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.

I don't miss high school

School is coming along. Its definitely a completely a different environment going during the day then at night. I get to see clubs, gatherings, rallies and the social aspect of college life. It's definitely cool. We had hot dog day, with free chips, drinks, ice cream and games I was stoaked when I saw they had veggie dogs. I was so happy that I even texted a few people and thought, what did people do before texting? I guess actually call people and share with them what ever. The most annoying thing about going to school during the day is all the kids straight out of high school. This one boy sitting next to me on the first day of lab was swiveling around and around in his chair and so amazed we had lab chairs that did this. Then he proceeded to open EVER drawer that was at our station even the one right in front of me. Had I not stopped him from opening it all the way, he would have pushed the drawer straight into my stomach. Then we introduction came up, I stood up (as 1/2 the class did) but he had to comment "woe... she stood up." Needless to say the next lab I made sure not to sit by him.

Another high schooler was shocked that every hall way she passes people are quiet and studying. In high school everyone talks because if your studying you're a "nerd!" She said she just wants to talk to everyone and then proceeded to go to people that were studying and start up a conversation. In college studying and seeming like a nerd is not a bad thing!

Earlier in the week I trained my (hopefully) future replacement. I thought it was nice of my bosses to offer her a trial run for the position before she committed. One day with me and another day on her own to see if she liked the job before giving notice to her current job in this economy. It seemed like she enjoyed herself and my bosses liked her, so they are extending the offer on Monday. She might give a three week notice, so I will be at my work for another 3-4 weeks. The money is definitely coming in handy and having access to a printer helps with homework that I need to print out.

Quarter verse semester is a lot faster. I have already had two papers due, a lab done and a quiz. I got 100% on the quiz and on the paper that was returned. Not too bad...but we are in the easier parts of the class, so I should be doing well! It would be a bad sign if I wasn't getting the material this early in the game.

Crazies thing I've experiences on campus was seeing a Caiman alligator. It was a tiny one, but it's on campus in a jungle green house.

Exciting news... tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary! :) We are playing it low key and our only solid plans are having a picnic. Maybe he will surprise me and will go take pictures. We talked about it last night, but he said he needed a haircut. Maybe the photo session will have to wait.

Also, next Sunday is the 1/2 marathon. My sister ran 11 miles on Friday and last week I ONLY RAN 3 miles. :( Uh-oh... I better do some last minute long runs to some what prepare.

Shutters are here!

Came back from the gym not too long ago. It was a good workout and I wanted to finish with a at home ab workout. I came into the office to get my weights and what do you know? A camera jumped into my hands and I decided to take pictures of our new shutters! They are finally here. Yes, the shutters that I mention off and on for what seemed like forever.

After a long wait, prepping for them to arrive twice, and a lot of BS and the run around (more like us chasing them around) from the unprofessional B&B Blinds company they finally were installed 4 months later from the original 2 months (max) we were told they would take.

It makes the rooms look so much different compared to the temporary blinds we have been living with since we moved in.

Sorry to bore you with house improvements, but I gotta show ya.
Our living room shutters. Jay is going to put up the curtain rod and new curtains on the sliding door.

Our bedroom shutters.

Jayla's room and the new shutters.

The office's shutters and you can see one of our new ceiling lamps. Another improvement I forgot to blog about. I am going to make a photo album before and afters. This used to be the purple room before we official moved in.

This is our guest bedroom. Jay put the bed together this morning. Can you believe this room used to be that half white half blue painted room? It's come a long ways since our take over.

Ok... now I am off to finish my workout.

1294

It was my bib number for yesterday's Boot Camp Challenge Race in San Diego. Like most race morning, I wake up and want to go straight back to bed, but don't. Yesterday was no exception. My goal for the race was not to walk any part of it. Granted it's not a 10K or 1/2 marathon, but 3 miles is a good distance and this one had obstacle course in between the run. I am so proud to say I made my goal!

I am not sure what my official time was since I didn't stay for the posting of the results and don't see them up on their website yet but know we started at 9:28 AM and I crossed (according to my watch) at 10:03 AM, so it took me 35 mins. Not bad at all. I'll let you know what the website says once it's posted. :)

A little hurdle

Today was the interview for the job I really, really , really wanted. What I found out during the interview was it's a "work study" program. Meaning there is a Federal Grant with X amount of money and students have to apply for a work study program and be qualified. The employer pays a portion of my salary and the grant kicks in for the rest. *sigh* I called the Financial Aid office and couldn't get through, so I think this is the Friday that they are closed due to budget cuts. :( I will call on Monday and see if I can get through otherwise I will visit them in person.

Otherwise, the interview went well. A little short, but good. There were two people interviewing me, they told me about the school, themselves and the position. Then they asked me to tell them a little about myself. I kept the answer on a professional level, talked about my employment history, current change of careers, school schedule and future career goals and that was pretty much the interview. I had a questions about the work environment, expectations, etc and then was back on the road to my job.

I'll let you know if I am qualified for the word study program and if I get a job offer.