Gotta be smarter than the rock monster....

Be sure to read my post from yesterday before reading this one.....

So I decided this morning before my run that I had to be smarter than the rock monster....if the rock monster is putting rocks in your underwear to slow down your run.....don't wear underwear! That was my strategy this morning and it WORKED! Not to worry - I was not out running around the neighborhood naked - I had my running pants on!

So my run this morning went much better than yesterday. I ran my whole route without feeling like I was being held back! I guess after 20 years of running you are due to have days every now and then when you just can't get it together!

Tomorrow is a gym day, so I will see how I do for an hour on the eliptical machine!

Rocks in my underwear

I went out running this morning and I felt like I had rocks in my underwear. Let me explain... I was moving in slow motion and every step was an effort. I decided that when I was not looking someone loaded up my underwear with rocks and that was why I was running so slow and with such effort!

Then I kept thinking....was it because of the time change? was it because I only had a small bowl of oatmeal the nite before for dinner? did I suddenly turn old? or was it because I was loaded down with rocks?

I will have to keep you posted on what the actual cause is. I will go out for another run tomorrow and report back on the problem.

Preparing for Crabbing

Crabbing season opens on November 11. Jim and Drew spent Saturday working on the crab pots so they can drop them the week before. There are 15 pots in all. They worked on the pots, the ropes, the buoys and the bait jars, I was going to help until Drew filled me in that his hands smelled like old dead fish when he touched the pots.

Fred and Wilma

See the complete report on the Halloween party below....

I think Dino was looking for a brontosaurus bone!

Annual Halloween Party

It was Tina and Marty's Annual Halloween party this weekend and as Tina and Marty parties go, it was totally mild. There WAS a significant number of jello shots but there was no streaking and no police being called and Marty never got into the "I love you" mode! Mike, the rockstar, did appear to party like a rock star and ended up MIA....after a search "party" was formed, we found him in the car.

The most disturbing costume of the night was Kyle dressed as the Birthday fairy (it was his birthday so the costume was somewhat appropriate). You can see for yourself in the pictures below. I can't put my finger on what made the costume so disturbing but it could be those massive thighs in short skirt and the size large womens boy cut panties from Tarrget that he wore underneath.... See for yourself.


Dr Evil and the Disneyland tour guide.

The Birthday Fairy and the Cowgirl.
Dino Flintstone
Pirate and Clown
The BirthdayFair -- quite disturbing.

Well....the day is finally here

I no longer have an office....I am working from home fulltime. It is totally bitter sweet. I love to go into work, but I hate to commute. I loved my office - it had the greatest view. Very peaceful. If you did not know, my whole department is moving to an office which is about 15 miles farther away which means a minumum of 45 more minutes of commute time and I was not willing to take that much time away from my family and my self. So I went into the work from home program. I can still go into the office but I have to reserve a flex office when I go. And with the drive to get there, it won't be often.

The kids are thrilled with the new arrangement. They have been counting down the days for weeks. In fact, Gracie wanted to know if I was going to have a retirement party when I started working from home. She obviously doesn't understand the concept of retirement. The dog is going to be thrilled with the new office assignment -- someone to be with her everyday!

I will keep you posted as I make the adjustment.

Who loves shoes?

Check out these new shoes I just got! Your basic black loafers to replace my favorite pair that are so worn they are scary. I love the tall brown boots even though I have NOTHING to wear them with(they look black in the pic above). The low brown suede boots are to wear with jeans. Ya gotta love shoes!

BBQ Chicken

HA! You gotta love the weird chicken pics I post on my blog!!! Did you laugh out loud?

Happy Anniversary

So what does it feel like to be married for 16 years????? (Yep - today is our 16 year wedding anniversary!).

I have been giving it some thought and here is what it feels like:

* It feels like I must be old to be married this long. I am old but not that old! I must have been a child bride. (I was 23!)

* It feels really good that we still like each other after 16 years of marriage and that we can still laugh thru it all.

* It feels good that we have grown together as a couple in the last 16 years so that we are really a fine tuned machine. We have each worked at developing the skills that we are good at so that together our skills compliment each other.

* It feels good that for the last 16 years we have shared experiences that bind us together - including our love of the mountains.

* It feels really good that we have evolved into a strong family unit of four (plus one dog and 3 chickens) that is built on respect and love.

If I had to make a bet, I think it is a safe one to bet that we will still be happily married 16 years from now!

PS - I love you -- my big handsome hunk of husband!

Best Friends

These two are peas in a pod. They are complete opposites that totally complement each other:

tall - short
crazy - risk adverse
will eat anything - is suspicious of new food
eats A LOT - eats a little
would rather be leaping around - would rather be reading a book

The best part is they love each other unconditionally!

Pics from the DIY weekend

This is a pic from the play the kids did - "The Animal Band". Drew was the narrator and a robber. Jerremy was the donkey and a robber. Maddie was a robber and a cat. Gracie was the rooster and the voice of the dog (the dog was played by Daisy Mae but she can't talk so Gracie read her lines!)

We did manage some fun during the wekend - this is a pic of the bass I caught. Drew always takes my fish off the hooks because I don't touch them.

This is what happens when you are bald and don't wear any head protection while operating a paint sprayer! Marty looked like he had spent too much time in a tanning booth!

Here is the final product - a new roof! I love the green color. It makes it looks a ranger station!

Random Acts of Kindness

I was the recipient of a random act of kindness and if feels great! Earlier this week, I went to get the mail and found a padded envelope addressed to me. Imagine my surprise when I opened it up and found a beautiful pair of earrings sent to me - out of the blue - by my Aunt Maureen! She had a pair of the same earrings when we were in Chicago in June and I admired them. So she got me a pair of my own.

The card said "Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas or Whatever"! So thoughtful and they will always be treasured because they came from my Aunt....for no particular reason.

Thanks Maureen (mom to Libby the Boxer)! I promise to pay it forward in some way....

"o" negative - "CMV" negative

FINALLY!

Finally -- I was able to give blood after a 2 year dry spell. I have tried numerous times in the last couple years but always had too low of a red blood count to give. I fixed the issue that was causing the low red blood count and was thrilled that when I went to give blood my hemoglobin count was 13.5 as opposed to the 12.3 it has been in the past. So I am back on the "bike" and today gave the donation that makes me a 1-gallon donor!

So somewhere in the bay area some sick adult, child or baby is getting my blood. ;-)

The blood bank was thrilled to have me back in action because I have "0-" blood which is universal and it is also CMV negative which is a virus that most people have had but I have not. And they can only use CMV negative blood for premature babies!

DIY - final report

We are back from the whirlwind do it yourslef weekend at the cabin and the amount of work that was done was unbelievable! There was a crew of 14 of us and we accomplished the following:

* extended the roof over the deck on both sides of the cabin
* removed the old roof
* put a new roof on the cabin and the garage
* painted the extended areas
* stacked a cord of wood
* cleaned up to HUGE mess that was made

We also managed to squeeze in some poker, horse shoes, nibs and rummikub! We also did a play with the kids - The Animal Band presented at the Pine Cone Theater (AKA the back deck!) Oh! And a short boat ride/fishing trip where I caught my first bass!

We are all exhaused!

There was one causalty from the weekend and that was our camera, so I have no pics to post. The camera was there and used so I have great pics -- if only I knew where it was.

There was also a bit of drama on Saturday nite when we ran out of beer (actually there were seven beers left but that was enough to put the men into a panic!). So they had to beg a sober person to drive them to the store to buy 5 more cases of beer! At least they were being responsible!

My folks were with us all weekend and they played the role of chief cook and bottle washer! They made us great meals! But they were a bit shocked at how much we ate.

Everyone has ideas on what they want the next improvement project to be at the cabin but NO ONE is ready to actually start it!

DIY (Do It Yourself)

This weekend we are putting a new roof on the cabin! We have a crowd of 14 workers (AKA: people who have real day jobs and are playing "weekend roofing contractor") who will be there to help us. My mom and dad are being the cooks for the weekends so we will be eating well. For those of us who are not going to be up on the roof, we will be stacking the new delivery of fire wood Jim just ordered. It is all a lot of work but it will be fun because we will all be together and in the mountains!

Soccer Field Rage

WOW! Did we see a side of Gracie we didn't expect to see on Saturday during her soccer game... The first half, she played goalie and she was like a caged animal that is all pent up. She hopped and jumped continously and ran out of the goalie box and halfway to the mid field!!! It was making Drew and Jim crazy that she wouldn't stay close to the goal. I was enjoying watching her because she had such zest for playing the position....even if she wasn't doing quite right.

Then in the second half, she was a "center forward" which is really the best position for her because it utilizes her natural ability to run. She can run like the energizer bunny at great speeds! We could see she was getting frustrated because she kept getting the ball to the front of the goal but was not getting it in. But her frustration boiled over into full blown rage when one of the girls on the other team tripped her and she fell on her face. She jumped up and went running full speed towards the player from the other team who currently had the ball and basically slammed her from behind!! We were SHOCKED!

The referee, who was our coach, called a penalty (or whatever it is called in soccer) and the other team got a kick. In hockey she would have 5 minutes in the penalty box!

We talked about it later in the day and she said she was mad because they made her fall on her face and get a bloody nose. We talked about her having to control herself and she understands.

Maybe she should be playing hockey!

Riding...

Since the kids each got their new mountain bikes, we have gone on a couple of big rides.

On the first ride we went to Angel Island. Angel Island is an island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. We went up early on a Sunday morning and took the 9:45am ferry over to the island. It is about a 10 minute bat ride to get there. Once we got to the island we headed out to do ride the 9 mile trail that goes all the way around the island. We stopped about 3/4 of the way and had lunch on a bench overlooking the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. We made it back to the dock to take the 12:45 ferry back to SF. On the way back we stopped to drop off some passengers at Alcatraz.

When we returned to SF we rode over the Pier 39 and watched the sea lions that have taken over the boat docks as their napping spots. It is great fun to watch them fight and nap! Then we stopped to get a snack before riding down to the stadium where the SF Giants play baseball. It was cool to ride along the water front and see all the businesses and people. All in all we did about a 15 miles that day.

The next ride was an off road adventure. We brought our bikes to the cabin last weekend and did some mountain biking. We rode on fire trails and even did a creek crossing -- well....ok Jim did the creek crossing and we all watched! No one else wanted to get their shoes wet!

I need to bring the camera along because the place we mountain biked was beautiful!

The BIG Weiner!

So here is the pic of the "big weiner" (AKA big winner)! That is what a TUNA trophy looks like - note the tuna at the bottom. Also shown is the new reel and the $400 check.

Bad Boys Bad Boys, what ya gonna do when they come for you???

Actually it should be bad girls, bad girls.....

My mom is threatening to call the animal police on my chickens. Well, not all of them, just one - Maverick. My mom has a love of animals great an small, just like me. So she has always happily checked on the ladies when over watching the kids.

One day recently, she was out checking on the ladies and talking to them when out of nowhere Maverick started attacking her! You see.... Maverick gets a bit bitchy if she does not feel she is getting enough snackies!

So I come home from work and my mom shows me her foot with a chunk missing and informs me that she has called animal control and reported a chicken bite! After I pick myself up of the floor with laughter, I made sure she was not serious.

The chicken bite is sure to be one of those stories that stays with the family and grows with exaggeration over time. I fully expect that in 25 years, we will be telling stories about how Maverick the chicken pecked off Grandma's foot and it had to be surgically reattached!