guess who's turning 1?

our friends eric and christina were some of the first people in our small group way back when. then they got pregnant and about a year ago had baby ashley. i can even believe that we have known people here in LA to cover the whole length of prepregnancy, pregnancy, and first year of life. anyways she really went for it on saturday when they gave her the cake. it was pretty funny. she also has been studying (and passing all her tests in aunt meaghan's how to be a princess class. she loved wearing that sparkly crown and kept touching it to make sure it was still there.

i was remembering max's first birthday and how my mom tried to get him to play in the frosting and he wouldn't do it because at that time he HATED getting dirty. she even put his hand in the frosting to show him that it was ok and he cried until she washed it off. pretty awesome. now he is in 8th grade and dirty all the time from being outside. my baby brother. aw. tear.

spreading like wildfire

this round of fires has been the closest to us in terms of peoplei know and work with having to evacuate etc. scary. but the actual fires are far enough away from us that the only effect it is having is air quality warning because of the ash in the air and a faint burning smell. somehow in the midst of the fires and the "fall" super dry air, there are still huge puddles that i am forced to ride my bike through on the way to and from work everyday... all my pants have nasty water stains on the cuffs and, mysteriously, the butt. (i think the back wheel kicks it up there). which is great. i love extra laundry whenever i get the opportunity, just like all of you i imagine.

in other news i got an email from my boss from last year and i am pretty sure i get to go to the oscars again this year! cant even believe it! it is the day after my birthday which we are currently planning to spend at disneyland (everyone gets in free on their birthday in 2009 - sign up on the website). so it will be an action packed weekend. it is far enough away that i can start saving up sleep hours and hopefully make it through. :D

doctor's orders

i went to the doctor and guess what he told me (guess what he told me).
he said, "girl you better try and have fun no matter what you." but he's a fool.

actually he said my next colonoscopy will be october 30. so yay. actually i am kinda excited (not for the actual prep and procedure but to hear him tell we that i look completely healthy and happy and that he doesnt even recognize it as my colon). then i can say that #1 my what would jordan eat plan is working pretty darn well and #2 can i stop taking my medication?

if he lets me then i will have accomplished all of my new years resolutions by october 30. not too shabby.

giving life

on friday after work i headed to the elk lodge to donate blood. it has been a really long time since i have been eligible (stupid accutane!) and i am a weird person who actually likes to give blood. cassie and i had quite the collection of blood donation shirts in college. the elk lodge of burbank is hidden behind a huge self storage unit. so basically, it is impossible to find.

jeremy had bought us tickets for a 5:30 movie and my appoinment was for 4:30. I was trying to get there extra early to have plenty of time to get to the movie but i wound up being only a few minutes early. then i waited forever to do my little question and answer session (featuring winning questions like "have you every had sexual contact with anyone who has been paid for sex? ummm...no way have you had sexual contact with a man who has had sex with another man since 1977? seriously? have you met jeremy? NO WAY! have you spent more than thirty days outside the US in any of these countries? sadly no have you gotten a tattoo or body piercing in the last year? also sadly, no) then they took a sample from my finger to do an iron test (which i fail about half the time but passed with winning colors this go round - yay me! the normal range of hemoglobin is 12-20 for women and i was 13.6. i remember when i was really sick in high school it was always like a 4 or 5 which is practically dead) then i got all hooked up with the bags and needles and pumped that bag full in record time. did you know that there is actaully a minimum amount of time it has to take or else your blood isnt usable? i always am just seconds away from crossing that threshold.

i get un-needled and bandaged up then go to the snack table. they tell me i have to wait 15 minutes but i slammed down some cheez-its and oj and snuck out to meet jeremy.

the worst part of the whole thing was the sticky ace bandage-like thing they wrapped my arm with gave me a weird rash that hurt and itched all night. and my finger hurt. but my arm felt fine. i did get a little dizzy running on saturday morning. that might be why they say no vigorous exercise for 24 hours... ???

find a blood drive near you and give life!

proud to be an american

and i am not saying that tongue in cheek. i really am. i like voting, even if in california we are given way too many choices and props to vote on for me to keep everything straight. up until now my civic service has consisted of voting and encouraging others to do the same. (and giving blood, which i am doing tomorrow)

today i did something i have never ever done beofre (or even really thought about doing). i wrote an email to my representative in the house, howard berman, encouraging him to vote no on the bailout plan. i didnt actually vote for him, but apparently all my neighbors did, so he is my guy now. i feel really proud of myself for participating in the workings of our government and speaking up for what i believe in. you should contact your congress people whenever you know about an issue that they are about to vote on the you feel strongly about one way or the other. they work for you!!!

we watched part of the presidential debates on friday then i got really bored but we have it dvr-ed so we can finish it later.i have a recording set for the palin-biden showdown tonight.

i could rally go for a tina fey as palin- biden showdown. thats some funny stuff right there and i dont care who you are. it is funny.

wherefore art thou, fall?

so last wek it was getting fall-ish in socal, or as fallish as socal can be. this week we are back in the 90s and 100s. this makes riding my bike home miserable. just thought i would share.

one of my friends is getting married outside on nov 1 and i have NO idea what kind of a dress i should buy. long sleeve? short? sandals or closed toe? is it going to be 50 or 70 or 90 degrees? i am waiting to look for a dress which means i will be shopping at the last minute and totally stressed out. grrrr. at least a couple weeks out i will have a better idea about what the weather will be like. also it is unlikely that the weather will change at the last minute.

speaking of weather (isnt that what this whole post is really about anyways?) it rained on monday! and by rain i mean for about two minutes in the afternoon the sky kinda dripped. i could have stood outside the whole time and barely even gotten wet. the humidity was actually at 50%. can you believe it? i only had to lotion up twice during the day instead of every hour like usual. lotioning and oiling and lotioning and oiling... sometimes i feel like thats all i do. hopefully squints paladores finds me soon.

!m!

this is how much i love LA

so on july 1 of this year it is illegal to hold your phone to your ear while driving. you can still use headsets or bluetooth and, inexplicably, text (although that law was just signed and goes into effect jan 1 2009).
sooo... this morning i am riding my bike to work, as i am wont to do, and i see a guy driving by (on the street i am getting ready to turn left onto) with his window down and on the phone. so i say, "hey get off the phone!" may i point out that i yelled, becuase he was driving by fast (too fast for the neighborhood streets in my ever so humble opinion) and that i did not use any name-calling, profanities etc. because that just isnt the kind of person i am (unless i am really really really ridiculously mad like the time that guy side swiped us and acted like it was our fault and almost hit jeremy and i said some things and he almost beat me up until i got back in the car and locked the door). apparently it IS the kind of person this guy is though because he ever-so-sweetly replied, "shut the fuck up, bitch!" i was appalled. he was breaking the law and incredibly ruse. then i was freaked out because i had to drive behind him the entire way to work and i could see him staring at me (still on the phone mind you) in his rear view mirror.

i really hope the person on the other end of the phone was a business contact.

or his grandmother.

so happy friday to me!

derby dolls

last weekend we went to the roller derby but there are no cameras allowed in the rink. no one told me this before we went or when we bought our tickets so we trekked from our car, kind of a long way and in a really bad part of town, stood in line for a long time behind annoying people who were smoking, got to the front and was told when the butch lady was looking through my bag "you cant have a camera in here." so jeremy had to walk me back to the car and we repeated the process.

we get inside and marvel at the collection of people in that arena. i expected the gothic looking people with all the eye makeup and colorful hair and the (for lack of a better discriptor) white trash, with the mullets and chew and ripped t shirts. what i did not expect were the older gentlemen with pleated khaki pants and the girls dressed like they were going to a club. it was the MOST interesting mix of people ever.

the actual event, the sirens vs. ummm the other team, has many complicated rules etc, but, like hockey, we were just watching for the fights. the los angeles derby dolls consists of four different teams that often play each otehr and sometimes host tournaments for other teams to travel here.

zac was with us. he is friends with many of the players and was able to interpret most of the game. i still am unclear on how all the points are scored. something about a lead jammer and the pack and something else.

definitely a wonderful la experience, but not one i am eager to repeat. my feet hurt from all the walking and standing during the match and the "adult juice boxes" (you know those cute "single serving" yeah right wine bottles) they served were just not good. it was better than miller light which was the only other choice. beer. ick. light beer. whats the point??? this was definitely an event where i needed a little help to get through it.

towards the end of the third quarter the girl in front of me pulls out her camera and starts snapping pictures like there is no tomorrow. whats up with that? i do wish i had a picture of the guy dressed as a lobster for no apparent reason whatsoever. you would all enjoy that very much i think.

people magazine fun run

yesterday morning kim, kris and i ran/walked a 5k on the paramount studio grounds. it was so much fun! we ran past the dr. phil soundstage and the nickolodeon soundstage, the bob hope building and the marx bros building. we got to peek in where they were constructing sets for upcoming movies and tv shows and at the end of the race we wound up on the red carpet. michelle williams (of destiny's child) walked with us and performed at the end of the race. we got to meet olympic athletes (and i got autographs from two of the indoor volleyball players) and a professional triathlete. kris told her that we competed in the newport beach triathlon last weekend and she said she was there and that was the hardest sprint course she had ever been on. so that made me feel pretty good. another thing that i felt good about was that jennifer lopez did the malibu sprint triathlon yesterday and her time was 2 hours and 32 minutes. so even though she has money to pay for personal trainers etc. and no day job so she can train all the time, i beat her by 39 minutes.

sad sad day

wednesday my blackberry was stolen from my desk at work. so i have no more address or phone numbers. and no more berry. i feel like i have lost a limb. :(

please email me all appropriate contact information so i can plug it into my crappy ole razr.

check that off my bucket list

triathlon completed. check.

at 4:15 the alarm goes off. kris picks me up at 4:45. we drive down to newport beach, only getting lost once (believe me, with the two of us in the car this is a big accomplishment. maybe bigger than the actual triathlon completion). we park, walk a mile to the transition area and get our spots set up. stand in line to get our bodies marked with our numbers and ages. walk a third of a mile to the swim starting point. wait for a little over thirty minutes for our wave (go wave 7! ) to start swimming. freeze myself almost to death diving in. get passed by a lot of people and start to feel down. goggles fogging so i have NO peripheral vision and limited forward vision. start passing people in the waves before us (eat my bubbles white and green caps!). see the halfway point. keep swimming. get attacked by a massive clump of seaweed and feel like someone is trying to drag me under the water and start to freak out. calm myself and keep swimming. make the final turn. swimming in with the waves is WAY easier than swimming out past the waves. get out and start up the hill. follow the directions i was given at my transition clinic yesterday and start peeling off the wetsuit.

get to my transition area and change into my running and biking clothes. put on my shoes and helmet. down some gatorade and im off biking. we did two laps of about 6 miles each. i see kris at each turnaround point - she is a few minutes ahead of me. lance and jeremy get to see us and cheer for us four times during the bike race. those hills - whew. but i will say there is nothing like biking downhill in 24th gear with the wind making my eyes tear and just feeling like i am flying. amazing.

then i head back into the transition area and rack my bike, trade my helmet for my dodgers hat and take off down the path for the 5k run. my legs were doing the brick thing i read about and i was pushing hard. i passed sarah from amazing race (the girl with only one leg) and thought if she passed me again i would feel bad about myself. does that make me a bad person? i kept doing the run/walk thing until i got to the beach. yep, we had about a half mile of so to run (or in my case walk) on the sand. ick. didnt realize that so i hadnt trained to do that at all. got sand everywhere. up the final hill and into the finish line.

whew. glad thats over with. home for a two hour nap then... oh the glamorous life i lead... laundry time!

softball...its downy soft

the education team took on the clinical department in a friendly game of softball friday morning. the education team (teachers, teacher assistants, behaviorists, and admin support) beat the clinical team (counselors, supervisors and residential) 16-4. but as axl said, "the score was 20. we all win."

it was so fun. we played early in the day to avoid the heat and even though we finished by 11 i was sweating... i hit a single, a double and another single. marvin, one of the behaviorists, was behind me in the batting order. armando, another behaviorist, was ahead of me. i believe this is what is known as a stacked deck. (not that i personally am stacked but that i participated in the stacking of the batting order.) between the three of us we had 8 of the 16 points. go team!!!!

min you, all of this softball activity was after waking up at 4:45 in the morning to go ocean swimming with kris to train on our ins and outs. we drove to santa monica and had ourselves a grand old time.

Unofficial finish time

I forgot to stop it when I crossed the finish line so it is somewhat less than this. Kris finished a couple minutes before me.
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Ready freddy!

My transition area is set up! I guess I am ready!!!
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updates

1. my triathlon is in 4 days. on monday morning i went for my first long bike ride on the actual road (not on a machine at the gym) and my butt is ridiculously sore and i was SO slow! only part of that was slowing down/stopping at red lights. the good news is last night i swam my fastest half mile ever (which is still twice as slow as what "real" swimmers do it in). so. i. am. terrified. sunday is going to suck. i just hope i can keep it under two hours (my goal time). theoretically i should do it in about 1.5 hours but we will see.

2. cricket can open the slidy shower door now. she likes to go in there and drink the water off the bathtub floor. gross huh? this morning i was sitting at my vanity straightening my hair and saw her grab jeremy's towel (which hangs over the bar on the door) and pull it so the door slid open enough for her to put her paw up there then she pushed and shoved until her head would fit in it then jumped up and in. i was amazed. i have seen her in there before but always thoguht we just didnt shut the door all the way. nope. she is just very smart.

3. we spent labor day out at the sandbergs house playing ladderball and eating. it was great. the girls teams came in 2nd and 3rd and the boys teams came in 1st and 4th. kia, their dog, has grown up a ton since last time we saw her. she is all legs - still growing!

4. on friday my department (education) is playing the clinical department in softball. we are getting paid to play outside! i can't wait! plus all the counselors are women and we have lots of strong men on our team. so we should totally dominate. even if we dont it will be reat to get out of the office and play for a while!