Happy boxing day!

I have not been good at keeping up with this lately. I've been home and surprisingly pretty busy. It seems like every day but yesterday (Christmas Day) I've been running around and meeting up with people or doing errands.

I picked the worst week to be here. I got in Friday at 1am, and the snow was really starting to pick up. It took us probably 40 minutes to drive home when it is normally 20 minutes. It was freezing subzero temps for a few days with snow off and on. On Tuesday it warmed up but there was another blizzard, one which made the roads very icky to drive on. I can't remember the last time I had to drive in a snowstorm, I honestly think it was high school days. I was super nervous, and sure enough, an old lady passed me on the highway haha.

It's been great meeting up with old friends, a few whom I haven't seen in years. I've been loving seeing my cute little niece Molly - hopefully I'm not a stranger to her anymore. I babysat her this morning for a few hours and we had a great time. It's nice taking care of kids when it's not my job!

It kinda sucks that the holiday was so late in the week, it makes me feel like this week has gone by so fast. I am going into the city for the first time tonight and have to leave in the morning. I just feel like I don't have any time to do anything. I am not excited to work, but I am very excited to be back with Greg...I miss him so much.

I don't know if it's me or it's the holidays but what sticks out the most about this week is going to the mall/Target/etc and hearing tons of parents screaming at their kids. I suppose kids are extra bratty around Christmas. And I suppose my patient population in San Francisco is different - I don't really see anyone over the age of three. But it was weird. Lots of yelling and impatience.

Overall, Christmas was a lot of fun. The window right in front of our tree was leaking and we discovered it right before our Christmas party. That was a mini-disaster but we got it taken care of. At our party we played Mexican Train dominoes and that was a lot of fun. Christmas day I lounged around and watched a Law and Order marathon, then went to Antonette's house for dinner, something I have been doing for the past 7 years. So yummy and lots of fun.

I come back Sunday afternoon, back to my cold cold apartment. I got a new plush blanket that I'm excited to use, one more conducive to sharing. I hope everyone else had a great week, and quality time off of work!

phew

I just saw 22 kids in 3.5 days, I'm not excited to head to cold weather but am very excited to actually have real heat in my house, I am worried about waiting for 10 hours in the airport, I am hopefully my flight will leave and arrive on time and safely, and like the sometimes great sometimes not so great K.West proclaims, "I'm coming home again".

Here's to a fun week!

So tired

I feel a lot more fatigued than I should after my 8-mile run. Today I tried out Nike+ on my Ipod for the first time. It's very cool! I thought it was going to be a hassle to calibrate it but it really did not take long at all. I also think it's pretty accurate as compared to what I'm familiar with using my usual routes on mapmyrun.com. It's pretty neat - from the start of GGP all the way to the beach and back is 7.5 miles. That's good to know. The run wasn't too bad, but I was fatiguing a little coming back on MLK, with all the rolling hills. I used my old Alaska marathon mix to help me along and man it's a great playlist! I love Girl Talk. So anyway, I highly recommend the Nike+ if you are curious. It's great when you set a distance or time goal - a voice comes in and tells you when you are 1/2-way done, a mile away, etc. Very cool.

I've been pretty much lazy since the run this morning. Sat on the couch, tooled around on the internet, and watchied old movies. Greg and I ordered a few gifts for our families and friends, and I'm soooo glad to get that out of the way. I am trying not to spend too much on people this year and am doing well so far. I usually spend way more than I should on holiday gifts, but not this year. I hope people won't be disappointed. It's the thought that counts, right? I'm always appreciative that people are thoughtful enough to get me a gift, no matter what the cost is.

Speaking of that, I have to get cracking on this knitted sweater.

Funny

http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-30-things-women-love-that-men-just-dont-understand/

I think greg can vouch for at least 50% of this list.

love/hate

I have a love hate relationship with Trader Joes. I love the concept of it, very good food with lots of organic options for cheap prices. Lots of great easy dinners if you are not a fan of cooking that do not cost an arm and a leg. I love that when I look at my receipt it is hard to find an item that is over $7.

I absolutely loathe going to Trader Joes in SF. There are too many annoying people there. It's always crowded, parking is heinous, and the checkout lines spill out into the aisles. People bring their annoying kids. People stand and take up the whole aisle crouched over with their big bags trying to compare ingredients of tomato sauce. People will shove other people aside to get the last tub of hummus. My favorite things apparently are the favorite things of everyone in the city because they always run out. Produce never lasts longer than a few days. Their bread is not yummy. Did I mention annoying children.

But there are some things I do love!!! I love their French Berry Lemonade. It is seriously my favorite non-alcoholic drink. I love that is almost a little too sweet so I only drink it in small amounts. I love their ricotta-stuffed chicken breasts. These are super easy to make and they taste soooo delicious. I like some of their pizzas. There is such a large wine selection and most of it is cheap and not entirely terrible. Everyone raves about their stuffed peppers but I've never had them. They never seem to be in stock. I also don't know where they are even located so maybe they are in stock but I just don't know it. The peanut butter pretzels are good and dangerous. Greg has spent many a night very upset with himself over eating the whole bag.

So I would go back to TJs for the above items, but definitely not during peak hours. I've learned my lesson. I went today at 12pm and it was surprisingly a somewhat pleasant experience. My chicken breast is baking in the oven and I can't wait to eat!!!

I'm in hell update

Ok that wasn't too bad. I got dismissed at 12pm. I am glad I got dismissed, because the case that was up for trial was supposed to be 4 weeks long!!! I wish I remembered the name of the defendant because I want to look up this case online. I was able to get out of it due to "personal hardship", because I had already bought my ticket home to Chicago for the holidays. I'm supposed to go back January 5 to start the process all over again. Hopefully the case during that week isn't too long either. I think the judge was letting people who were trying to be excused because of financial hardship exchange this case for a shorter one. I will definitely need to be on a shorter case because I have to either take unpaid days off or vacation days for jury duty! Bleh. So my doom is postponed until January 5. Phew!

I knew Addison IL was good for something!

I'm in hell.

otherwise known as jury duty. My contacts suck, I should not have slept in them last night and I should have replaced them this morning. This chair is uncomfortable and I'm annoyed someone chose to sit right next to me when there are 50 other empty chairs in here. I should have eaten something this morning and not have assumed there would be a coffee shop in here like there is one in McCallister. I am hoping I don't get picked and if I do, it's only a day trial. I brought my sweater to knit but have no desire to do this. An hour has passed and nothing has happened. I'm starving and in a cranky mood.

I'm so tired

Holiday party - minimal sleep - 7 mile run in the freezing cold with the first mile slightly hungover - shower - work at St Frizzle for 6 hours - Jen's holiday party - meet up with Addison friends at Medjool - minimal sleep - wake up to trek to Lucky's and then make cookies - meet with Halley for lunch then go shopping - come home to make apple cake - my company's holiday party - pick up Rob and Toma and catch up on the past 10 years at our apt - home at 11:52 about to pass out from hunger leading to eating Stovetop stuffing for a late snack.

Pfffphhhh. This weekend was so much fun and I'm SO glad it's over.

awesome.

Two very cool things:
1 - after many weeks (ok, more like days) of anxiety on Greg's part - including, and I quote "I've lost sleep over this"....we finally bought a new tv!! It's ridiculous, it's LCD, it's 40", it's a little ostentatious, it's 1080p and other things I have no idea what that stands for....and it has a touch of color!! A slight twinge of red. So cool, and we love it!!
b - I went to support my mentee Matt at his fundraiser at Madrone.....and WON two free tickets for a wine country tour!!!!! yayayayyayay! I think it was rigged because I told Matt and everyone I knew that I wanted to win this raffle, and even though he said "I swear this isn't rigged, but Betsy won!" I still am skeptical. That doesn't mean I'm going to give up this prize, I'm super excited! Any takers? Greg already said "You should take a friend and someone who appreciates wine"....ok!!! No complaints by me! And we also loved hanging out with Terry, our Scottish neighbor who is funny and awesome.

Awesome night!

And ps - Dog the Bounty Hunter isn't any better or more interesting on the big screen.

nervous

Don't know why but I have this wave of nervousness and anxiety over me right now. I get this way as the holidays approach. Hopefully everything will work out ok. I just hope everything works out ok.

Twinkie

Hoppy Tonks-geeving! That's how my dad would say it.

This morning I went to the Castro to see Milk. I've been wanting to see it for the past two days since it has opened but never got the chance. Went to a 10am show, was surrounded by the older gays, one of whom I actually think was Armistead Maupin. There have been other times that I've thought I've seen him....but then again he looks like every other older gay man with a mustache. It was then that I wondered, being surrounded by old gays in the Castro theater watching Milk by myself and sitting near Armistead Maupin...am I gay twink stuck inside the body of a 27-year-old Asian girl?

Today i cannot believe we are celebrating the 4th installment of Vegan Thanksgiving. This is a great tradition originated by Greg, Tom, and myself and we've expanded to a few others over the years. You don't know how many sympathetic faces I get when I say I celebrate Vegan thanksgiving but I really love it. I've never been a turkey fan (too dry) and Thanksgiving is really all about the sides. Stuffing, beans, squash, jellied cranberry, potatoes...yum. Do you need to harm an animal for any of this? No. It is also the one time of the year that Greg buys meat, save for paying for dinners and stuff. He buys me a small ham grenade since I don't like turkey. It's smoked and yummy and a good compliment to all the sides. He usually buys it for me because I'm working. Come to think of it, this is the first Thanksgiving in three years that I am not working. I'm thankful for that.

So the movie Milk was awesome. I love love love (and always have) reading books, seeing pictures, and watching movies about places I live in and have lived in. I love seeing what my city used to look like. A great gift for me (hint hint) would be those sepia-colored picture books of old neighborhoods like Noe Valley and the Haight. Anyways, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay city official and he got shot by his colleague. I have seen his name all around the city and knew he was gay because of the influx of his name around the Castro area but didn't really know why. It's so sad, he knew he was going to be assassinated someday and even taped a few recordings just in case that happened. I think Sean Penn did an amazing job in his role and Josh Brolin was awesome. Doing research before watching the movie made me despise Dan White for what he did, but Josh Brolin gave him a human aspect and even made you feel bad for him. I still think justice wasn't served (Dan White only got 5 years for manslaughter when he clearly committed murder) but I don't think he is the demon I once thought before.

I earned my Thanksgiving dinner today by running 4-odd miles. I am afraid my knees are starting to ache a little when the mileage gets longer which means I need to do more core and leg strengthening. I'm really proud I ran as far as I did this afternoon because I was feeling under the weather.

Tomorrow we go to Reno. I decided to bag the Black Friday shopping because the tv we want isn't going to be on sale so it's not worth it. I am still highly curious to go just to see if I can get a good deal on something. And to see the insanity and crazy ladies. I am hoping this weekend will end with some additions to my wardrobe including at least two or three sweaters to keep me warm during "winter" (real winter Chicago, fake "winter" SF).

These are the things i'm thankful for:
- Nice apartment
- Well-paying job that I love and is fulfilling
- Ability to travel and buy nice things for myself and not feel anxiety for it
- Wonderful family and friends
- Wonderful boyfriend whom I love more and more each year
- Good health and ability to train and run marathons without injury (knock on wood)
- My car that has been good to me so far
- Pizza for always fulfilling any type of role I need it to
- Wine
- A new president/administration who gives us hope
- My new boots for keeping my feet warm

Have a happy thanksgiving everyone!

Oh, and the reason for the title of this post stems from the "Twinkie Defense" which is what was supposedly used to help Dan White's argument. And it is because I like twinks, because they're funny and cute when not being assholes.

updates

it's 8:30am and my toes are freezing.
i have been reunited with my car and it feels so good.
14 kiddos in three days separate me from a 4-day weekend bliss.
I woke up at 5:15 am for a "no-buddy" run. Grr.
I am eating a vegan tiramisu cupcake that weighs approximately one pound.

Epic

That's the only word I can think of to describe this weekend. One where I didn't really have any work or obligations, besides TNT. I could never ever complain about it being 80 degrees in November...but my capacity for running in it is super low.

I love my mentor team. Everyone is pretty cool and non-asshole, and they all definitely have a good committment towards the seasons and team. We had a gorgeous run in the Presidio/Marina, and I kept pace with a girl that's a little faster than my normal pace. I'm not sure how much we ran but my legs have been rather tired since. Afterwards I treated myself to a Lobster roll at Woodhouse...very yummy but it's so disappointing that these delectable sandwiches cost so much here. Followed by two beers and a pedi, then a house party with the most gorgeous view of the city. If it weren't in the middle of nowhere and with no access to public transportation, I'd live in Twin Peaks in a heart beat. Rachel was kind enough to practice her massage skills on my tired legs and we ended the night with beer and games at the Buckshot.

Today Greg and I started our day lazily and for some odd reason he wanted to watch Weird Science. I then joined him for a light bite at Blue Front before meeting Junbee at Town's End. Yummmyyyy! Walked along the embarcadero and then searched for a gift for a friend at Sur La Table. I could spend so much unneccesary money there. Finished the weekend off with a trip to Whole Foods and made some yummy dinner.

Epic. Too bad it has to end early, because this fool has to wake up at 5:30 am to go running. Ugh.

OMG

Ok there's another reason to have nightmares. I was doing my usual perusing of dlisted.com, and there was a bit about Salma Hayek is addicted to breastfeeding. Apparently it's addicting? Anyways he posted a youtube link of some bizarre documentary in the UK about a lady who is breastfeeding her 5 year old!! The little girl asks for it, and has a major obsession with her mom's boobs. It was alarming. It was disturbing. And now I will never look at English people the same way again.

Dammit

I am watching one of those dangerously addicting Law and Order: CI marathons on Bravo and I'm afraid I won't be able to go to sleep tonight.

mixed feelings

I woke up this morning with glimmer of hope that the rest of California would come to its senses and vote no for Prop 8. I am disheartened. Overwhelmingly over 60% of people voted for the rights of animals, but 52% of people would "eliminate rights" for people. Constitutions have NEVER been amended to deny rights of people.

People are so concerned about the "sanctity of marriage" but it's ironic that the religious organization that donated the most most money and energy believes in polygamy. And when it all comes down to it, your marriage is truly rendered official to the world at City Hall, not at church. People wonder if there's a difference between marriage and civil unions. Many of the rights are the same but not all. When you fill out any census or demographic survey the choices are "single, married, widowed, divorced." One of my kiddos moms had to go through a very, very long process of adopting her own twin boys because she wasn't the carrier and wasn't officially their blood relative.

I am very proud of the Bay Area, we came out in droves to support equality. I forget that we live in this bubble, and without the major cities California would probably be a red state. I can only maintain hope, as this was on a referendum a few years ago and the margin was larger. Maybe someday the hate and fear will stop.

Yes, we did.

I'm not going to lie, I actually teared up when we heard the news that Virginia went blue. What a momentus moment (that sounds so silly) but it's so true. I've had butterflies the whole day and had to go for a run immediately after work so as not to stay glued on the couch watching CNN, MSNBC, PBS, etc.

The lines where I voted were not too bad. It was a little confusing because there were two lines. One to get the ballot, and one for a pen. Seriously. When you got your ballot it looked like there was another line to get in, so I got in it. As it turns out, if you were really in a hurry you didn't necessarily need to vote behind the booth, so long as you didn't mind everyone around you seeing what you were voting for. But the polling place only had like 5 of those felt-tip markers used for casting your vote! I got in at 7:30 and left by 8:20. Greg went after work and he was the only one in the polling booth!

I cannot go to bed and sleep peacefully. Prop 8 has not been decided yet and it's not looking good at this moment. I just pray that Californians support love and equality, not hate and fear.

moving forward

There's no point in excusing myself for a really long hiatus in writing. I don't know why it's so hard for me!

Some things:
- I did, in fact, lose the aforementioned expensive MJ sunglasses like I predicted I would. Drunk and on a boat, what can I say
- I am excited and incredibly nervous for the outcome of tomorrow's election
- I discovered there are several websites/blogs with extreme hate for Jon and Kate plus 8
- I am currently borrowing my friend's Jeep Cherokee and I'm not used to driving such a behemoth. For the next week I plan on parking like an asshole on the street, as don't trust my parallel parking skills in this thing
- I am hoping this new space heater will be enough to keep us warm and toasty for the winter
- I cannot wait for election day to be over so I can finally stop recieving these stupid election circulars in the mail.

That is all.

Fashion vs Function

I'll start off by acknowledging how terrible I am at keeping up with this thing.

Today was spent doing one of my favorite things to do on a sunny Sunday in San Francisco - drunk shopping by myself. I love it. The crowds become less annoying, I find SF to be the most beautiful place in the world, and I pretty much lose my inhibition in purchasing items that I don't neccesarily need. But they are treasured and loved, and carry a good memory of this wonderful city.

The shopping didn't go as perfect as I expected it to go. I tried out a new brunch place, Luques. While they had an incredibly tasty brunch deal, alcoholic imbibements were not high priority on their menu. Thus I was not drunk enough before I embarked on my shopping journey.

The task was to get a new pair of sunglasses. I already knew of a few pairs that enticed me at Macy's, I just had to go get them. My problem was that I was faced with a decision of buying a pair that I really liked, or a pair that I liked a little less that were Polarized. I kind of get caught up with the hype of buying an upgrade of things that I don't neccesarily need, and polarized designer sunglasses pretty much fit the bill. I do drive a lot, and the polarization is supposed to help with the glare or something to that effect. They were more expensive, but I didn't love love them like the less expensive and cuter ones. This decision took a long time to make, I sent three desperate texts asking for advice, talked to Greg of all people (he hates shopping, doesn't care for fashion, and doesn't like spending money), and pretty much lost my buzz. All for a pair of Marc Jacobs glasses that I will most likely end up sitting on or losing.

What did I choose? Fashion of course! Saved myself $15 in the longrun as well!

Updates on my life

* I am at the stage in my life where I'm running 6-7 miles on my own free will. Insane.
* My crazy caseload of February and March have dwindled down to basically nothing, leading to 5 hour lunch breaks, meeting Greg in the middle of the day, and going to yoga. I felt bad and asked my boss if there was anything more I can do to help out, and my "projects" include buying snacks for the office and coming up with ways to make meeting more fun.
* I made beef stew for the first time last week and it turned out delicious. Even Greg was intrigued by how good it looked and smelled.
* I never thought I'd be so excited to go home but I'm looking forward to my mom's surprise party this weekend and seeing my niece!
* Jason Castro got kicked off American Idol and no one cares.

Should I just give up?

I'm horrible at this blogging thing. I aspire to be one of those people who can do this ish like 10 times a day but I can't really say that I'm busy, I'm just lazy. There are plenty of times where I think "I should blog about that". I think if I ever kept up with it I'd have the most interesting blog in the world. Ehh maybe not. I realize I only blog when i'm under a glass of wine or two.

I am so mad and so stupid for agreeing to work tomorrow. I cannot do this anymore, not like I ever work at SFMH but after a long run?? Grr. I don't want to hold myself back because of a fear of collapsing at work...but yet I don't want to collapse at work. Eesh. the thought of transferring a 200-something pound max-assist CVA after running possibly 13 miles really daunts me. I hope it's an easy day but I highly highly doubt it.

I had my last session with Kiona today. Damn, I have come along way with that girl. She pretty much consistently cried every single session each week from May 2007 until February 2008. After that, she was a pretty amiable girl! She is also really cute and has a sweet smile, once it finally unearthed after 7 months of torture. I am honestly considering naming my first daughter Kiona, because she'll probably stick with me for a long time and I think it's a pretty name.

I have been eating baked yams for the past three nights. Not bad, and I'm not sick of it yet. Hopefully this will be a nice and invigorating cleanse for my attempt at a half-marathon tomorrow. I just have so much on my mind its annoying me. I just need to focus and run.

Greg and I have 60% of our Alaska plans figured out. We just need to book one more night in Anchorage, and need to plan some fun activities for the days we are in Kenai/Seward. To think, I was so stressed about this last week. I ended up venting to my mom about how I think I'm poor and cannot save for anything. I honestly think she secretly cherishes any conversation where I'm venting to her so she can feel special about doling out advice. Which is always great advice, save for the time she yelled at me and told me to get over myself when I vented about hating my old job. That was not what I needed at the time but in retrospect the swift kick in the ass was nice. Anyways I basically need to heed to her advice and actually save my money by avoiding the following places:
-Ambiance and/or any store on Haight st
-Nordstrom/Rack
-Borders
-Canyon Ranch Market and Whole Foods for stupid over-priced lunches
-Target for dumb stuff I don't need
-too many happy hours, I dont need the calories
-and any other place where I choose to spend money that I don't need to spend.

Hmm. that's all for now.

Top That

I love dlisted.com for many many many reasons. Michael K is really ridiculously funny and I love the Caption This contests. But only he would unearth this from the grave and bring me back to my elementary school days:


I think I memorized the words and dance moves to this entire movie. Ugh, and they are making a remake!!

Vegas

I suppose I should chronicle my Vegas trip with Greg. It was a really wonderful weekend, much better than I anticipated.

I agree with Angie. Vegas is like a drunk Wal-Mart. You see some really sad walks of life here. I have made the realization that Vegas is only really exciting for those who have really nothing much more exciting going on in their lives. You can see how everyone is just embracing the "Holy shit, I'm in Vegas, this is so cool and maybe I'll run into a B-list celebrity and if I squeeze myself into this teeny tiny skirt I can get hit on by another tourist from Kansas and I can tell all my friends about my ca-raaazzzzzy weekend in VEGAS!!!"

Ugh that was so mean. I have to say that I think I'm only really mean and snotty about white trash folk. Who achieve the most amount of culture and excitemet in their life from Las Vegas, Nevada. And feel that Halloween and bachelorette parties allow them to fully embrace any ounce of hoochie trash in their Vegas-haired, orange-skinned, Harrah's bead-wearing body. That's terrible. Why do I hate on them? Why do I feel the need to be bitter about these people?

I've found a new adjective - vegas. Vegas clothes, vegas hair, vegas boobs, vegas shoes. I don't even think I have to explain what constitutes as beign "Vegas". I think you can just about imagine it on your own.

On the other hand - I was very surprised at how clean LV was. With all the debauchery going on I was expecting a dirrtty, drrrrrty city. Market street had more trash than the Strip! We love love LOVED the venetian. I really have to model my future bathroom after the Venetian/Four Seasons rooms. I will forever keep their layout in my mind so that someday when Greg and I are ridiculously rich we can place the hot tub next to the shower area with the vanity right across the room. I could really get into the high life.

Despite my hate on what I consider "sad vegas" we had a great time. I loved spending time with my cousin and her little kiddo and we really burned some calories walking everywhere. I bought an awesome new pair of shoes that miraculously don't kill my feet. Greg was a trooper and a great traveling partner yet again, even if there were some people in Vegas who had to ask me how to spell v-e-g-a-n because they had no idea what that was.

I lost $40 at the slots and I'd still go back. I need to bring some lady friends with me though so I can explore the Wynn buffet.

Do you think about me now and then?

It's weird and kinda dumb that a Kanye video made me reminiscent of home. I loved the song when I first got the CD but haven't heard it for a few months until tonight.

I don't know why, but I really don't relate much to Chicago/Illinois. Though I spent the majority of my life thus far in that area, I don't equate Chicago to my "hometown." It's where I physically grew up, but I don't feel like I did my real growing there. I've even lost my midwestern accent. I actually know more history and can get my way around Boston and SF better than I can ever do in Chicago. Greg is the one that is figuring out the El when we visit. Is this bad that I'm so transient? That I embrace every new place I go to as a significant part of my personality? And my true hometown is full of only memories, but no real connection?

Well, to think about it, every place I've been to post-Addison, IL, was a place that I chose to live in. It was not coincidence, not situational, I made the personal choice to leave home and go to these places. Maybe that's why I feel more connection. Because every success and failure as a result of these decisions was due to my feelings, thoughts, inhibitions, and decisions. I guess that's why it's special. I'm with Greg because I chose to go to Northeastern (and luckily be friends with abi green). I'm a pediatric PT because I did my co-op at Franciscan Children's hospital - come to think of it, my yearn to work with people with disabilities stemmed from working at Fernald way back in the day. I make a crapload of money because I live in San Francisco. I spend a crap load of money because I live in San Francisco. I'm going to Alaska this June because of Sierra who nudged me into Team in Training here in SF.

I'm diverging off-topic. Chicago. Memories off the top of my head include senior year of high school, the summer of '00, and my family. I kinda regret that I don't keep in touch with my hometown friends besides facebook and myspace. Well, I've always been a proponent of if you're meant to stay friends, you will work hard to stay friends. And I'm happy with the relationships I maintain with my good friends. It's just unfortunate that I see those that I love only a few times a year.

The more I think about it the more I really love and appreciate my family. I've always had the desire to run away, "get the hell outta here". I embraced my independence so much at the expense of hanging out with my family. The older I get, the more appreciative I am of having such a kind-hearted family. You'd think that every one of them would be like "fuck it, you are never home so why should I even care about your life" but it's never the case. I'm so thankful that I'm always welcomed home and I really cherish the time I'm with them. I love my niece, my dad, my brothers, mom, etc. My brother Jay and my mom are really the most self-less people I know and I only wish that some day when I stop being a selfish bunghole I can hopefully return the favor and give them everything they want and would never ask for.

I guess I'm just realizing that I can probably forgo trips to papalote, the nail salon, Ambiance, and happy hours and I would be able to visit home more. Drop the elitist "I lived in the Eaaaassst coast and now I live in San Franciisssssco and my life must be better than yours" 'tude and just fucking go home.

Maybe we can start again.

I'm bad at blogging.

And I realize that the only time I find myself blogging is when I'm procrastinating writing a report. It's alright.

36 more hours until Vegas! Or as my dad would say "Bey-gas! Bey-gas! Bey-gas!" Things I would like to accomplish this trip - finding at least one vegan-friendly place in the city (it's gotta happen or else I'll have an old-man-cranky-pants boyfriend), lay out in the pool and order a girly drink, buy one high-end product (new sunglasses?), wear my cute new dress, and hopefully win a hundred dollars. That's all I want. I'm probably only going to let myself bet $40 on slots so hopefully I can make a hundred. We'll see.

I did a 3.5 mile track run today and am not loving life right now. First of all, I stupidly ate a piece of chantilly cake at 4pm when I knew my run was at 6:45. But it just looked so good, Whole Foods does an amazing job with their packaging because you cannot resist buying something after walking by their dessert section. Second of all, I THOUGHT it was just supposed to be a nutrition clinic, not running (which would have been helpful seeing as I think eating cake before running isn't a bad idea). I was barely going to even wear running clothes but thank God I did! The nutrition lady wasn't there so we ended up running. Dammit. I felt like I had a log in my stomach and I just wasn't breathing well. My upper traps are so tight that a non-TNT bystander running next to me said "lady, relax your shoulders, pull them down." HOW EMBARRASSING! Maybe I should add getting a massage on my Bey-gas list.

I am awaiting the finale of America's Best Dance Crew. I'm even holding restraint and not checking any websites to see who wins, seeing as we're 3 hours behind here. I love me some boston street performers but I am hoping Jabbawockeez wins.

I really should get to this report. I am hoping my drunken-ness isn't apparent in my grammar.

Can someone please, please buy me some Airdrives??? I really need them.

I did it!

For some reason I was really nervous about running this road race. I had never done one, so that's probably why. We left extremely way too early only to be standing in the freezing bay area cold for about 2 hours. I seriously thought my legs were going to fall off, they were so numb.
The first mile was not too too bad, mostly downhill, then flat. Then we reached the bridge where there were something like 5-6 switchbacks to go up really high. I handled the hill pretty well, walking only about 1 or two lengths of a switchback. It's weird to think that I found my groove going uphill.
It was so beautiful running across the bridge, it's something I've always wanted to do in life. The sun beating down on you, Baker beach and Seacliff to your right, the beautiful, beautiful City to your left...makes me love LOVE living in San Francisco.
Whoever said that "halfway across the bridge is the half point" is an asshole. I think we hit the 2 mile mark 1/3 of the way. Not a happy surprise. Though once you get halfway, it really is downhill from there. Coming off the bridge was a little bit of a tease because you could see the first wave runners...but you had to go BACK to the bridge and make a long loop before you ran down the marina. Running towards the bridge was with a headwind, not fun.
The last 3 miles were really not too bad. Running on the gravel was a nice change. Running along the water is really pretty. I planned on speeding up at the 6 mile mark until I saw that it was a steep grade uphill. No thanks! I walked about 50-60 feet of it, then forced myself to run some more.
It was so awesome to see Greg towards the finish line. I was afraid it would be really crowded and we wouldn't see each other. Seeing him smile and wave with the camera pushed me faster across the finish line. It was great.
Thanks go to TNT for the pre-race chats to calm my nerves. Thanks to the black-haired dread lady who was a great visual spot for about 3 miles of the run. Thanks to that cute old couple that kept me entertained. No thanks to the 13-year-old that passed me, but you rock. No thanks to the elite men that were running BACK to the bridge as I was coming down Crissy Field. You people are crazy.

I suppose this means I should be preparing myself for longer runs. I wonder if future runs will have cute little Asian 5-year-olds offering you water as you go.

I think

I'm allergic to exercise. I just can't shake off this cold.

Is this my future child?

Oh my gosh I can't handle the cuteness. I'm already training my eggs to be just like him.

Hee-larious

I don't know why i'm in a cynical of the bay area mood. but greg sent this to me and I find it kind of funny.

‘San Ramon Barbie ‘

This princess Barbie is sold only at Blackhawk Mall. She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a cookie-cutter house. Available with or without tummy tuck, boob job, and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with the augmented version.

‘ Walnut Creek Barbie ‘

The modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Wind star Minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.

‘ East San Jose Barbie’

This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife,a Chevy with dark tinted windows. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills) …unless you are a cop, then we don’t know what you are talking about.

‘ Los Gatos Barbie ‘

This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won’t be able to afford any of them.
‘Gilroy Barbie’

This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and tweety bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken’s butt when she’s drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free.

‘ Milpitas Barbie’

This to bacco-chewing, brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time she chased beer-gutted Ken out of Brentwood Barbie’s house. Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans, fake fingernails, and a see-through halter-top. Also available with a mobile home.
‘ Berkeley Barbie’

This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her Willow . She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Berkeley Barbies and the optional Subaru wagon, you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free.
‘ East Palo Alto Barbie’

This Barbie now comes with a stroller and two infant dolls. Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass. Gangsta Ken and his 1979 Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant.

‘ Castro Street Barbie/Ken’

This versatile doll can be easily converted from Barbie to Ken by simply adding or subtracting the multiple snap-on parts.

‘ Richmond Barbie’

This Barbie is no longer available… she was shot before she made it to the list.

JUST ADDED:

‘ Tenderloin Barbie ‘

Ice Skating in San Francisco

entails:
- newly imported Vietnamese families learning how to skate by holding hands five abreast
- high school emo couples with matching "all-over" hoodies
- little asian boys with hockey helmets zipping around
- douchebag adult hockey players who find no fault with practicing drills during freaking PUBLIC SKATING
- an elder gay male practicing loops in the center of the rink
- me, clinging onto Greg's arm for dear life
- a birthday party of seven-year-olds wearing true religion jeans that cost about the same as my car insurance payment.

Should I be alarmed

that I find myself agreeing to most of the things that http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/
claims?

politik

I don't usually like to talk politics unless it's with my very close friends because it's so personal to people. At times I'm really inspired at how emotional and passionate people get about it, sometimes it bugs the shit out of me. Everyone has their own opinion and tries to keep talking the wax out of your ear until you agree with them. This seems to me what politics is all about and that is totally why I majored in applied sciences. Pretty much there is a cause/effect, black/white, multiple choice K-format answer. I don't like grey.

But I'll go against what I just said and speak my mind for a moment. I think that no matter what we're better off without GWB, but if Hillary gets the nomination I'll be so disappointed with politics in general. I think she's a good lady, I'm sure she'd make a great candidate. Something about her gives me the impression she feels entitled for this role, much like the way GW felt when he first ran for prez. I feel like she thinks this is the role for her and its the right thing to do. Hmm. The fact that a woman is potentially running for president should be so inspiring to me, but I don't feel that way at all with her. I wouldn't find it monumental or revolutionary if she became president. So many people who have had absolutely no interest in voting or politics have come out of the woodworks to vote for Obama. And it's so neck and neck that it's going to be disheartening if he loses.

Oh well. This is why I can't get so into this shit. I personally was hoping for Edwards.

Are you serious?!

Title of an email I received from Billion Dollar Babes, a sample sale company that thinks its pretty elite because they have old DVF dresses selling for $300 that are still ugly:

" Get the Ultimate Handbag Accessory with Fiji Water"

How freakin' lame.

The San Francisco noon siren still scares the crap out of me even though I know it comes every Tuesday.

Kettle Bakes are no where near the same caliber as regular Kettle Chips. I'm really disappointed.

Dinner tonight

So far is consisting of an ice cream sandwich and beer.

Weekend in a nutshell

My legs hurt.

I upped my marathon fundraising goal by about $600.

I visited a suburban mall for non-holiday shopping for the first time in a long time. Why are stores like Lids and the Disney store still in existence? And why does the quality of product in places like Nordstrom and Macy's considerably blow?

Greg is sick.

I can't stand 7x7 magazine. Perhaps I'd like it if I was in one of the pictures someday.

I got no report writing or anything work-related done. I don't think that sentence is grammatically correct.

The weekend flew by too fast :(

Hooray!

One more thing - my boss had her baby!! She predicted that she was going to have him today and she was correct. Oh man, what a cheat it must be to be a Leap Year baby. This means he'll be like 13 when he's really 50. What day do you choose to celebrate on the other three years??

Poppin my cherry

So it's Friday night and I have a headache because I've been lying on the small brown couch while Greg is sleeping on the big brown couch. Loveseats are purely for fashion purposes only. Unless you are under 10 years old you really can't stretch out on one of these and be comfortable.

Greg is back after a 12 day absence. That is close to being the longest that we've been apart. Wait, that's completely a lie because we were apart for 6 months when he was in Vermont and Belgium, then for 2 months when he left to San Francisco the first time, then 3 months when I was in Chicago. This was all over three years ago. It's amazing how forgetful you are when your relationship is an eternity.

So anyway, I was looking forward to him being gone meaning I can watch all the Bravo and America's Best Dance Crew without feeling evil eyes upon me, I can order crappy delivery from Dominos, and I can actually look at our sinkful of dishes and not want to throw up. Did that all happen? No because I was sick! Blah! Working with kids has done a number on my body for the past 6 months. It's like God's way of telling me that I shouldn't be a mom for the time being since I'm apparently allergic to children under the age of 3. I did end up watching tons of Project runway, Real Housewives, etc but it was all while having a fever and aches and pains. Boo.

I have to eat something soon because my goal is to run 7 miles tomorrow. I don't know why I'm pushing myself this high, I was at a semi-struggle at 5 miles two weeks ago. Secretly I coud have done a little more but I wimped out at the hills. Damn you San Francisco for your unbelievable hills will stellar views of the GGB. Regardless, wish me luck for tomorrow.