mellow. We grabbed our goodie bags and then shopped around. OMG, did I shop :o) and my hubby spoiled me. Hey, it’s my last full marathon, I gotta go out in style :o) They had some very cute race swag so I stocked up. When we left the expo it was much more crowded. We are glad we went early.

Next stop, lunch. We went to Carnegie Deli, a very famous and yummy deli. Only bad thing was the portions are huge. It was crowded but they managed to fit us all in before the really big crowds came. It was a very yummy lunch and then afterwards we all wobbled on back to the hotel.

Amy, Bree, Petra & I decided to go scope out the subway situation so we wouldn’t have to do it at 4am on Sunday. We went back to the hotel to put our things away and ask the concierge where the nearest subway line was to the Staten Island Ferry. We headed out to find it, check out the route and train we were suppose to be on and purchase tickets. We headed back and I made a quick trip with the girls to a knitting store, it was a pretty sad store so I bought nothing and headed back to the hotel with Amy & Bree. Pertra decided to keep on walking around but we really needed to get off our feet.

We headed back to our rooms and got all our race gear ready. Olivia came and hung out with Jeanette and I til it was time for dinner. We watched tv and I think even managed to doze off for a few minutes.

My hubby and Phil were out on their own adventure and were meeting us at dinner.

Dinner Saturday evening was at Angelo’s. It was right next to where the Late Show is taped and I guess it’s the restaurant that David Letterman sends his peeps to get pizza at. It too was pretty busy but we were seated right away since we had reservations. MORE PASTA and that was I think my last pasta meal for a long time. I’m sick of pasta although it was yet another yummy meal.


We headed back to the hotel and called it a night. Wake up call was scheduled for 3:30am :o(

Rocky and Phil went on another adventure, making cheering signs for us. THANK YOU!

Sunday – RACE DAY!

Alarm, cell phone, wake up call – 3:30am as scheduled. We got up, got dressed and had our first meal of the morning. Jeanette and I headed down and met Raji and Olivia in the lobby. Rocky and Lakshman took a few pics and on our way we went. We made it to the subway station in time to take the 5:00am train but after a bit of confusion we found out that the train we were looking for didn’t start running til 6:30…YIKES! Another runner waiting for the train told us which train to take and we were on our way. We missed the 5:30 ferry by just few minutes but were right up front in line for the next ferry at 6:00am.


On the ferry we were at 6:00am for a ride to Staten Island, then a bus to the start line. Then a LONG time of waiting for the race to start. Then, then, then, it was race time.



I will update on the race tomorrow :O)

After the race I wobbled on back to the hotel after another ride on the subway and a few more blocks of walking, ouchie, ouchie, ouchie. We had attempted to get a cab but by the time I finished, almost 7 hours later, it was packed in town and there were no empty cabs.

By the time we got back to the room Jeanette had finished her ice bath and had one ready for me. We had decided to order room service because neither Jeanette or I could take another step. I gave Rocky my order and then attempted to get in the ice bath….NOPE….wasn’t happening. I freaked out and mentally I could not take any more torture so I got out. I took a nice warm shower, put my jammies on and when dinner arrived I pigged out :o) It was the yummiest burger and beer I’ve ever had. Phil & Rocky were pretty pooped after their long day of spectating so we all turned in early. Phil went back up to his room and we went night, night.

Monday – Last Day in NY :o(

I was super duper sore and was moving slow but we met up with Jeanette, Olivia & Phil for breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant. After breakfast we checked out of our rooms and stored our luggage in the baggage closet. We said goodbye to Phil, he was headed to Boston, and then we headed to the Marathon Finishers Store at Tavern on the Green. There were some jackets we wanted to purchase but by the time we go to the store it was pretty much empty. Olivia and Jeanette bought the men’s jackets and I got a sweatshirt. Olivia’s parents were there too so we hooked up with them and then headed out to walk around.

Olivia's parent's took off to head back to their hotel and then to the airport. Then a little while later Jeanette parted ways and headed to the airport as well.

It was Olivia, Rocky and I left. Amy, Bree and Petra were on their own adventure shopping at all the knitting stores, they were going to meet us later at the hotel.


We walked around NY for hours and hours. I felt like we’d gone in a bagillion circles around town. We had lunch, managed to do more shopping at the Nike store, more walking, another trip to Carnegie Deli for some cheesecake and then finally made it back to the hotel around 5ish.



Limo was coming to pick us up at 6:30. Amy and Bree made it back to the hotel and we met them in the bar for a final NY cocktail, a very expensive one. We picked up our luggage and waited for limo man which happened to be a suburban man. Because of the luggage fiasco on Friday our limo service hired another limo service to come pick us up in a suburban. MUCH better.

Ride to the airport pretty uneventful. Plane ride also uneventful, our plane was pretty empty and we arrived in Oakland about 12:30.

Ahhhh, back home to my nice comfy bed.

The trip to NY with everyone was a lot of fun. Thank You everyone for making it such a fun time.