October 11, 2009

Yup, that last picture speaks volumes about that day. It seemed like something really, really didn't want me to go that day. The night before I set my alarm for 4:00 AM to give me enough time to get up, shower, take my thyroid pill and give the allotted 30 - 60 minutes before eating and drive time. My phone has been acting up and decided not to sync with Verizon's towers and when my alarm went off saying it was 4:00 AM is was actually minutes before 6:00 AM. AHHHH!!!! I only knew this because when I woke up something told me to reboot my phone. Well... Verizon ISN'T the most reliable network after all. Somehow I brushed my teeth, put on my workout out fit, took my thyroid pill and made it to my sister's house in 20 minutes. Yes, I was doing 80mph.

The race waves started at 7:00 AM!!! I ate my apple and finished getting ready on the drive there. My sister said she woke up late too. She was worried when i wasn't there and not picking up the phone because I am normally the on-time type.

We hit the road and weren't the only late ones. As we waited to exit we saw people running in the distance... the race was already under way.

Fearing there would be no parking for this international race we parked at the first parking lot we could find and ran to the race line. By this time I had to use the restroom and we were so excited that it didn't dawn on us how far we were running.

So I found the porta-potties, stood in line and did my business only to find NO TOILET paper. AH! Well, good thing there were toilet seat covers. We were going to run the 1/4 mile to the start line and then start the race, but thought nah and started where the porta potties were. By this time we didn't know it but had ran about a mile to the race and was about 40+ minutes late.

Jay was kind enough to put new songs on my iPod the night before but a mile into the race it stopped playing... 13.1 miles with no music. Ugh! My sister and I chatted and laughed about the days events. I confessed to her that I had only ran up to 8 miles in my training. I could feel my toes hitting my shoes and regret not cutting my toe nails the night before. I had tied my shoes loose because I knew they would swell and didn't want to stop to retie them or cut off my circulation which ended up being a bad mistake.

I ran straight for about 9-10 miles and started to crash. Not eating breakfast had finally gotten to me. Plus I was pushing myself further then I had in training. Around mile 11 there was an aid station were we got a protein drink for fuel. I was happy to finish it, but bumped that it took about 3+ hours (well we think since we were late).

On both feet my toe nail next to my big toe are black and I was SO sore. But I was happy that through every obstacle we made it and finished the race. There nothing I rather do then set a goal and have great company along the way.

Me arrested for??

I got a text forward from Cindy which said:

FWD: PLAY ALONG: you see me in a police car, what would u think I got arrested for? Answer me, then fwd and see how many crimes you get accused of!

I had stayed home sick that day with some virus and it made my day to reply and forward it. I was getting a kick out of people responses and these were them.

My oldest sis: "U got accused of beating up a girl who was talkn shit. U put ur hair in a ponytail...took ur earrings off...and said....awww hell no...and took her to town!" OK... if you saw me at my niece's sweet 16 party you could totally believe this!!

Jessy: "For stealing an injured horse or animal from their cruel owner. Or for slappin tia Patricia in the face ;)" Yup, I have a soft spot for animals and if you knew the terrible women my aunt is, and the upsetting things she did after my father's death, you would want to slap her too!

Paul: "Sex in a public place."

Teo: "Accused of indecent exposure."

David: "Line steppin!" which I reply "what is that? Line dancing?" and he said "Or pulling a Houdini" - I STILL don't know what that means. Do you?

Cindy: "Defending ur sister in a catfight." This is so me! I would totally back up any or all my sisters, but hopefully escape before the cops come.

Natalie: "Lol oh boy just don't get arrested."

Archie: "I think you would have got arrested for beating up someone for being cruel to animals...But you would never get convicted." Damn straight.. I watch Animal Planet all the time and would love to prosecute animal cruelty cases for a living.

So all in all my friends and fam think I am a animal lovin, kick ass, sex kitten... not bad!

Last call

I have a part time training schedule next week with my replacement; however, my good-bye celebrations happened throughout this week. How awkward for my replacement to have to be there through out it all. I felt bad as people would tell her they have big shoes to fill or the bar has been placed really, really, really high as they raise their arm higher and higher with each word. Wednesday I had flowers delivered from my back up support admin and my team. I also got a sweet card and earrings from my boss's wife saying thank for taking good care of her husband. How sweet is that?

Friday I had a small group of gals (many I barely knew) give me a book with stories of extraordinary women. Only the gals that wrote it in were invited to the breakfast, so later I had people apologize they didn't write in it because they felt it was Merriann's way of saying good bye and they didn't want to spill their hearts out and have others read it and others felt like it was a homework assignment. I totally understood, but I wasn't the planner of my good bye events. Had I been I would have invited the admins and NOT my replacement. Yes, she was invited and wrote in the book. I don't get it, but I can't complain. The gesture was very nice.

The second celebration of the day was at Claim Jumper's for lunch with all the admins from my floor. My boss is a crack up and mentioned that even though he would be leaving early he wanted me to know he was "funding" all the events. What made it even funnier was we had purposely changed the afternoon celebration just so he could join, but hey he got tickets to the UCLA basketball game, so you KNOW he wasn't going to miss that just have good bye cake with me!!! Anywho, I've never been to Claim Jumper's and since it was on someone else's dime, I decided to try something new. I would be bummed if I were paying for it and didn't like it. I got the Citrus Salad and Chicken Tortilla Soup... YUM! The conversations were fun and a lot of reminiscing since three of us started at the same time. I'm going to miss these gals. Tam the most and hope my non-social self makes an effort to keep in touch.

Later that afternoon we had cake with the whole floor where I got well wishes, good bye cards and tons of gift cards. I made out like a bandit -- Target, Carl's Jr, Starbucks, and Visa, MasterCard and American Express gift cards. Shortly after that celebration some of the admins stopped by with more cards and gifts.

Here's all my loot! (minus a travel bag) :) Which reminds me... our couches came in.

Here's a better picture of the sofa. The love seat is our office, but looks the same.