Excuse me, what's in your bag?

Hey, guess where was I last weekend?  That's right!  One of my favorite places in the entire world.  WDW!!  It had been basically a year and a half since I had been to the World with Jana so we decided to remedy that with a trip.  Even better was the fact we were going for three full days, rather than just for the weekend.

But let's back up, shall we?  All the way back to the airport where I was standing in a ridiculously long security line.  And I was in the elite access line.  But there I was standing in a line that really wasn't moving.  Good thing I had gotten to the airport early!!  While I was in line for over 40 minutes, I chatted with a 3 year old who was wearing a Tinker Bell shirt.  She and her mom were on their way to visit Grandpa.  I told her I was on my way to visit Tinker Bell and Mickey.  She gets to go visit Mickey when she turns 4.  Finally, finally, finally I got up to the x-ray machine.  And guess what?  The belt stalls on my bag.  Figures.  I am escorted off to the side and the agent starts going through my purse.  Out comes my romance novel, my pink wallet, my Mickey wallet, and the culprit.  At the last second I had thrown in a Minnie pin to attempt #31 on my 34 Things list.  Apparently in the x-ray machine it looked like a throwing star.  Oh snap!  What can you do but laugh?  Oh!!  And the agent called me miss, not ma'am.  Star for him!!  And star for me too.  (Pun intended.)

I picked Jana up in Houston and then we were finally in Orlando!!  We had good luggage magic and good bus magic and were at the hotel pretty quick!  It was late by this time so we grabbed some chicken nuggets for dinner and went to bed.

We woke up a little on the late side and headed for Epcot.  I love coming to Epcot during the Flower & Garden festival to see the topiaries and the new designs.  We got to the park and the rain started.  Which I really didn't mind, especially at Epcot where it can get ridiculously hot.  Until I realized what it was doing to my hair.  Yup, I was having a fabulous hair day (read sarcasm).  But I'm at Epcot - who cares if my bangs are curling all funny.  We had lunch at Via Napoli.  Yummy!!  We hit most of our highlights (Mexico, Soarin', Nemo) and looked at the various topiaries.  And then it was decision time - do we hang out at Epcot for Extra Magic?  Or do we head over to Hollywood and catch Fantasmic?  Fantasmic won out and we took the boat from Epcot over to Hollywood.  I had never taken the boat from Epcot to Hollywood.  We arrived at Hollywood and found the fast passes were all gone for both Rockin' Rollercoaster and Toy Story and the lines were 70 minutes long.  Bummer!!  After dinner of chicken nuggets we did a little shopping and then heard that the early Fantasmic show was standing room only.  Boo.  Okay then.  What was the line for Toy Story?  It was 60 minutes - we broke our own line rule and got in line.  It actually moved pretty quickly and then we got put into super fast line (I think because we were two people and easy to plug in when there are bigger groups).  Woohoo!!  When it was all said and done, it took us 40 minutes start to finish.  Good choice to stand in line!  And then it was time to watch Fantasmic!!

The next morning followed a similar pattern - woke up late and headed to Animal Kingdom.  It was a very different day for us at Animal Kingdom - we were a bit late for breakfast so we didn't go to Pizzafari, which is our normal breakfast place at AK.  And then we didn't go to Restaurantasaurus for lunch!  Say what?!  Instead we went to the Yak & Yeti, my first time there and I do have to say it was quite good.  After lunch it was out on safari where we saw lots of elephants!  The rest of the day was spent with the Yeti, Dinosaur(s), and at Rafiki's Planet Watch.  We finished up the day at the Lion King Festival.  We were slightly late for the Festival and so were escorted into the secret entrance and sat in the giraffe section.  I've now sat in all four sections.  

Once again decision time - do we go and use our fast pass for the Yeti (a second time)?  Or do we head over to Epcot for dinner?  Dinner won out.  The line for the Epcot bus was super long to instead we hopped on the bus for the Beach Club hotel and walked over to Epcot.  It might have been a short cut that turned into a long cut but we finally got to Epcot where we had dinner in Japan and visited Spaceship Earth before walking back over to the Beach Club to catch the bus to Downtown Disney to get our shop on and make a stop at Ghiradelli for some ice cream.  Have I mentioned how much I adore ice cream?  

If this were a normal weekend away, we would be leaving Sunday.  But we had managed to squeeze in another day!  Hooray!  Off to the Magic Kingdom we went on Sunday to spend the whole day there!  Wow - they have done some work on the new Fantasyland!!  I can't wait until it is finished!  So remember back to my Minnie Throwing Star?  Well now I couldn't trade that pin!  So I bought another pin and finally, finally made a trade!  Yippee!!  My first trade.  I was so nervous to trade the pin!  Something as simple as that, yet my introverted, shy side exerts itself.  It was hard for me to go up to a cast member and say can I look at your pins?  But I did it!!  And then I re-traded the pin I traded for.  I probably won't get into trading pins, but I will keep collecting them.  At least now I can cross #31 off my list!  Woohoo!!  

Ever since I read somewhere that most people only do 9 attractions in a day, it has become somewhat of an obsession to me to do at least 9 attractions.  And today?  We did 20!!  Boo yah!  We managed to get on Dumbo right when we expected the fireworks to go off, but we were an hour off.  Fireworks were at 10 today, not 9.  Oh well.  We ended up on Big Thunder when the fireworks went off.  While not quite the same as watching the fireworks from Dumbo, it was still fun.  Especially with the fireworks exploding over the top of the ridge as we went careening around the track.  

When we had originally planned this trip we thought for sure we'd get extra magic hours on Sunday.  But it wasn't to be - extra magic was on Monday.  Boo.  We definitely had magic at the end of the night.  Instead it was back to the hotel.  

And there you have it.  A slightly longer weekend visit with the Mouse!  See ya real soon!!

At Epcot

Champagne in France

Me & Pooh

At Hollywood

Fantasmic

On our way to visit the Yeti

Elephants

At Magic Kingdom

Yay!  I traded a pin!

Five Senses Friday

Seeing

• The SUN!!  Is spring finally here?!  Just in time for summer?

Tasting

• Diet Coke (I'm waiting until after my next vacation to try to break the habit again)

Hearing

• My name at jury duty (but I didn't get selected and then I finally got dismissed) 

Smelling

• Not much as I caught a cold

Feeling

• Overwhelmed!!  Which is a feeling I've been having more often than not lately

Oh, and in case you were wondering how about an update on my knee?  Or even if you weren't wondering...  My chiropractor wasn't happy my knee wasn't up to full mobility and so recommended a new physical therapist.  The new physical therapist is really working my knee!!  But she has said no running for now.  Boo.  So I'm taking a break (again) while I continue to heal.

Your Civic Duty

Oh jury duty.  While I am glad to do my duty, it is not my favorite thing to do in the world!

This is my fifth jury summons.  My first summons I didn't have to respond to as it was for WA just after I had moved to TX.  My second summons I sat on a jury panel for a good part of the day and was not selected for the jury.  My third summons I was selected to the jury.  My fourth was during a ridiculous project at work and my boss wrote a letter and got me excused.  And here we are at my fifth.

I showed up bright and early and checked in.  I had snacks, books, and my phone to entertain me.  I was called to the first jury panel which was going to be a potential 4 week jury.  Ugh.  I am going out the country next week so that wasn't going to work for me.  (Did I tell you?  I'm going to Slovakia for work and added a few more days to go to Vienna on the front end and Salzburg on the back end.)  I was dismissed and sent back to the pool.  I read a little, played on my phone a little, and then read some more.  I remembered my brother worked near the courthouse and texted him and he and his girlfriend met me for lunch.  Good thing too because he had dollars so I could get a diet coke from the vending machine!  Then it was back to the courthouse for more waiting.  I was finally dismissed for the day.  Oh boy, I can't wait to go back tomorrow.  

Once Upon a Time

I'll admit it.  In my younger days I did daydream on occasion that somehow my path would cross with Prince William and we would fall in love and I would be a REAL princess.  That was until I came to a better understanding the whole fishbowl aspect of  being a princess in this day and age.  It was then that I realized that what I really wanted was a lessor royal.  This way I could still have a tiara and maybe a castle!! :)  Without the loss of privacy.  A girl can always dream, right?   So instead of Prince Charming, I started dreaming of Duke Charming (his cousin) or even Earl Charming (second cousin, twice removed).  Yes, I have a very rich imagination.

I remember sitting on a couch watching Princess Diana get married.  It felt like the middle of the night - my mom woke me and my sister up and we watched the fairytale wedding unfold right in front of us.  Was it then that my fascination with all things Princessy started?  Or is that just part and parcel of being a girl?

All this to say while I didn't wake up super early to watch Will & Kate, I did DVR the Royal Wedding and watched it today.  I was caught up in all the hoopla surrounding the wedding.  After all, it was on my birthday!!  If I could have been in London, I would have.  But apparently my invite was lost in the mail.  Ha! :)  I was actually there when Prince Edward married Sophie.  And I remember this because I wasn't able to go visit Windsor Castle like I planned since that was where they were getting married.

But back to the wedding - she was absolutely beautiful and they looked so happy together.  Maybe not a classic fairytale, but still there are fairytale aspects to it.  A commoner marrying a royal?  I loved seeing Posh & Becks, Ian Thorpe, and all the hats!  What a beautiful wedding and I wish them nothing but happiness!!        

Top Pot 5K Doughnut Dash

Saturday morning I was lying down in hot yoga before class, already praying for people to come in the door closest to me because I already needed the breeze, when I remembered there was a 5K Sunday morning.  To enter, or not to enter?  Enter of course!

Sunday morning I woke up bright and early to go run a 5K!  I hadn't pre-registered so I made sure to get there plenty early.  I got to the front of the line and to my surprise, they didn't take credit cards.  Really?  In this day and age?  Everyone takes credit cards!  Granted, I haven't done too many day of registrations, but the few I have done have taken credit cards.  Shame on me for not checking.  But still.  Okay, rant over. So back to my car I go to get my debit card and off in search of an ATM machine.  I thought for sure there was a Bank of America in the neighborhood, but I couldn't easily find one, but I found another one and paid the fee.

Back to the registration table with my money.  All registered, I happily discovered they had a gear check so I wasn't going to have to take another trek back to my car.  Whew!  I switched shirts and checked my gear.  I still had some time so I stretched out and mentally prepared.  For a second there I was wondering what the heck I was doing...

And finally we were off!  It was kind of a mad start, with a lot of dodging and running around people, but finally it started to thin out and I found a spot for myself.  I started off running 1 song, walking 1 song, but was feeling strong so then ran 2 songs and walked 1.  My knee held up, for the most part.  But then my right calf started bothering me.  Not too badly thank goodness!

Before you knew it, there was the finish line!!  The clock was at 43 something so I knew I was going to beat 45 minutes.  Especially since it took me awhile to get to the start line.

I finished, got my water, my banana, and most importantly my Top Pot Doughnut!  Because why else would I run a Top Pot 5K, it not for the doughnut?? :)

My time was probably helped by the fact it was a mostly flat course.  According to the website my official time was 41:49!  I've still got some work to do, but I'm definitely on my way back!!

34 Things To Do Before Turning 35

Otherwise known as "Happy Birthday to Me!"  How did it get to be my birthday again??  But here we are.  Time to unveil my list of things I hope to accomplish before my next birthday.  Is it just me, or does this list get harder and harder to make ? :)

1. Visit a new place (city, state, country...)
2. Floss everyday for a week
3. Go for a hike on Mt. Rainier
4. Volunteer at a triathlon
5. Invest in something (stocks, mutual funds, gold - TBD)
6. Finish my 2009 Photobook
7. Finish my 2010 Photobook
8. Complete the Couch to 5K program
9. Visit a dermatologist
10. Stay within my budget for (at least) 2 months
11. Do Jillian Michael's 6 Week Six-Pack DVD
12. Try a recipe with a turnip
13. Try a recipe with a rutabaga
14. Read 5 books
15. Turn off the TV for an entire week
16. Buy a DSLR
17. Take a photography class
18. Take a dance class
19. Look into volunteer programs
20. Go kayaking
21. Climb the rock wall at REI (if my knee will let me)
22. Try a recipe with a squash
23. Participate in one race type event per month (once again ambitious, but we'll see)
24. One I'll keep to myself
25. Run in the 2012 Tinker Bell Half Marathon
26. Run in the 2012 Princess Half Marathon
27. Another one I'll keep to myself
28. Buy a Garmin watch
29. Turn around my Netflix movies at least once a month (or drop my subscription)
30. Try acupuncture on my knee
31. Trade one of my Disney pins
32. Visit Houston & see Jana's house
33. Spend a weekend somewhere on the Oregon Coast
34. And one more I'll keep to myself

33 Things Wrap Up

Well it's about that time to close out the old list and start with the new one.  Let's take a look at what didn't happen this last year and if we'll roll it over to the new year!!  And let's not dwell on all the things I didn't accomplish, because what good would that do? :)

Making the 34 Things List

• Buy a DSLR (I have money set aside for this, just haven't pulled the trigger.  Plus I'm trying to decide between a Canon and a Nikon)
• Take a photography class
• Read 5 books (Came close - and if you count the romance novels I totally read 5 books!)
• Finish my 2009 Photobook
• Take a dance class (I bought a groupon so I'd better do this one!)
• Go kayaking (Another groupon)
• Buy a Garmin (Another one I have money set aside for, but just haven't bought yet)
• Run in the 2011 Princess Half Marathon and stop for more photos (Skipped due to knee injury - but it should morph into maybe the 2012 Princess or Tinkerbell!)
• And one I'll keep to myself for now

Not going to happen

• Buy a Disney timeshare (Still want to do this, but no time pressure)
• Go to trivia night
• Try a spinning class
• Set up an IRA
• Go up to either Victoria BC or Vancouver BC for the weekend
• Seriously look into buying a house/townhouse/condo (With my uncertain job future, going to put this one on hold)
• Run 12 5Ks (There will be something along these lines)
• Purge my closet (I've gone through it a couple of times, but never fully purged)

And there you have it.  My 33 Things list is now closed.  Stay tuned for a 34 Things list!!

Mental Health Day

It doesn't happen often, but every once in awhile I take a "mental health day" and today was one of those days.  I slept in.  Until 7.  Really, 7?  But 7 is at least a little sleep in.  And then I dozed off and on until I finally got up in time to go to hot yoga.  It wasn't my best yoga class, but it was still good. 

And then I went to to the grocery store (don't judge - I don't usually go anywhere after hot yoga, except home and shower but I thought I could quickly go through the grocery store).  I have one more recipe to make to complete #1 on my 33 Things list.  And while I was at it, I brought in my own bag!  Smelly, sweaty but with my own bag!  Check #31 off the list!  Best purchase of the day though was chocolate milk.  I have been craving chocolate milk for the last few days.  You'd think after the Easter candy I wouldn't need any more chocolate but you would be wrong.

The recipe for April?  Still feeling lazy, so I went to my old stand-by of pizza.  This time it was Fig and Goat Cheese Pizza.  Of the pizzas I've made, this was probably my least favorite.  It wasn't bad, just not my favorite. 

And now?  I'm sorting through pictures.  Or at least trying to.

Happy Easter!

It ended up being a rainy Easter.  But what I love about Easter is the promise of new life and hope.  Flowers need rain to grow, so a rainy Easter isn't that bad.  And I really need some hope right about now.

The day started off at church and then it was a rainy walk/run at the park.  I am feeling more and more comfortable running and I was able to increase one interval to run 2 songs!  

And then it was time for Easter lunch.  My brother made a roast.  And this year my mom did make your own Easter baskets.  You better believe I still get an Easter basket!   Which means I got to pack mine full of Cadbury eggs! :)  Yum!!

And now I'm watching Sound of Music!  Which I associate with Christmas, not Easter.  Not that I'm complaining - I'll watch it whenever.  And Titanic is on next!  Seriously I have seen both of these movies numerous times and own them on DVD but yet I'm sitting and watching them on regular TV, with commercials.  Apparently my DVR is running low! :)

Hope everyone had a good Easter!!

Five Senses Friday

Well I'm about 95% sure I'm going to go for broke and do both the Tinker Bell & Princess Halfs.  Yikes!!  But FUN!!  Costumes, medals, and running here I come!

Seeing

• Scream 4 - yeah, not sure how I got talked into this, but I'll blame it on co-worker peer pressure!!  I don't mind the Scream movies since they are fairly cheesy with humor thrown in.

Hearing

• Abbot & Costello's Who's on First - I love that skit!  Makes me laugh every time!!  I don't know - third base!

Tasting

• Buttery movie popcorn!  And I can't wait to eat Cadbury Creme Eggs on Sunday for Easter!  And then Monday I'm going to try and start cutting back on all the sugar I've been eating...

Smelling

• Fresh air when I visited the tulips

Feeling

• A bit more optimistic

Want more Five Senses?  Check out Mandi and Abby Try Again.

Happy Easter!!

No Answers, Just Questions

It is ingenious to pair Disney with running. I get to run at the happiest place on earth! The whole reason I did the Princess Half was 1) because it said Princess and 2) because it was at Disney World!! And apparently I’ll take any excuse to go to Disney! I’ve now done 5 events at Disney World (2 put on by Disney, 3 on Disney property). One day I’d like to branch out and do another half (not at Disney) but for now, I’ll stick with Disney running for long distances. I was super excited when I heard they were planning a new race and watched all the clues hinting at the new race (but not really solving any). And then the announcement – a Tinker Bell Half at Disneyland!! Oh, but in January. (Excitement wanes a little.) Right before the Princess Half. (Excitement drops a little more.) But I really want to do the Princess again!! But the Tinker Bell Half sounds like so much fun!! And Tinker Bell means Peter Pan which means London.  And I love London! Plus it is in Disneyland! And how fun would it be to run the inaugural Tinker Bell Half? I still remember being at Disney World for a triathlon and hearing them announce the inaugural Princess Half – I knew then that I wanted to do it, even if it would take me another year or so before I worked up enough courage. Then there is the thought – I could do both. Could I? Really? Then I would (hopefully!) get a Coast to Coast medal. But a month apart? With the first one at the end of January? January is a bad month for me work-wise. Oh yeah, work. I still have no idea what I’ll be doing (or for how long). Is it smart to sign up for two races so close together? Is it physically smart? And is it fiscally smart? And let’s throw in mentally while we are at it! But then I’d be done. I’d basically have one long training build-up and then maintain for another couple of weeks. This actually might be the best way for me to do it. Hmm… That would translate into starting training in October-ish, which works out with triathlon season being over.  Not that I’m doing too many triathlons this year (in fact I think I’m only doing 1), but still it would be nice to finish up my triathlon and then solely focus on running. What to do? What to do?


Thanks for bearing with me as I sort through all the confusion in my head. I will probably continue to hem and haw and see-saw back and forth for awhile before making up my mind. I am not a good decision maker. Scratch that. I have difficulty making decisions. Anyone else thinking of doing one or the other? Princess or Tinkerbell? Neither? Both?

Tulips - 2011 Edition

I just love visiting the Tulip Festival.  I talked Nilufer into going with me this year (I think she agreed partly because I promised her we could stop at the Outlet Mall on the way back).  We were almost there when it started pouring rain!!  But thank goodness the rain let up and the day ended up being an absolutely beautiful day.  I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking for me...

Bellevue 5K

Bellevue 5K, otherwise known as Welcome Back 5K!  Today was my first foray back into the land of racing.  Let's do a little rewind first, and see how I got here.  The Cliff Notes version (get it, cliff?  I crack myself up!): 2010 was the rise and fall of my running career.  I had never really liked running at all, but had started to dabble in it - run one song.  Then it was run two songs.  And then I had run a mile continuously!!  I continued to build and there I was - running my first 5K without stopping, running (with some walking) the Princess half, watching my personal records fall left and right.  For awhile it seemed as if each 5K or 10K I ran I was setting a new record for myself.  I was on my way to becoming a runner!  And then came the fateful day in Italy.  Long story short (with some dramatics thrown in, because I do so like the dramatics!) I fell off a cliff and ended up with a sprained MCL (grade 2, whatever that means).  And there has been virtually no running (or anything else) for about 5 months now.  Which catches us up and brings us to this morning.

But let's back up, shall we?  To the night before, where I decided to mess with my iPod.  Why did I do that the night before?  Good news, I now have new songs on my iPod.  Even if I stayed up past my bedtime.

Race Morning!!  I got to the race site, parked and headed for registration.  Holy Registration Line!  It was down and around.  It ended up eating all my extra time.  I got my t-shirt and since I didn't have enough time I tied it around my waist.  I had just enough time to do a little stretching (not even enough time to visit the port-o-potty!) before they started us off!

My goal was to alternate running and walking, using songs to tell me when to switch.  I started off running and almost immediately (or so it seemed) we were climbing up a hill.  I was about to give in and walk when song #1 ended and I could legitimately walk! :)  Thank goodness!!

At this point my fingers were freezing!!  I had debated gloves, but decided against it.   I regretted that decision until I passed the 1 mile mark.  My fingers had warmed up by then.   I settled into a good rhythm and leapfrogged with several people who were also doing run/walk intervals.

I knew I was going to have a decision to make.  With my pattern I was going to finish on a walk song.  So do I run 2 songs and finish strong?  Or keep with my pattern?  My knee seemed to be doing okay, but I didn't want to push it.  I compromised.  I walked briefly until I was the 6 mile sign (for the 10Kers) and realized I just had 2 tenths of a mile left.   I tried to turn on the afterburners but the 5 months of near inactivity and the hill I was climbing didn't quite let me.  I had to walk up the last little bit of the hill before I somewhat turned on the afterburners to cross the finish line.

Now I could say my time really didn't matter to me.  But that wouldn't be true.  I really wanted to finish in under 45 minutes.  And, well I finished in 45:28 - close but no cigar.  Oh well, there is always next time.  

Five Senses Friday

Hearing

• A quote this week: It makes sense, it just so obviously doesn't.  Which was said by yours truly and repeated back to me to appreciate the absurdity of the comment.  

Tasting

• Hm, last night's dinner was goldfish, teddy grahams, string cheese and a Butterfingers.  Now that's the dinner of champions! 

Feeling

• The dawning realization (read: panic) that I am about to be 34.  When did that happen??  33, not so bad.  But 34?! 

 Seeing

•  Daffodils on the side of the road - spring is really coming!

Smelling

• Mango-scented lotion

Tuesday Afternoon Interlude

I was about name this post Wednesday Afternoon Interlude - in fact as I composed it in my head, it was Wednesday.  And then I realized that no, it isn't Wednesday, it is Tuesday.  Tuesday doesn't have quite the same ring, but it's all I got at the moment.

I have probably mentioned before that I am an accountant.  That's right, I am a numbers girl.  And with this profession comes long hours at certain times of the year.  This being one of them.  I went into work today expecting a somewhat long day to finish up my part.  But guess what?  There's a delay!!  Which meant I could leave work at a normal time.  Fortunately I had some gym clothes with me so I walked across the street to the work gym.  I was changing when it hit me.  It was still light out and would be for awhile.  I didn't have to go to the gym, I could go to the park.  But I was already at the gym.  Treadmill?  Park?  Treadmill?  Park?  Park, duh!  It was a little on the chilly side and it would have been nice to have a different shirt, but I was at the park on a weekday and the sun was shining (even if it wasn't too warm out).

So back across the street I went and hopped in my car and drove to one of my more "hilly" parks.  Well, it is one long uphill followed by one long downhill followed by what seems like a long flat until you turn around and realize it was actually a long sloping downhill which was now an uphill.  My knee felt okay for the most part.  I walked 1 song, ran 1 song and continued that pattern.  I'm really trying to listen to my knee as I make my long comeback!
 

Five Senses Friday

So this morning I have all green lights to work.  That never happens!!  And of course the day it happens is the day I really want a red light so I can finish my ever so important text about my coffee order.  Because believe you me, it is a COFFEE day today.  I was able to finally finish my text when I parked.  Whew!  And I was still in time for the order.

Hearing

• One Shining Moment - I just love that song!!  Even if my team isn't anywhere close to being in the Final Four, that song just makes me smile.  Literally, every year this is the highlight of the college basketball season for me.

Feeling

• Tired

Tasting

• Late nights at work = pizza, but I only had 2 slices of the thin crust, which I'm taking as a victory considering I wanted 3 and I wanted one of the regular crust pieces.

Smelling

• Something not very nice that was left in the garbage in one of the conference rooms.  Ew!

Seeing

• Snow and hail in April?  Really?

Here we go!

In a moment of "oh yeah, I can totally do that" I signed up for a race.  That's right.  A race!  In two weeks!!  Oh boy.  Apparently now that I am moving better, my love of all things race kicked in (race t-shirts, medals, start lines, finish lines, expos, and goody bags).  This race has an option for a 5K Run or a 5K Walk.  And you have to register for one or the other.  Now here is the dilemma - obviously I will be walking way more than I will be running this 5K.  But I will be attempting to run at least part of it.  Does that make me part of the Run or the Walk?  What to choose?  I tell you I was very torn over this issue.  I wavered back and forth and forth and back.  In the end I signed up for the run (after realizing both the run and walk started at the same time) because I always think back to my first half marathon (many, many years ago and I walked the entire thing) and the race official was telling us if you are a walker, you should be walking, not running.  Since I am pretty sure I will be able to run a little bit, that's what I signed up to do.  Wow, this will be my first race in about 5 months!  Now, what to wear?  And what playlist?  All these exciting decisions to make!

Week in Review

Well it's been two weeks since I heard the bombshell news (my company is being sold - dun dun dun!!) and I'm feeling much more calm about it.  Life is definitely going to be interesting and uncertain for the next year or so.  I might be freaking out a little more except my previous company spectacularly collapsed.  Compared to that, being sold isn't so bad!

So what else has been going on with me?  I ran on the treadmill!!  Not for very long.  It reminds me of when I first started running - it was run 1 song, walk 1 song.  Basically I'm back to that, except I'm mainly walking and only running one song until I feel more solid on my knee.

I also made it back to the pool.  For the most part my knee did well, especially if I kept it straight.

Friday night Jessica, Nilufer & I went to see Billy Elliot.  I love that show!  And the little kid who played Billy was amazing!  It made me wish I still took ballet.  Not that I was ever a good ballet dancer - I took it for a little while when I was a kid and then I took a quarter or two in college.  Ballet is so graceful yet powerful.  If only I was that graceful...

On Saturday I went to hot yoga.  With the treadmill and swimming successes this week, I thought maybe  I would be able to do a few more postures.  I tried out Dancer's and while I am much further along than before, there are several postures I still cannot do, Dancer's being one of them.

Sunday morning I told myself I could sleep in since I was meeting my sister & BIL for brunch, but if I woke up in time, I would go for a walk.  And guess what?  I woke up, with no alarm mind you, in time to go for a walk.  A walk on the trail by my house.  I don't normally use this trail as I like paved trails, but not having to drive to a trail was nice.  But what to wear?  Especially given our crazy weather lately - sun followed by hail followed by torrential rain.  I decided on a hat, but no gloves or a jacket.  I saw daffodils on the trail which has to mean spring is on the way!  I also saw a raccoon and a bunny.  Raccoons scare me!  Except Meeko.   Fortunately the bunny was going the opposite direction of the raccoon.   I got to a part in the trail that wasn't too muddy and started running.  Again only one song.   Part of the reason I chose this trail was because there was a Starbucks at the turn-around point.  But I was running short on time so turned around without stopping.  My fingers were sad though.  At the turn-around I was feeling fairly good but not long after turning around my fingers froze and were wishing for a steaming hot latte.  Instead I would have to wait for a nice hot shower.  I was still feeling okay so I ran for another song.  Slowly but surely I am working my way back.

What I'm struggling with is how do I decipher between a normal pain and an injury pain?  Can I push through the pain?  Or do I need to back off?  I'm trying to take this nice and slow but sometimes it is hard.  I feel like I should be farther along than I am.  Or maybe I'm babying my knee too much.  Or not enough.  Stay tuned...

Sun, Sand & Tsunamis?!

I never know what to expect from "beach" vacations because I'm not much of a sun person (the joys of fair skin!) and I'm really not much of a lay around on vacation person.  Plus I knew I was going with people who were both sun and lay around people.  How did I get talked into this?  My boss's daughter was playing in a softball tournament and somehow Jessica, Nilufer & I invited ourselves along.  Because I'll take any excuse to go to Hawaii!!  (And the fact that it would help knock off a couple of items on my 33 Things list didn't hurt either!  Ha!)

Jessica, Nilufer & I left Friday night, expecting a direct flight to Honolulu.  Our direct flight had morphed into a flight with a stop in Oakland.  Something about winds and they needed to stop and refuel.  When I heard winds I thought for sure we were in for a bumpy ride, but no, the flight was actually smooth.  A (my boss) met us at the airport and soon we were at our hotel, which was massive!  The hotel room, not so much, especially with four people.  I was exhausted and went right to bed but didn't end up sleeping too well, drifting in and out of a sleep all night.

We had forgotten to pull the blinds so Saturday morning came early for me.  If the sun is up, I'm usually up.  Nilufer was up as well so we threw on clothes and explored the complex, finding a Starbucks!  Hooray!  We went back to the hotel & got ready.  The forecast called for some clouds with a chance of rain so we decided to go watch some softball.  We won the first game (yay!) in the last inning off a home run.  We weren't so lucky in the second game but we got to watch K (A's daughter) pitch, which was really fun.  In between games we had lunch a little Greek restaurant.  When the games were over, we drove back to the hotel and later met up with K for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

We remembered the blinds on Sunday morning, and so were able to sleep in, at least a little bit.  The forecast still was predicting rain, but you wouldn't know it from the clear blue sunny skies.  A left to watch softball and Jessica, Nilufer & I meandered down to the beach.  I proceeded to drop my stuff off and go directly into the ocean.  I am such a water girl.  I would never have thought that about myself, but when I moved to Houston, I realized I really missed the water.  I tried swimming and after a few awkward tries my knee finally cooperated (somewhat).  If I kept my knee straight I was fine for the most part.  It felt so good to be in the water though!  And then I got out and realized I was starting to get sunburned.  Boo.  I lathered on more sunscreen and we left the beach to have lunch, and our first fruity drink!  I love that it is always fruity drink o'clock on vacation!

Guess what?!  We had lunch at the hotel restaurant (Tropics, where we would end up eating several times).  And they filmed a scene from the new Hawaii 5-0 there!!  I was so excited when I found out!  After lunch we had scheduled massages.  While it wasn't the best massage I'd ever had, it wasn't the worst.  I also got my fingernails painted a deep blue, which is so unlike me (no toes as I just can't stand to have people touch my feet - one of these days I'll get over it, hopefully).  And the best part - it had started absolutely pouring while we were in the spa, so we missed the rain!  We walked down the beach and then finally ended up at Duke's for dinner.  And after dinner it was Hula pie.  Oh yum!!  We walked back to the hotel along the beach.  I love listening to the waves and watching them break and crash.

We had grand plans for Monday to go to the Dole Plantation, North Shore & the Polynesian Cultural Center.  Unfortunately, even though I was up early, our plans were for naught as by the time we arrived at the rental car desk all the cars were gone.  Boo.  Good thing we are on vacation and not worried about plans.  Oh wait, this is me we are talking about.  So yeah, good thing I'm learning to be flexible.  Or at least attempting to be flexible.  Beach anyone?  Once again I probably spent too much time in the water because as I got out I could feel my back burning.  Time to apply more sunscreen and cover up.  We had lunch at the hotel and then hit the pool.  I was not feeling the sun (or really I was feeling the sun too much) so I left Jessica & Nilufer to the direct sun and found a less sunny spot to chill by the pool.  But even with the shade and covering up the damage was done.  I have had worse sunburns (Cabo comes to mind), but this one was still bad.  Let's just say I did not have the most comfortable night.  The sunburn sucked all my energy.  I sat very carefully at dinner (which was at an Irish pub) and tried not to move that night while I slept.  But I think I tossed and turned quite a bit trying to find a spot that wouldn't irritate my sunburn.

The original plan for Tuesday morning included a hike up Diamond Head with the softball team.  A hike starting at 8 a.m.  Fortunately the 8 a.m. start time became a 10 a.m. start time!  We met up with the team and they were off and I was in my familiar spot of the back of the pack.  I was extremely careful and held on to all handrails (no more falling off cliffs for me!).  The trail seemed to go up and up and up and there was way over 200 stairs!!  But finally I was at the top and the view was amazing!!  Best part about the way down?  The shave ice at the bottom.  Yum!!  We met back up with K for lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise.  Do you know what was across the street from Cheeseburger in Paradise?  Yogurtland!!  Make your own frozen yogurt concoctions.  It was quite yummy.  We walked back to the hotel after our yummy yogurt.  I was still feeling the effects of too much sun the day before so I explored the hotel a bit and hung out on our balcony while Jessica & Nilufer went to the beach.  We met back up with A & K for dinner at Duke's and a walk back to the hotel along the beach.

Wednesday morning we woke up early to go snorkeling!  I had heard from several people that the place to go snorkeling was Hanauma Bay but you had to get there early.  So we were up early and on the road to Hanauma Bay.  I really enjoyed the snorkeling.  We saw lots of fish (but no turtles).  And even a rainbow fish!  We were starving by this time so found a pancake house (next to a Ross which was good because some of us may have forgotten extra undergarments and when I say some of us, I was one of the some.  Yes, I forgot an extra bra.  Dang it!  But I wasn't the only one!).  The pancakes were yummy, especially with coconut syrup!  We made a quick stop at the Halona Blowhole, which on a good day you can see water spray up like a geyser.  We were not there on a good day, but it was still beautiful scenery.  We continued along to the "easy" hike to see the Makapuu Lighthouse.  It was only a mile, but it was a mile that just kept going up and up.  We stopped along the way to watch whales!!  And saw one jump!  The hike to the lighthouse ended up being kind of a gyp since we didn't get too close to the lighthouse.  There was potentially a way to get closer, but there was a gate and we have learned our lesson about hiking on closed trails!! :)  We ended up at Kailua Beach, which is purported to be one of the best beaches, but you wouldn't know that from the bathroom.  It was really cold and windy by this time and so we chilled on the beach for awhile before heading back to Waikiki.  Dinner was at the Italian restaurant at the hotel.  It was not the best Italian I've ever had.

Thursday would end up being the most stressful day of the trip, but let's start at the beginning, with breakfast, before the stress happened.  Breakfast was at Tropics, our favorite hotel restaurant.  I had Bananas Foster French Toast, which is as good as it sounds!!  Our original plan had been to go with the team to Pearl Harbor, but the team ended up going on Wednesday after their games got rained out.  We thought about taking the bus but after finding out it would take an hour, we decided to cab it.  Good call on our parts.  I'm not much of an audio tour person, but the audio tour was really good.  The site was so amazing and so solemn.  I've been fascinated by WWII for a long time and in eighth grade did a report on the attack on Pearl Harbor so it was incredible to be there and hear stories of the survivors.  Walking across the memorial and seeing the outline of USS Arizona in the waters below - such devastation happened, and yet it was so calm looking out across the water.

After our morning at Pearl Harbor, we took the bus back to the hotel to get ready for the luau!  We took a charter bus out to the middle of nowhere (or so it seemed).  The luau was fun!  Several of us (me included!) got on stage to learn how to hula.  The food was so-so but I enjoyed the entertainment!!  It was towards the end of the night when we first found out about the potential for a tsunami heading to Hawaii.  I didn't believe it at first.  The entire ride home I was checking weather.com and CNN.  And looking out the window and the enormously long lines at gas stations.  A tsunami was definitely heading towards Hawaii.  Oh crap.  What do you do in a tsunami?  Head for the hills.  My first inclination was to jump in the rental car and drive for the mountains.  What we were told though was that we were in the "vertical safety zone" which meant our hotel room was above the fourth floor so we should be fine.  Not knowing we decided to stock up on supplies - water and chocolate.  Looking back, maybe should have gotten bread and peanut butter instead of the chocolate and string cheese, but I wasn't thinking too clearly.  We were laughing hysterically at this point at our supplies.  Even though our hotel assured us we were safe, because we were on the beach and because A wanted to be with K and we decided to all stick together, we packed up bags and headed to K's hotel, which was several blocks inland.  I'm still not sure what I packed or why I packed what I did, but soon we were loaded up and leaving our hotel.  It was eerily quiet walking to K's hotel.  The quiet was interrupted by the sirens were going off every hour.  Jessica, Nilufer & I ended up sleeping on the floor of K's hotel room.  And sleeping isn't the best description of what we did - tossing and turning while listening to or watching the news is a better one.  Finally it hit, but with minimal impact to our area.  Thank goodness!!

I think I may have mentioned before I deal with stress by laughing.  But in no way do I mean to trivialize the earthquake.  From the moment I heard tsunami I went into my own little survival bubble.  It wasn't until the next morning when I was still alive that I was able to process the horrible devastation in Japan.

Friday morning the sun was out but we were still under a tsunami advisory.  We had planned to pick up a rental car today and visit the Dole Plantation and the North Shore.  Since we were all exhausted and I was a bit leery of leaving the area until the advisory was lifted, we ended up staying at the hotel.  Jessica, Nilufer & A headed to the beach since in their words there wasn't enough sun at the pool.  But me being a rule follower, went to the pool.  There was still an advisory in place and they were asking people not to go to the beach.  So I listened and did not go to the beach.  I met back up with Jessica & Nilufer for lunch at Tropics and then it was back to the pool.  They sort of joined me at the pool - they were in a more sunny area and I was in the less sunny area.  We ended up calling it an early night and went up to our room to watch a movie, but basically ended up falling asleep.

We woke up early Saturday morning so we could go whale watching.  The boat ride was really smooth!  There were whales to watch, but they were too fast for my camera.  After it was over I realized I should have spoken whale and asked them to slowly jump out of the water!!  Ha!  I crack myself up.  We planned to meet up with A later on to catch one more softball game, but in the meantime it was our last afternoon by the pool.  Once again we split up - me to the not as sunny side of the pool (which ended up being fairly sunny today) and Jessica & Nilufer to the sunny side.  And before you know it, it was time to go watch softball.  After the game ended, we met up with K for dinner at PF Chang's and then it was a stop at Yogurtland for dessert.  We then went back to the hotel to pack. 

We had just a little bit of time Sunday morning so we walked along the beach, had brunch at Tropics, and one last fruity drink!  Then it was time to say aloha!

Rainbow

View from the top of Diamond Head

Fruity Drink O'Clock

At Hanauma Bay

Fishies!!

Fishies!!

Makapuu Lighthouse

Kailua Beach

Pearl Harbor - USS Arizona Memorial

Ah, Hawaii

At the luau

Fruity Drink O'Clock

Welcome to Absolute Happiness

So I thought I would have my Hawaii trip written up before Disneyland, but I was wrong. Enjoy Disneyland for now, and I’ll be back shortly with Hawaii adventures.

I’m lucky to have not one, but two BFF’s who also are Disney freaks! Which means plenty of excuses to visit Disney parks! :)  See how nice that works?  It had been awhile since I had gotten to spend time with Jana so of course we booked a trip to Disneyland!  We had debated - World or Land?  Land or World?  We had both wanted World, but Land just worked out better for both of us.  And Disneyland is right in the middle between Seattle and Houston, right?

By the time my flight landed, I collected my luggage, and taken the Super Shuttle to my hotel it was almost 10 p.m. but Disneyland was open until midnight! Jana’s flight had been delayed and she was still en route, so I decided to talk over to Disneyland, if only to stretch my legs a little. The hotel we usually stay at isn’t anything to write home about, except for the fact that it is literally directly across the street from Disneyland. Talk about location! I wandered over to the park and walked around before calling it a night. Jana was at the hotel by the time I got back and it was time for bed.

Friday morning we woke up and headed to our favorite breakfast place, La Brea Bakery. So many choices - what to have for breakfast? I finally settled on the pancakes with strawberries and bananas. Yum! Such deliciousness! We had decided to spend the day at California Adventures. First up was to fastpass World of Color for that evening. And then fastpass Soarin’ before heading over to Paradise Pier to scope out the Toy Story line. It was not pretty. I have to confess I have become a line snob. Yes, I am a line snob. I do not wait in lines over 30 minutes (well for the most part – every once in awhile I will do 45 minutes). So it was off to Mickey’s Fun Wheel, Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Ladybug Boogie, Flik’s Flyers, Monster’s Inc. and Soarin’. And somewhere in there we had lunch at the Wine Country Trattoria, which wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. We wandered around a bit more before it was time for Aladdin!!! I, for one, am so glad they have postponed closing the Aladdin show. It is so good!! It even had a couple new pop culture references in it. By then it was time to head back to the hotel to grab a sweatshirt as it was starting to get chilly. This is one of the things I enjoy about Disneyland – you can easily walk back to your hotel to pick up a sweatshirt or to take a break and then head back to the park. Dinner was chicken nuggets and then it was time to line up for World of Color!! I love, love, love this show. Lasers, fountains, and clips from Disney movies & music. What isn’t to like about it? It ranks up there with Fantasmic, which is probably my all-time favorite show. I don’t know if it was more windy or what, but we got soaked watching the show!! There was still time after the show so we headed over to Disneyland for Pirates, Small World, Buzz Lightyear, Pinocchio and Mr. Toad. We had read somewhere that on average, people usually do around 9 attractions in a day. We blew that out of the water!!

Saturday morning we woke up and headed to our favorite breakfast place, La Brea Bakery (sound familiar?). I ended up with the croissant sandwich, which came with potatoes! Delicious once again. Have I mentioned that with breakfast I had water, a cappuccino, and an apple juice? I do like my liquids. And just like that it was time to get our magic on! We started off in our favorite land of Fantasy, but it was fairly crowded. After Snow White, we set out for parts unknown including the Jungle Cruise, the Tiki Room, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh, Roger Rabbit, Buzz Lightyear, Storybook Canal, Casey Jr., Alice, Matterhorn, Pirates and Indiana Jones one last time. In between all of that we had corn dogs for lunch and had chicken nuggets for dinner while watching Fantasmic. Oh, and we got to visit Peter as well! We thought we were being smart by waiting for Peter after the fireworks, but we were not the only ones with that idea. And in fact, we probably waited over 45 minutes for Peter when all was said and done as the ride broke. So much for being a line snob. I wish the park had been open one more hour – we still had lots of magic left!!

You’ll notice that I didn’t mention going back to the hotel for a sweatshirt. And that is because, while we could have gone back to the hotel to get our sweatshirts, we decided instead to buy new ones. Did you know they sell clothes at Disney? Ha! And we got matchy-matchy sweatshirts (mine was blue, Jana’s was grey).

Funny at Haunted Mansion:

Me & Jana (in unison with the host): I am your host. Your ghost host.
Girl: Do you guys come here a lot? Is that how you know the words?
Me: (Laughing) Define a lot.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to where? If you guessed La Brea, you would be right.  We can be creatures of habit, can't we? :)  I wanted pancakes, but I wanted eggs, bacon and potatoes. And then I spotted the French Toast special which came with eggs, bacon and potatoes. French Toast is close to pancakes. Sold! After breakfast we ventured over to World of Disney to get our shop on. We finished up with shopping and we still had time before we had to leave! What to do? We decided to fast pass Roger Rabbit and then walked over to Winnie the Pooh. Which was closed. Boo. Well Haunted Mansion is close by, we’ll just do that. Nope, it was closed too. Double boo. Okay, we’ve still got time before Roger Rabbit, what about Buzz Lightyear? It was open! And only a 20 minute line. Jana proceeded to annihilate me. I need to work on that game! Ha! Since it was time for our fast pass so we headed over to Roger Rabbit. And guess what? Yup, closed. I think Disneyland was sad we were leaving and was pouting. Jana didn’t have much time left so we boarded the Disneyland train for Main Street and said our goodbyes. I figured I might go and see Tinkerbell but her line was long as was the Tangled line so I rode the carousel, took a few pictures and had one last Mickey ice cream before it was time for me to leave.

See ya real soon!!


Minnie & Me



On our way to Paradise Pier

Jumpin' Jellyfish

World of Color

Yummy breakfast at La Brea

Ready to get our magic on!

Yum!  Mickey Ice Cream

Matchy-matchy sweatshirts

Lots of liquid

Last Morning

Carousel

Brie, Cranberry & Chicken Pizza

Oh snap!  How did it get to be the end of the month already?  Whose idea was it to try and cook a new recipe once a month?  Oh, that's right.  It was mine.  Okay then, what is easy and quick and simple?  Pizza!!  What to put on my pizza?  Once upon a time when I was working in London I would usually have lunch at the sandwich place in my building.  One of my favorite sandwiches was cranberry & brie (my other favorite was a chicken & hummus on a brown bap - I just love saying bap!).  So how about a brie, cranberry & chicken pizza?  Yum!  It turned out pretty good.  Start with pizza dough, cranberry sauce, throw on some chicken, a little bit of brie and some mozzarella.  Pop it in the oven and there you go!

ETA: Once again I rolled out my pizza dough using a glass.  Maybe I should add rolling pin to my birthday wish list??

Nothing Stays the Same

It has been a roller coaster of a week!!  There was a big announcement at work and I'm still processing.  Change is good, right?  Or maybe change is just change.  It really is too soon to tell.  This is going to be interesting to say the least.  And how have I dealt with it so far?  Denial.  Denial and a milkshake!  Okay so not the best decision food-wise.  And while the uncertainty (and with it stress) will continue for awhile, I'm hoping I won't resort to food to deal with it.  Been there, done that and I've just finally re-lost the weight I gained when we had a similar situation (although in reverse).  Stress eater?  Why yes I am.

But you know what will go a long way in relieving some of my stress?  A visit with Mickey & Jana!!  Tomorrow I am leaving to go see Mickey (in Disneyland) for the weekend!  This trip could not have come at a more perfect time.  It will be good to hang out with Jana as well as I missed her the last time I was in Houston.

But speaking of food choices - I cannot wait for some Mickey ice cream & corn dogs!  Vacation calories don't count, right?   

See ya real soon! 

Five Senses Friday

As much as I love it being light at 7PM I am hating daylight savings!!  I cannot seem to wake up in the morning.  In fact my plan for this weekend (besides doing taxes & watching lots of basketball) is sleeping in.  Yes, I am skipping hot yoga Saturday morning and hopefully going to church Saturday night so I can sleep in both Saturday and Sunday morning.

Tasting

• Oh so yummy carrot cake!!  It was Nilufer's birthday and her mom made carrot cake and she brought some in to share.  Seriously - this is the best carrot cake EVER!!

Seeing

• Lots of green.  I love that people will still wear green for St. Patrick's Day.

Smelling

• Transmission fluid/oil - I'm hoping it's leftover from my little transmission problem and not a new problem.

Hearing

• I had a good one for this but it's gone...

Feeling

• Slightly overwhelmed!  And oh so excited for March Madness!!  This is my favorite time of year!!  Well, favorite time, sports-wise!

33 Things: Twenties Girl

Another fluff book!!  Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella is the perfect beach book.  I loved the interaction between the two main characters.  Lara attends her great-aunt's funeral and meets her ghost (a flapper from the 1920's).  Hijinks ensue as Lara cannot get rid of Sadie (in ghost form) and Sadie is determined to find her missing necklace, with Lara's help.  I really enjoyed this book.  Complete fluff, but a fun read.

33 Things: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

So yeah, I'm back from Hawaii.  It got a little exciting there at the end what with the tsunami and all.  I'm currently suffering from jet lag exacerbated by daylight savings.  Ugh.  So for now pictures & a trip report will have to wait.  Instead how about a book or two?

My original intention for No. 7 on my 33 Things list was for "real books" and I did bring "real books" to Hawaii, but instead I defaulted to fluff books.  After all, the beach is made for fluff books!  And since it is my list I'll count my fluff books!

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (by Jane Austen & Ben H. Winters) is just what it sounds like.  Sense and Sensibility with a few sea monsters thrown in for fun.  A familiar story of Elinor & Edward, Marianne & Colonel Brandon plus octopus, sharks, and rampaging lobsters.  While not as good as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it was still cute.  Plus it had a narwhal!!  

Dear Sun

Well after a full day at the beach and the pool, this round of Emily vs the Sun definitely went to the sun. Even after many applications of sunscreen and a shady spot by the pool, my back resembles a lobster. So today was spent away from the beach and pool and with lots of clothes on. This morning we climbed up Diamondhead and then had lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise. And when the rest of the crew went to catch rays by the pool, I decided to chill on the balcony, or lanai, enjoy the view, write a few postcards, and listen to the water below. I think I might venture back to the pool at some point, but the very shady pool!

--------------------------
Sent using BlackBerry

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Aloha from Waikiki!! We arrived much later than anticipated Friday night due to headwinds. But surprisingly the flight wasn't too bumpy! Saturday was mostly overcast and gray but Sunday dawned with rain then sun which means rainbow!! The rain seemed to have left so we went to the beach where I apparently lost the battle with the sun. Moral of the story, don't stay in the ocean too long without re-applying sunscreen! I've had worse, but I'll be much more careful from now on.

--------------------------
Sent using BlackBerry

Five Senses Friday

Seeing

• Mandi and several other high school friends for a mini reunion

Tasting

• Girl Scout cookies!!  Yum!  Poor little girls were standing out in the hail.  I remember standing out in the rain trying to sell cookies.

Smelling

• New car smell - no I didn't get a new car.  I'm in a loaner car.  I started hearing this really bad noise and so I took in my car and found out I needed a new transmission.  Yuck!  Good thing it is still under warranty.

Hearing

• A compliment on my hair from a Starbucks barista.

Feeling

• Excited for pineapples, strawberry daiquiris, the ocean and more.  ALOHA!!

Well I'm packed for Hawaii - way over packed, but oh well.  You won't be seeing much of me around these parts as I'm off for some sun, sand & surf (all while being properly sunscreened, of course!).  I may check in once in awhile but no promises.

I'll leave you with a few pictures from my last trip to Hawaii (and my only one).



Tiki enjoying fruity drink o'clock - but he isn't coming this trip.




Ahh...




This one cracks me up!!  I have no idea what I was thinking.





Enjoying the luau



ABC's of Me

So as usual I'm late to the ABC party, but thought I would join in anyway.  Especially since I am procrastinating and really should be packing for Hawaii.  Even though I love to travel, I hate to pack.  I really hate to pack for "hot weather" vacations since you seem to need so much more clothes.  Why is that?  Anyway, without further adieu the ABC's of me!

A. Age: 33 - gasp!  When did that happen?  And I'm only 2 months away from 34.  Time to start dusting off the 34 Things list...

B. Bed size: Twin.  Long story and hopefully soon I will upgrade.

C. Chore you hate: So many chores to choose from.  I think anything to do with the bathroom I absolutely loathe.

D. Dogs: Eh, they are fine, much better than cats!  I love my parents' dog (Chloe, any dog pics on the blog are usually of her), and I don't mind my sister's dogs.  Or some of my friends' dogs.  But overall, I'm just not an animal person.

E. Essential start to your day: Breakfast of some sort.  I really can't skip breakfast.  And lately I've been trying to be good about taking my vitamins first thing.

F. Favorite color: It was blue for the longest time but then it became green.  I rebelled against pink when I was younger but now I have embraced pink.

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5’8” - I have finally accepted it.  I desperately wanted to be 5'9" but it just wasn't in the cards.

I. Instruments you play: I used to play flute once upon a time.

J. Job title: What do I want it to be?  Princess of the WORLD!  Ha, just kidding.  Tax Manager or something like that.  I feel uncomfortable with my title, but that's a post for another time.

K. Kids: Hmm, I would have answered this one definitely yes but as I am nearing 34 I'm starting to wonder if it is in the cards for me.  I have fantastic "nieces and nephews" and I've always thought about adopting.  So we'll see - you never know what God's plan is - although I'd really like to know!

L. Live: About 20 minutes from downtown Seattle

M. Mom’s name: Mum, Mummy, Mommy, Mom or Teresa

N. Nicknames: Em, Emmy, Yemmy - I don't really have a proper nickname.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Fourth grade for dehydration among other things

P. Pet peeve: Another one I can list several things but talking on your phone in the bathroom just gets me every time.  Or starting to write a check after the clerk gives you your total - I mean really?  Is the date changing or the store's name?  Or your name for that matter?

Q. Quote from a movie: From Anne of Green Gables:  "Twenty pounds of brown sugar" or "Anne Shirley, what in heck are you doing out here?  Fishing for lake trout."  From Pride & Prejudice: "Mr. Darcy!"  From The Rock: "Welcome to the Rock" or "How did you get out of your cell?"  From Indiana Jones: "If you are a Scottish Lord, I am Mickey Mouse!"  I like this game - I could go on and on! 

R. Right or left handed: Right.  And do I know my right from my left?  No.  I have to write in the air to figure out my right and make an L with my fingers to figure out my left.

S. Siblings:  1 Sister, 1 Brother (both younger)

T. Time you wake up:  I'd like to wake up at 6:15 on weekdays, but lately it has slipped to 6:30

U. Underwear: Hanes

V. Vegetables you dislike: Brussel Sprouts, Green Beans (I was never so happy when I figured out I was allergic to green beans)

W. What makes you run late:  I hate being late.  Traffic.  Random odds and ends that I think I have time for but I don't.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth, ankle, leg, knee

Y. Yummy food you make: I'm not a cook, although I can make a decent fajita/stir-fry concoction

Z. Zoo- favorite animal: Tigers, Bears & Elephants

Play along, if you'd like!

Sunday Morning Stroll

Congrats to all those Princesses who ran today!!  I'm so there next year!!  In honor of the race, I chose to listen to my Princess play list this morning.  I'm blessed that I live in an area with lots of different trails and this morning I decided to head back to what I think of as "my" original trail.  And this just seems like a good time to do a "what's going on in Emily's mind" post.

Okay, it is cold.  I guess I do need my jacket.  Probably need gloves and a hat too. 

Wow, that wind is biting.  I'm glad I got my jacket.

Ooh, I love this song!  I sing a lot more when I walk than when I run.  (Girls Aloud, Sexy!  No, No, No...)

Careful, that is a lot of snow. 

What about all of the things that you said?  (Brandy, What About Us?)

Hm, snow on pavement is way more slippery than snow on the trail.  But I can walk on the shoulder.  Much better, not as slippery.

Dude, really?  Out for your morning stroll smoking a cigarette?  Although I'm super jealous of your venti coffee that must be keeping your hands warm.  My fingers are icicles!!  So glad I wore my gloves!

What is this song?  Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about it!  (Alcazar, This Is the World We Live In)

Ooh, big dogs.  Dear Dogs, Please don't notice me.  I'm walking quickly by, you don't see me.

Morning.

Gimme, gimme more.  I love Britney!  (Britney Spears, Gimme More)

Okay, they have gone.  Anyone else around?  I'm going to walk backwards!

Oh hill.  What's better than a hill?  An iced over hill.  At least it's trail and not pavement.

Spoke too soon, an iced over hill on pavement.  Wow, that is slippery.  Okay, we'll be walking off to the side on the trail.

Morning.

I have not been on this trail for a long time.  When did they tear down the old school and start building the new school?

Corbin Bleu!  I love Corbin!  (Corbin Bleu, Speed of Light)

What's worse than walking uphill on an icy hill?  Walking downhill.  And no grass off to the side.  I'm going to walk on the shoulder of the road.  There haven't been any cars.

And there goes a car.  And another.  But the snow is gone, I can get back on the sidewalk. 

Oh Ashley Tisdale.  I'm going to see your straight to DVD Sharpay movie.  Sharpay was my fave.  (Ashley Tisdale, It's Alright, It's OK)

Morning.  There are a lot of people out this morning even with the cold and leftover snow.

Oh yeah, time to kick it old school!  (Backstreet Boys, Larger Than Life)

Dear Hill, remember last year when I finally was able to run up you without stopping? I will conquer you again, Hill!  Mark my words!

Sixteen, sixteen, sixteen more minutes.  Boy am I glad there aren't people around listening to me sing.  Or watch me attempt to dance as I walk.  (Now or Never, High School Musical 3)

I could really use some chap stick right now.  I think I need an emergency backup chap stick in my car. 

My fingers are warm.  Too warm.  I'm taking the gloves off.  I wish I could take my hat off.  But I think my ears would cry. 

Nobody has lapped me today.  Maybe they are all doing short routes due to the cold.

Spoke to soon.  Hi again.

Isn't it time to be back at the car?  I don't remember this trail being so long. 

Mark & Derek!  I love this song!  When does Dancing with the Stars start again?  More importantly, did I set my DVR for the Amazing Race?  (Ballas Hough Band, Devastated)

I'm really glad I have my jacket.  That wind is biting!

Morning.  Wow - he is fast!

Almost done.  Just the monster hill left.  I really need a good song to power me up.  Jonas Brothers - that'll do it.  I think this is the first Jo Bros song!  (Jonas Brothers, Paranoid)

Hm, think I can catch up to the people just ahead of me?  Yeah, no not with the ice on the hill.  Oh but maybe if I walk on the shoulder.  This shoulder is really wide.

I can see the stop sign, I can see the stop sign!  Almost there.  And then I can go home and take a hot shower.

C'mon Britney, get me up the rest of the hill.  (Britney Spears, Piece of Me)

Oh, just missed catching up with the people in front of me.  I would have had them if this hill was another block longer.  But thank goodness it isn't!!

Stupid baby hill.  Wasn't the monster hill enough?

Stairs or ramp?  Stairs.  Ouch.  Oh, knee.  You are doing good, you are almost done. 

I can almost see my car! 

I will be so glad when I can properly stretch out my left leg.  Dear Knee, I am very proud of your progress.  Keep it up.

And there you have it.  My slightly longer than 3 miles walk.  Even with the cold weather, it is nice to be walking outside.

Five Senses Friday

Whew!!  Another week done.  And a week from today I'll be boarding a plane to Hawaii!!  Granted, if I hadn't fallen off a cliff in Italy (it actually is a little bit fun to say that now) I would be in Orlando as we speak, getting ready to run the Princess Half Marathon.  Oh well - I'm so there next year!!  And good luck to all those Princesses racing this weekend!!

Hearing

• That I made Reese's list of people she loves.  (She is the one who just turned 2).  Seriously it made my day! :)

Seeing

• Lots and lots of snow

Smelling

• My new raspberry chap stick

Tasting

• I got some "all-natural" fruit strips and they were pretty good.  I brought them into work and they are my new afternoon snack.

Feeling

• Very, very cold!!  But also nice and warm with my new scarf I've been sporting.