Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Cycle is Broken...

It seems I have snapped out of my laziness rut...

Friday night, I came home and decided to do this...




Two, yes two boxes of Revlon ColorSilk #47 were needed to cover all the gray...yes...I waited way too long to do this...

This weekend, Antonella and I went wandering around the Bay Area. We checked out all our favorite Thrift Store haunts, picked up a few things and then ended up at Ikea....where I purchased this...




A small computer desk...here's the instructions... 7 pages...




after a zillion pieces and much knashing of teeth and cussing, I have this...




A perfect for me and my space computer desk that coordinates with my coffee table (also from Ikea) since it will be in the dining area...which is basically one almost biggish room.

Antonella also clued me in to a small rolling table that she used as a printer stand back in the day. Sturdy and just the right size...and on wheels like the desk. Sure enough Ikea still carried it, but it was not in stock. But it was last night, so off I went to get it...




So what if it is supposed to be a bedside table? After a bit less knashing of teeth and only half a zillion pieces, it's now my printer table. So there.

And Viola! Donna's new home office...just ignore the dresser scarf and cloth napkin...I still need to get some desk pads to protect the finish on these little guys...and ignore the cords hanging all over...still working that out too...




Mikael Computer Desk from Ikea: $39.99
Corras Bedside Table from Ikea: $29.99
Used leather office chair from Urban Ore: $10

Working from home: Priceless

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Ummm....second verse...same as the first?

If you haven't guessed already...I'm still being lazy.

So now, if you'll excuse me, the 2nd Harry Potter movie is starting, and Kitty is holding a spot for me on the couch...

It's Lazy Time folks...

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

A little bit of lazy goin' on here...

...OK, so maybe a LOT of lazy....

I just don't feel like doing anything. I get up, I go to work, I come home, and it's nuthin' until bed time.

At least the last few days, I've been reading Harry Potter 7...but I finished that last night. So now I'm back to lazy.

Spence has been gone for 3 1/2 weeks now...

Have I started any of my projects? Nope.

Have I cleared out a spot for my home office? Nope.

Have I at least colored my hair? NOPE!!! And I can't even believe I haven't done that yet!

I'm hopeless. I still have lots of stuff to do around here for Apartment Therapy, chores, you name it.

And I haven't done a damn thing.

Oh well, at least I'm not sitting on the couch eating junk food...hmmmm.....nah....too lazy to do even that...

Sigh.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Donna's got a brand new ride...

Yes, folks, I picked up my new bicycle last night. She's gorgeous. She's a Huffy Rival 26in girl's bike. Light teal with a few splashes of pink and white...and I managed to find a bike helmet in teal to match her.

Here she is safely snuggled in her big bro Scooter. He was very happy to make her aquaintance. That means he gets to rest...and with almost 163,000 miles under his belt, he needs a rest.




Here she is next to her big bro. She was very thankful for the safe ride to her new home.




And yes, my friends, I have named her.....H.R. Huff n Puff, or Ms. Puffy for short.

WTF you say? Well....H. R. stands for Huffy Rival of course. Huff n Puff is what I do when I get within 2 feet of her...

Put her in Scooter's trunk and secure it all for the ride home? Huffing and Puffing the whole time.

Take her out when we got home? Same thing.

Ride her a few times around the parking lot? Yep you guessed it.

Carrying her up 14 steps to my apartment? Hell, yes, I Huffed and I Puffed.

Good God, I'm so out of shape. But Ms. Puffy has promised to help me with that...and I love her for it.

I dug through the boxes and found all my old biking gear. Out came the fancy bike locks, the bright pink padded biking gloves, the super gelled up seat pad (my ass will thank me for that later), the wrap around sunglasses (which look totally dorky now, but were very cool in 1988 - no, I'm NOT going to wear them)...I think that's it. Yes, folks, I was a hard core biker back in the day. I even wore the dreaded Spandex padded bike shorts... Rambling around the lake on muddy trails with my mountain bike...switching out the tires to ride a 150 mile road bike-a-thon, riding around the Texas countryside for an hour after work...every day...

Now I can't even look at a bike without Huffing and Puffing.

That being the case, Ms. Puffy and I are just gonna roll with whatever we got goin' on. We're the laid back hippy version of my old hard core self. Older, wiser, out of shape...but we will have lots of fun and get a great workout in the process. Save gas, reduce emissions, etc etc etc yada yada yada.

And there will be NO SPANDEX involved.

Excuse me while I go practice French braiding my hair...gotta get this mop under control if I wanna get the new lid on...am home today, but if I'm feeling better will take Ms. Puffy on our first ride to BART tomorrow.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Gargh...

Left at 12:20pm...with one stop for food and bathroom, arrived at Camp 3:20pm.

Waited in line after line to get the boys signed in, etc for 2 hours in the heat. Gah.

Left Camp at 5pm.

Stopped off for gas, food, and rest at 7pm.

Pulled into apartment parking spot 8:45pm.

No bike, no dinner and no Food Network Star at Antonella's.

Sent email to Honey.

Posting here.

Grabbing some Advil, a big jug of water, and will hunker down in my comfy reading chair for a few chapters of HP7 before I fall into bed.

Now, where did I put those reading glasses....

My last few hours...

...with Spencer before we head back to camp...and he's still asleep. Good Heavens! Time to do my version of what Stephieface does to her eldest....

Anyway, before the Kitty and I go in packing pillows, I figured I'd post.

Yes, Cherry, I did move the stuff out of his room, and tonight, it's going back in...so far I've wasted 3 weeks of Spencer not being here. Soon to be 4...sigh. Next weekend he is with his Dad, so I have one more week and then a bit more to work on getting rid of some stuff. And I really ought to since where it lives when not in Spencer's room is where I will be setting up my home office. Gah. I really need to get back into 'going through crap mode' here dammit!

Got a bike yesterday, not a used one at the flea market like I wanted, but a brand new one. Bike man wasn't at the flea yesterday!!! I was soooo disappointed. Kept teasing Spencer that I was going to cry since that was the one and only reason we trekked out to Berkeley was to look at bikes....then I spotted a booth that had all their older display stuff in a bin - $5 each. So now I have 2 pashmina shawls...mine...all mine....not exactly the colors I would have picked and they are a bit faded from hanging in the sun, but they will be good for when I'm in the home office in winter...it can get pretty chilly in here in Dec/Jan...

Anyway, new bike is pretty cool...a bit fancier than I wanted with all kinds of gears and shocks and God only knows what, but they are putting it together for me and with all that, it only cost me $70. Awesome...I love clearance sales.

We also picked up Harry Potter 7 and I am trying so hard not to start reading it...but failing...two chapters down so far. I'll read the rest on BART during the commute. If Spencer had not been here this weekend, I would be more than half way thru...

Spencer spent some of his birthday money too and bought a new skateboard and helmet. YAY! He loves it. We also stopped in at Half Price Books and he found a cake decorating book that shows how to make and use Fondant. He's hooked on Ace of Cakes on Food Network, so wants to check it out and maybe give it a go.

Oh snap!!!! He woke up, now I can't go wake him up all noisy and all. Bummer...

Well, have to go now. We've got to finish packing him up. The other 2 stooges are going to be here in a few hours for our trip back up to camp. It's usually just a one week thing, but the boys wanted to go for two, so we signed them all up for two. Unfortunately, they have to come home inbetween, which is why I picked them up on Friday and am taking them back today. Another parent will pick them up at the end on Friday.

Have a great Sunday everyone. I get to pick up my new flashy bike after I come back from dropping off the boys. Wooot!!!!!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Stink Factor 2 out of a possible 10...

Picked up the boys yesterday with no incidents (as in I didn't get lost). They were pretty well cleaned up, the baggage wasn't too discombobulated and all three of them plus all their crap fit into my Corolla. YAY!

It was a bit longer trip on the way back because I had to stop for food and bathroom breaks and we hit a bit of traffic once we got back to the Bay Area. Not a bad trip at all, and I'm looking forward to driving them back on Sunday.

So long everyone...I'm waiting very impatiently for my son to wake up so we can spend some time together. Guess the days of him waking up before me are over...

Friday, July 20, 2007

If I wasn't already awake, I would be...

Hey everyone, whole lotta shakin' goin' on here at Casa de Chaos. Had a 4.2 earthquake about an hour ago...centered about 15 or so miles from here, but felt it quite strong non-the-less.

Had already been awake for a while...the whole I'm soooo excited about seeing Spencer thing you know...and had just signed on-line to see if the Honey was still working. Sure enough he was there, so we started chatting...

Honey says:
hello sweetheart, now go back to bed, you've a long journey.
..

Donna says:
Hi love...couldn't sleep....decided to check my email

Honey says:
you're bad.....


Donna says:
i've been up for an hour

Honey says:
oh no....


Donna says:
finally gave in and came out to the living ro;mm

Donna says:
omg earth

Donna says:
quake

Donna says:
big one

Donna says:
oh shit

Honey says:
this isn't good preparation for a 2½ hour drive


Honey says:
what, there?? now???


Donna says:
YES

Donna says:
things are still shaking

Donna says:
esp me

Honey says:
oh good god...


Honey says:
are you ok?


Donna says:
yyyyes

Donna says:
kitty ran...don't know where she's hiding

Honey says:
oh heavens....


Honey says:
don't blame her....


Honey says:
nothing fallen over or anything?


Donna says:
my hands are shking so much i cna't tyep'

Donna says:
no

Donna says:
it was pretty strong

Honey says:
is your phone on?


OK, is this guy the sweetest ever or what? We chatted online a good 45 minutes more until he was convinced I was calmed down and would go back to bed. Umm...so here I sit posting in the Chaos...but honestly, I'm going back to bed. Kitty finally came out of hiding and headed straight for her food bowl. I'll give her some food and yummies and then I'm off back to dreamland.

An hour or so of snooze time, then it's up and at 'em to go get the boys! YAY!!!!!!!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Tick Tock...watch the Clock...

...drive everyone around you crazy...well, not so much. There's no one around. It's just me and the kitty. IF anyone was unfortunate enough to be around, they'd hear me counting down the time until I see my son. Won't do that here, but just know, I leave at 9am tomorrow morning.

The fact that I will be driving, alone, for almost 3 hours, sitting around camp for 2 hours for family festivities in the outdoors (most of which I'm allergic to), and driving back to the Bay Area for 3 hours with 3 (count them 3) stinky, dirty, teens, doesn't matter. I get to see my son. Haven't seen my "baby" for more than 5 1/2 hours over the last 3 weeks. I don't care what he smells like, I'm going to grab him, and hug him, and embarrass the crap out of him. hee hee.

Latest from the Officina de Chaos...Real Estate hotties came for a tour this afternoon. Two very tall, very good looking, very polite, and very very young men, stopped by for me to show them around the office. This whole process is going to be a pain in my butt, but at least I've got some eye candy to look at...

On the WFH front (work from home), I've been bringing home a few of my personal things and some office stuff I'll need every day this week. Don't want to wait until the last minute. Don't really want to have to drive into SF and pick it all up either. I seriously do not like driving in SF. Seriously.

AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO SPENDING THIS WEEKEND WITH MY SON!!! I'm excited, can you tell?

Hopefully, he'll have enought energy to go to the flea market Saturday morning 'cause Mom REALLY wants to buy a bike this weekend!!! And if I get a good enough deal, he'll get one too...

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

I've got the whole "River in Egypt" thing goin' on 'round here...

De-Nile people....denial...I've gained 5 pounds since my Honey went back to the UK and I'm choosing to ignore it for now...

Ooh....LOOK>>>>>> Work From Home Wednesday....

A few posts back, I asked for work-at-home advice. Well, I've been collecting quite a bit of info, so thought I'd share. So in the spirit of sharing and hoping this might trigger some other advice or ideas, here goes...

  1. Schedule out your work day...just as you would in the office. 'Cause you're still working, just not in the office.
  2. Get out of your house every day. Eat lunch somewhere else. Have a picnic in your yard, meet a friend for lunch, go eat lunch at the pool....etc. If you don't, you'll go nuts - cabin fever anyone?
  3. When you aren't working, walk away from your setup. Close it off if you can. If you don't walk away, you'll never stop working. When you were in the office, you left to go home, and left work at the office until the next morning. Same concept, only you don't have to go that far to go home now.
  4. Limit your distractions. Concentrate on the ones you have control over, the others? You'll just have to learn how to deal with them. There WILL be distractions.
  5. Get 'ready' for work every day. Eat your regular breakfast before you start work. And for goodness sake get dressed. (hahaha...you just KNOW that with my recent obsession with nekkid days that I'm going to have to at least try the whole working nekkid thing)
  6. Designate a dedicated home office area.
  7. Check out tax laws - there are things you can write off on your taxes when you work from home.
  8. Learn how to use the company expense reporting system.
  9. Keep all your work contacts handy and up-to-date.
  10. Set ground rules and STICK TO THEM! - especially if you have family home with you.
  11. If you want to spend time with your family during the day, make sure you either start early or work later.

This sounds like a lot, and I'm sure there's even more, but I'm confident it'll get easier the more I settle into my work-from-home routine.

I've decided to do several things to help myself 'get away' from my office every day. First of all, I'm going to buy a bicycle. I won't need public transit that much anymore, and I'm going to not use my car as much as possible. Within short biking distance from my apartment are the 'several things' that will keep me sane. There are several parks, a public library, a beautiful garden, several coffee shops (not Starbucks), grocery stores, smoothie joints, three small city downtown areas, one which has a summer concert series in the town square at lunch once a week, and quite the extensive bike/hike trails that go throughout the area. I can get on it a few blocks from my house and go anywhere I've just mentioned and more.

I'm going to see if I can talk Spencer into riding to the train station in the morning. I'll ride with him and then meet him there after school for the ride back. He'll most likely need the help carrying all his school crap. And I sure as hell could use the time away from the house and most importantly, the exercise. And ... I can get there and back before I have to start working, and won't need to leave until after I stop. Perfect.

I'm actually looking forward to all this.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

50...50?!? WTF!!!!

OK, so go to spend some of my gift cards tonight. Take off after work with Antonella. She was in SF today going through Human Resource stuff for her new job. OH YEAH!!! Give it up for Antonella everyone, she starts her new job next Monday. She is excited and I'm soooo friggin' happy for her. A much better situation all around for her. YAY Antonella, YOU GO GIRL!!!

Where was I...oh yes, we head off to spend a few of my gift cards. Totally score and get quite the haul. Checking out, when the underage chick at the register asks if I want to take advantage of the discount. What discount I ask? I'm thinking is there some sort of birthday discount I didn't know about, do I get a discount for using more than one gift card at once, do you just love me so much you want to give me a discount? But no...the senior discount for 50 yrs old and up. The flippin' SENIOR friggin' CITIZEN discount!

W...T...F ??!?!?!?!?!??! bitch.

Must have given the young idiot such the look of death when I replied "I'm NOT 50..." that she pretty much shrunk down into her shoes in fear and couldn't finish up my transaction fast enough. Once again...bitch.

IDIOT! Way to crush a shopping high. But then I came home and surveyed my haul and I felt much, much better... Queen size bed in bag, and some clothing -2 skirts, and 2 shirts. $69.97 - with only $9.97 coming out of my wallet. This girl has got some skills. Booyah.

Well enough random blabbering...I'm beyond exhausted...work was tough today...I'd better drag my tush to bed...work isn't going to get any easier and us old folks really do need our rest.

Bitch.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Today's last nekkid entry...

Well folks...another birthday for the history books.

Nekkidness all over blogland (ok, maybe just in my apt)...to whatever degree whoever participated decided on...just the thought of even one other person even thinking of nekkidness is funny...hee hee

How did I spend my day? Besides mostly nekkid? Didn't do a whole lot of anything, but had a lovely day anyway.

Got up, didn't get dressed, made breakfast, hopped online, caught up on some blogs, surfed around, chatted with my Honey when he came online, talked with my Honey via the phone - surprise!! YAY!!! Didn't say much 'cause I just turn to jello and go dork extreme when I hear his voice...duh...English accent...hello!

Talked to my Mom and Sis via phone while chatting with my Honey online. Oh and then started up texting conversations with Antonella and Spencer too. I was quite the popular birthday girl today! hee hee

Threw some clothes on to go meet Spencer for oh..twenty minutes...ugh...before he took off to his sleep away camp for a week. I'll see him again on Friday...and almost the entire weekend before he goes off to camp again. Sigh. I've seen him a whole 5 1/2 hours so far this month. I miss him SOOOOOO much!

After the whirlwind 20 minutes with my son, I jetted off to Urban Ore to search out a cool birthday gift for myself...alas, no joy today. Going to a few more places this week. I'll find something that just jumps out at me and says...BUY ME! YOU NEED ME! You know you want me...BUY ME!!!! hahaha Maybe I'll go for something practical, maybe I'll go for something unique...either way, it's going to be something for me.

Zoomed back home to 'get comfortable' once again (yes, I mean nekkid). It was HOTT out today! Definitely a good day to run nekkid thru the apartment. OK, to sit around doing nothing in the apartment. Jeez. Oh yeah...zooming....got back home and chatted some more with my Honey. He went to bed (8 hours ahead over the pond there) and I took a nap. Doing nothing sure is exhausting!

Got all gussied up (skirt - hey, that's dressed up for me) and headed over to Antonella and Todd's for dinner. Chinese takeout, strawberries and whip cream, and Food Network. What a wonderful evening. They spoiled me with gift cards, and Antonella loaded me up with some really cool (and cute) supplies for my new home office. Complete with dark chocolate and gum... YAY!

Bottom line...a great day surrounded by friends, and family...if only for a few quick moments, or a few short hours, and if only via phone for most of them. A woman in love spending quality time with the man who loves her in return...thank heavens for phones and computers and the internet. I would have been very lonely without it all today.

A great day indeed....Happy Birthday Me.

Happy Birthday to (Nekkid) Me...

Good Morning and welcome to my birth day. Happy Birthday to everyone else who was born on this day. It is such a wonderful day to be born. The sun is always shining and there is no school (for those younger folks who still find themselves in school, who aren't in summer school and don't go to year round school). Since it's summer (on our continent anyways), there's usually always a baseball game being played somewhere (which is a big plus for those baseball fans out there).

Here in the Chaos, today will be celebrated nekkid...until of course I have to go out and about since it is illegal to go out and about without clothes on your body. It's easy to be putzing about Rhett nekkid today since I'm the only one here. The cat could care less. She's off cleaning body parts that require legs up in the air and curious contortions...in other words, she's too busy to care.

What to do today....I started out thinking knekkid knitting....a sort of Naked Knit-in if you will. Don't know if that'll happen. Why? Well, this is summer, the warm part of the Bay Area, and the sun is shining...very brightly I might add. Forecasted High Temp for today? 87 F. Might get a bit hot to knit...and yes...I know I'm nekkid...

Maybe I'll spend some time with Rhett...he's overdue for some quality time from me and our favorite electric toy....

Anyway...time to get Donna's Day of Nekkidness started up....breakfast time! Let the nekkidness begin!

NOTE: Don't forget, it's not just about knitting nekkid...do whatever you'd like...nekkid. Or do whatever you need to do and think about if you were doing it nekkid. Or do what you need to do and think of others nekkid... And if you find out about this a day or two late? Go nekkid for a day anyway...it's someone else's birthday somewhere in the world and they're doing nekkid things too!

NOTE #2: Get Nekkid Responsibly...be careful out there...and keep it legal.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Lazy Saturday....

...yeah....I'm not doing a darn thing....only thing I've accomplished today is talking to the two most important men in my life. Nagged my son via text messages to make sure he showered and put on clean clothes before he got on the plane home. And just finished chatting with my Honey. We always chat a bit via instant messenger every day. Don't know how I'd get through this without technology...back in the day all they had were letters and phone calls. Now we have that plus, IM, texting, webcams, email, internet phone, yada yada yada. Thank goodness for technology.

Oh, I did manage to get a few things done...I 'seasoned' my new stovetop cast iron grill, and made a yummy brunch (and even cleaned up after right away).

Could do oh so much more, but don't feel like it. Highest priority is touching up my gray roots so I don't have any gray hair showing for my birthday tomorrow. Don't think that's going to happen though since I really don't feel like making the mess right now, or sitting with color in my hair for 35 minutes, or rinsing and conditioning when I'm done, etc etc etc. Looks like I'll have gray hairs tomorrow. Oh well...doesn't seem to bother me all that much, or I'd have done it already.

OK, so two of the four "Spencer is away, I can get so much done" weeks have passed. And.... I've pretty much done nothing. I haven't moped on the couch feeling sorry for myself eating junk food, but I haven't really done anything worth mentioning. I haven't started any of the projects on my list nor have I gotten any further with going through crap. I have a very short attention span lately and just can't concentrate on any one thing long enough to feel like I've done it justice.

Got too many things going on in my noggin I guess.

With the whole office closing thing going on now, I have no choice but to finish clearing out all the crap. I now have to make space in my small space for a home office. Not going to be easy. But I'll do it though. Eventually.

Since I heard about the closing, I've been asking the "Work at home" folks I know for any advice they can give me. I've gotten lots of good advice from my Honey (he does it now), and a few other friends and acquaintences who have done it in the past or are still doing it. I've never done it before, except for when Spencer has been sick, but that doesn't really count. I only ever worked half days, and only a few times. I don't have a full home office setup, or a dedicated place (yet) for it. Work is going to get me everything I need as far as equipment and connections go. I have to make sure I make my space how I need it. If anyone out there has any advice or comments, they'll be appreciated. Don't worry if I might have heard it before just leave it anyway. Everything will help. Any small space ideas and ideas for storage especially. I don't want my home office to take over Rhett. He's pretty laid back and won't like seeing work stuff all the time. hee hee...

Oh, and ideas on how to keep home and office life separate are good too. That's going to be very, very important now. Oh, and also how to deal with family and friends, etc. I think it's going to be hard for them to get used to the fact that just because I'm home all day, doesn't mean I'm available for them.

This is going to be a huge change for not only me, but everyone I'm involved with...sigh. It all sounds so awesome until you start looking at all the details. Once I get everything set, I'm sure it'll work out well though. Just have to set a schedule and some ground rules and stick to them.

Well, enough rambling. Need to decide now if I should get dressed - hey now - I'm in a robe - no nekkidness until the birthday tomorrow... or just hang out in my comfy robe and jammies going through crap and mending some clothes. IF I get myself together and fit for the public eye, I'll go gocery shopping, pick up a few other things and then do laundry. Hmmm...since I don't have much left in the kitchen worth eating...guess getting dressed and heading off to the grocery store wins....

Oh, and speaking of being nekkid tomorrow. Do what you need to do...I really like Stephieface's idea of knitting clothed and thinking of others nekkid...especially Gerard Butler....prrrrr...well folks, if you decide to participate in Donna's Day of Nekkidness...choose your preferred type of nekkidness and go for it - and don't forget to share with us what you did - oh, and pictures not required 'cause you sure as hell aren't getting one from me... I'll most likely knit nekkid and think of a few choice others nekkid...at least until I have to get dressed to go see Spencer for a few hours before he drives off to another week away from me.

Don't forget...get nekkid safely...and please...keep it legal...

Thursday, July 12, 2007

My Honey is the best...

Lots of stress happening in the Chaos once again...

  • Drama in Texas - Spencer is there visiting - sounds simple enough - you'd think...
  • Deadlines at work causing stress...
  • Office closing August 15th, so even more stress added to work...
  • Getting set up at home since office is closing...yes, more stress...

Add all this to the 'normal' stresses one encounters in their daily life, and you've got one stressed out chick.

Can't wait until Saturday afternoon...Spencer will be back in California. One HUGE stress eliminated. The whole work thing will be around for a while, but I'll eventually deal with it...one day at a time is all I can do at this point. The rest is...well, it just is.

Once the dust settles, things will get better.

The best thing that happened today? A wonderfully funny and sweet birthday card arrived in the mail all the way from my Honey today. :o) Just what I needed. He's the best. Ever. And he was just being his normal wonderful self...sigh...

OK enough sugary sweet, schmoopy stuff. I'm exhausted and the old eyelids are starting to droop...and it's just after 9pm....NOT like me at all...yesterday was worse - I was in bed asleep before the sun went down! Good Lord, I hope this isn't a trend. I'm a night owl dammit!!!!!

I'm pretty sure it's just the stress...and my body is telling me that I need rest. I'm listening, I'm listening! Of I go to my Honey in dreamland. ;o)

For those paying attention, I did say I was the one who got a birthday card...the big day is on Sunday. Let's all celebrate by running around in our birthday suits...or at least knitting knekkid...who's with me?

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Goodbye Boobie Tuesday.....

Oh.my.god. Where do I start? The whole thing was amazing. Simply fucking amazing (there Donna, does that help make your blog racier?)!

I took a half day off on Friday and left work around noon to head up to SF and the hotel. I eventually hooked up with my teammates, we registered, handed in a few checks, and had a great dinner at Fino where we loaded up on carbs. I got into bed early, but didn’t sleep all that well – I was way too excited, and I must have woken up 7 or 8 times during the night. The alarm went off at 4:15 (ugh), I packed up my stuff, bandaged up my blister prone spots






got dressed and we met Nathalie and her husband in the lobby at 5:00. We made our way to Speedway Meadows, had some breakfast and coffee, shivered our way through the opening ceremony, kissed our respective husbands goodbye and we were on our way!






It was pretty tight at first – more than 2400 walkers leaving at the same time makes it pretty slow going. But as soon as we started moving, I warmed up – and didn’t even get cold going over the Golden Gate bridge!






Most of Saturday was pretty easy. Avon does a great job organizing, and they provided everything we could have needed; good snacks, medical services when necessary, plenty of encouragement and some nice scenery in the form of the very nice (and some very hot) San Jose Bike Cops! How come I don’t run into them here in San Jose, damnit! Here are a few shots of Saturday morning fun:


















The walk was beautiful. After we went over the bridge we headed through Sausalito and up to Marin. There were a lot of people cheering us, and I got to make some new friends. Kai is a Newfoundland – and when we came back past his house 5 hours later, he was still in the same position!






He was very sweet. So was this other little dog – I didn’t get her name but she sure was a huggy one.






We really felt great for most of the day. I wasn’t in any rush but ended up walking faster than I ever have, while using very little effort. I’m sure this was energy I’d built up while tapering down my training toward the very end; I was in good shape and pretty well rested, and it paid off. Nothing really hurt until about mile 20 or so – which is farther than we’d ever walked. One of the last challenges we hit on the way back was this:






We knew it was coming because we’d gone down it early in the day – it was tough, but all the walking I did in the hills of Los Altos and Los Gatos really helped! I slowed down but I didn’t have to stop to catch my breath once.

Once we got past the hill, our only big challenge left was the Golden Gate bridge – again.






It was a lot harder this time, I think more due to the traffic noise than anything else. I wasn’t in any more pain than at any other time, but it was so wearing! Damn that place is loud. I focused on the path straight ahead of me and tried to ignore everything else. As we got off the bridge, I spotted my husband Brian waiting for me at the 1-mile-to-go point. What a sight for sore eyes! He’d bought a couple dozen really good cookies and was handing them out to walkers as they came off the bridge. He sure knows how to make friends (or potential dates, I don’t know). I was so thrilled to see him – I thought I was going to have to call him when we got to camp, and there he was, waiting to walk the last mile with me. And it was a good thing – my feet were killing me by then and I was really wobbly.

But we made it and I was very psyched to have completed 26.2 miles! Here’s tent city:






Our team captain’s husband and some other knitting friends had come by, pitched our tent and put our luggage in it! What angels; they couldn’t have done anything that would have made us happier. Anyway, the shower felt better than any shower I’ve ever taken, and I emerged feeling much better as well as about 3 pounds lighter from having gotten rid of all the road dirt. Next stop, medical tent, to have them take care of my blisters.

I decided not to stay in the tent, but went back to the hotel with Brian, where I took a bath, stretched for about 40 minutes, and then eased my feet into my aloe-infused fuzzy socks and was one happy girl.







Day 2


Brian brought me back to Crissy field in the morning, where we were given a nice breakfast by the fabulous walk crew,






and we were on our way! I’d bandaged my blisters really carefully in the morning, stretched twice, and felt absolutely great. We made our way through the city and most of our favorite cheerleaders were back for a second day:






Pepper the I Will Survive Lady was awesome. She danced her way to I Will Survive at high volume for 2 days straight and yelled out encouragement and generally brightened everyone’s day. I also met a new friend, Tony.






We climbed a few hills:






They were tough but not as tough as I thought they’d be. We had lunch in a nice park somewhere around mile 8






We were doing well. I could feel my blistered toe, but it was ok. I was tightening up and feeling some knee pain, but nothing was going to stop me. Nathalie’s knee was acting up but she wasn’t going to give up either. So on we went. Around mile 10 the weirdest thing happened. I got this sharp jabbing pain in my toe – it felt like an electrical shock that didn’t want to stop. I couldn’t walk normally on it, but I was able to limp along. Just before mile 12, there was my wonderful hubby again, waiting to do the last mile with me. Nathalie’s hubby joined us shortly after that. As we neared the finish, we got quite the welcome! I couldn’t stop smiling.






















It was the most awesome feeling.

We picked up our new tee shirts and I made my way to the medical tent. I thought I had just one more blister on my previously wounded toe, but it was uglier than I expected. Blech!






Ruby at the medical tent fixed me up though and I felt better – though I was so bandaged up I couldn’t put my foot back in my shoe – so I limped along with my wrapped foot there for all to see. It looked more dramatic than it really was.

The closing ceremony was cool, and Avon sure did a beautiful job of making us feel very proud of ourselves.

Statistics:


We walked 39.3 miles over 2 days.

I raised over $4,500 dollars myself

There were over 2400 of us walking this weekend

As a group we raised over $5.4 million dollars

During that time, about 125 people in the US died of breast cancer.


Other points:


I’m feeling damned fine.

I love my supportive husband.

I also love the San Jose Bike Cops

If you feel inclined to donate toward the fight against Breast Cancer, you can still donate for about 29 more days by clicking on the link on Donna’s sidebar.


That’s it! Thanks Donna, and goodbye Boobie Tuesday!

Love,

Rachel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An awesome experience indeed....

I'm glad to see some familiar faces...SJ Cop Hotties....Phil (Did he blast the song Pretty Woman on a stereo?)...Pepper....and our "Walk Dog" was Snowflake, a beautiful Dalmation wearing a red bandana...

Coming soon to a blog near you...

As soon as I get the time, I'll post Walking Rachel's final Boobie Tuesday contribution...filled with stories, pictures and tears...all of them mine. Brought back many wonderful memories.

Monday, July 09, 2007

A title, a title, my chaos for a title...

(Damn blogger...now I can add a title...jeez...just 6 hours after I originally wrote the post...)

Well, work has dropped the ball again, so they are not bringing Honey over in the next few weeks as planned. We were both bummed.


BUT...he has decided to come over on his own dime when the fares drop a bit at the end of summer. He'll most likely come to visit in September and be here for two weeks. YAY!


While I am bummed that he has to pay for his tickets, I'm excited that we will be together again soon. Meanwhile, I still try to save whatever I can so I can get over there on his turf by the end of the year.

Wonder if my apartment managers would mind if I didn't pay rent for a month...just kidding!!!

Yeah, so what...

So today isn't Wednesday...I'm going to talk about exercising anyways.


So last week I decide I need to get off my tush and get moving again. No more excuses yada yada yada. I get the brilliant idea to walk to the train station. Just over two miles one way. Since I don't have to worry about dropping off or picking up Spencer for the next three weeks, I figure it's the perfect way to get my exercise in as it's getting increasingly more difficult to do it during the day. Not only am I busier at the office, but without anyone there to give me a kick in the ass, I won't go.


So I go online, map out the walk to figure out the mileage and check the weather. Since it is summer, I decide to walk only in the morning when it's cooler and just take the bus home after work. So I pop on over to transit site for my local bus and get fare and schedule information as well. Figured that was a good enough plan.


Figured I'd thought of everything. Then Mother Nature put her two cents in and voila! Highest temps of the season were being forecast for the day. I decided to go for it anyway - it's early, right? And I'm taking the bus home, right? No problem. So, last Thursday, I suited up, packed up the ol' backpack and headed off for the train.


The first 15 minutes were just fine...then it started to warm up...and fast. I slowed down and pulled out my water. Kept myself hydrated and in the shade as much as I could. Made it to the train station in 42 minutes. Got there at 7:30am. And it was already warm going on hot.


The journey home was something else. Got off the train...and it was 100 F. Like walking into a blast furnace... Spent the whole time waiting on the bus sitting in the hot shade on a hot concrete bench mentally kicking myself for going ahead with this whole plan. Everything was hot. There was no cool anything anywhere. Twenty minutes later, the bus comes, A/C blasting. Too bad it wasn't cool in the bus. The whole 10 minute ride home, all I could think about was....Damn! I still have to walk a block home in this heat - and there is NO SHADE. Argh. When my stop came up, I pulled out my bottle of water and steeled myself for the hot block home. Swear the temp went up a few more degrees during that bus ride....


Made it home safely, fully hydrated, and taking many mental notes about how NOT to try and do something stupid like this again.


And apparently Mother Nature is having a blast screwing around with us out here since the next day it dropped about 30 degrees. In San Francisco, it was in the mid-60's. Unfortunately, I picked that day to wear my new denim skirt, and also to forget my jacket. Many parts of my body were cold that day...serves me right to not check the weather forecast before I got dressed...


And now I'm thinking how else I can fit a walk into my day...

And so the moping begins...

...or does it....

OK, so I didn't get much done this weekend. Not for lack of trying...um..at least on Saturday anyway... Didn't intend on spending all day Saturday trying to get Spencer off to Texas, but that's just the way it worked out.

By the time I got back to Rhett on Saturday night, I was spent....managed to move all the crap back into Spencer's room and that's it. Oh, and did put the sofa cover on my little wee couch. Of course, it's waaaay too big, but that will change eventually. It looks really nice...baggy, but nice...the fabric is wonderful and once it's tailored it will look even better.

I bought a bamboo lamp at the Goodwill last week and now that all the crap has been shifted out of the way, I was able to set it up on the table between my vintage pleather chairs. Not working all that well though. I think the table is too high and there's not enough contrast between the colors of the two. Add to that the fact that the lamp itself is rather tall and it looks terrible. BUT...I am considering going back to IKEA and buying the end table that coordinates with our new coffee table - which will totally be going between the two chairs. It's low, square and dark. Maybe that will work. Somehow I don't think it will. Oh well. At least I tried. I think I've passed the point of returning for store credit, so if it doesn't work out with the lower, darker table, it's getting donated back...

Today, I slept in, made a fabulous late breakfast of French Toast, talked online with my Honey, made sure the meatloaf was thawed for my weekly dinner and Next Food Network Star Sunday night with Antonella and her hubby, and then took a nap.

There was organizing, laundry, and a whole bunch of projects that could have been done or at least started, but I just didn't want to do it. Didn't feel like it. Didn't exactly lay around feeling sorry for myself, but then again, didn't exactly go out of my way to do anything.

After all, tomorrow is another day....ya'll.

At this point in time, Rachel should be home snoozing...getting some very well needed and well deserved sleep...can't wait to read all about the walk and see her pictures. There was a story on the local news last night about the walk and they showed a bunch of walkers...but not Team Knitters for Knockers...now that would have been totally cool!

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Quickie catch-up...

Well folks...I'm still alive and kickin'...miss me? hahaha

Still wallowing in Chaos, nothing new there.

Honey is still working out things with work for his next trip over to the States. Hopefully he will be able to spend a few weekends here in CA as he ping-pongs across the U.S. I sure hope so, I REALLY miss him. In the meantime, I'm trying and failing miserably to save up enough for a ticket to the UK. But I keep plugging away and hope work brings him over more. Unfortunately, my position isn't one that I could fly over that way on the company's dime, but I've got a few ideas, so we'll see what I can work out.

Spencer is off in TX as of this afternoon...for a whole week! Gak. I miss him already. I haven't seen him all week but for a few short hours this morning. His Grandma on his Dad's side was in town, so Spencer's Dad had a brunch gathering at his place and invited me over so I could visit with my Son. I helped him pack up his stuff, and then his Dad and I took him to the airport.

When he comes back from TX, it's two weeks of sleep away camp. Double GAK! Leaving for camp on my birthday no less. ACK GACK ACK... Now you know why I'm starting to hate summer.

I've got lots of projects lined up to keep myself busy while he's gone. Especially since work is totally stressing me out. I'm counting on creativity to dissipate the missing of the Spencer and the Honey, and the stressing out from the job. Either that or I'll be moping on the couch for the next 3 weeks feeling sorry for myself. Stay tuned...this could be interesting. Or not.

I'm continuing with the Respecting of my Rhett. Still managing to knock out a few bags of crap here and there. I haven't been at it every night like I wanted, but I'm still making progress and that's the most important thing here. YAY ME!!!!

I got a new phone! YAY! New electronic toy!!! WEEEEEEEE!!!

Now, I'm off to drown my sorrows in a bowl of strawberries that will be absolutely covered in whipped cream...low cal, low sugar whipped cream of course....and then I think I'm going to put all the crap back into Spencer's room. I really liked the "no crap" look Rhett was rockin' when Honey visitied back in June, so I'm putting it all back into the room... The best part? There's a LOT LESS going back in... and I will not close the door. I'm not ignoring it this time, I'm still going to pay attention to it and whittle it down bit by bit over the next 3 weeks. Let's hope I use all this time wisely.

Ciao my lovelies, until next time...
~D