The Memory Of Trees

An unlikely sight seen at Sea World.

Yesterday's Song:
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd - Barbie2be

PEACE

Wish You Were Here

Wish I were still there! Some vacations are never long enough.

Yesterday's song:
Something To Do - Depeche Mode - Run-DMZ

PEACE

Something To Do

I was pretty beat yesterday, so I didn't feel much like writing anything. It's even a wonder that I managed to post a picture.

Yesterday I took Evan to Sea World. Admittedly, it was much more fun to go to Sea World with a 5 year old than it is to go with a group of adults. We spent a lot of time in the Sesame Street play area, though, which is where the rope net play structure was. We also went to a few of the animal shows and some of the rides. Evan especially enjoyed the water rides, where just about everyone on the car/boat gets drenched. We also went to a 3-D movie, where they had more than just the visual effects with the special polarized glasses. We got wet in that movie, too. We didn't do too much damage when it came to cash flow, but food is somewhat pricey at Sea World, even with our year pass discount. I was tempted to go home for lunch and return, but then I'd be dealing with parking in the outer limits of the parking lot. I sort of miss Sea World the way it used to be, before all of the rides and the overly touristy feel. I would much rather go to the Birch Aquarium at Scripps or the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but I had a wonderful day with my grandson, and we'll be returning to Sea World, even if it's just to play on the ropes.

Today we flew kites in the back yard, read books and played with Hotwheels monster trucks in the dirt. Evan is still amped up. I need a nap...

Yesterday's song:
Up - Shania Twain - Katiefeldmom

PEACE

Up

Yesterday's Song:

Hit Or Miss - New Found Glory

PEACE

Hit Or Miss

Due to server issues, I'm having one heck of a time posting anything. I can't upload pictures and getting onto any site (not just Blogger) is hit or miss. I can't even get into Photobucket, and when I do it's SLOW.

A short while back, Dori asked me how I was doing with my recovery process. I'm doing OK, with occasional aches in the hip/thigh, but it's not too bad. I'm still walking with a slight limp, which becomes more apparent when I'm tired. I was supposed to have PT today but I had to reschedule because no one was available to watch the kid. I'm still not running yet, and I believe my physician was correct in saying I'd be running around Fall, sometimes. I'm mentally ready to amp things up, but physically I still can't push too hard, and I get frustrated. I feel mushy.

Yesterday's song:
I Am The Walrus - The Beatles - Heffer Blog

PEACE

I Am The Walrus

I went to Sea World on Friday just because I didn't get in enough touristy stuff while on the cruise...

Meet Obie. He looks more like Jabba the Hutt.

Seriously, though... My husband and I were invited to Sea World with my office. We also had a behind the scenes tour of one of their exhibits, which was more fun than watching some of the shows. I had arrived a little late because my car battery was dead, so I missed out on petting the beluga whales, but I did get to meet Obie and feed him fresh fish. I've never fed a walrus before, and he just sucked up that fish with one big slurp, as if he were a vacuum cleaner. Here's Pinky (in the pink shirt, duh!) right after Obie slurped up a fish.



Other stuff...
I almost forgot to mention that we met Meghan (from PDB) while we were in Orlando, Florida. Meghan couldn't attend the cruise, but joined for dinner a day prior to sailing. We also forgot to take photos with Meghan. Ah well... There will be a next time.

Friday's song:
Rock The Boat - The Hues Corporation - Barbie2be

PEACE

Rock The Boat

Yesterday's song:
Under The Sea - Sebastian from the Little Mermaid - Katiefeldmom

PEACE

Under The Sea

It figures that my husband still has his camera and the formal picture in his possession at work. The plan was to post those pictures last night when he came home but we had no internet service from about noon yesterday until this morning. He forgot to leave the formal picture and his camera. Here's what I had on my camera:

Maggie and Chris

Kyra and Chris

Michael and me

From the formal night dinner, stolen from the Pinkdumbbells.com site. Top row - Me, Michael, Maggie, Chris. Bottom row: Phil, Cathy, Kyra, Chris. Phil (Phillydude) is from the Johnstonefitness.com group and was Cathy's dinner partner on the cruise.

Top 10 favorite things about the cruise:

10. A vacation in hot and balmy weather!

9. Not having to be the designated driver.

8. Someone else made our bed and brought us fresh towels daily. (I wish someone else would do that at home!)

7. Snorkeling amongst the colorful tropical fish and plants. I could almost hear the song "Under the Sea."

6. Swimming without pain.

5. Having dessert at the midnight buffet with the PDB group.

4. Finally getting to hear Maggie sing at karaoke. She can really sing!

3. Beating tropical storm Fay out of Florida.

2. Meeting Maggie, Chris, Kyra, Chris, Cathy and Phil, and the rest of the JSF gang.

1. Meeting Maggie, Chris, Kyra, Chris, Cathy and Phil, and the rest of the JSF gang!


I promise not to drag out the cruise pictures/posts. Just one more post once my husband scans the formal picture and downloads everything off of his camera.

Tuesday's song:
Storm Coming - Gnarles Barkley - Barbie2be

PEACE

Storm Coming

I'm not sure what was up with my blog but had three You Tube videos posted. Two were ones I was trying to get posted on a particular blog post last week but didn't work, and the other was nothing I'd ever seen before. I've deleted all three.

Oh, and yes, I'm back from vacation! We've managed to beat tropical storm Fay out of Florida. The airport was a little on the sparse side because most people flew out the day before and flights scheduled just after ours were canceled. I've never seen an airport so quiet before.

I still need to unpack and water my poor withered plants. I'll update later, complete with pictures.

Last Wednesday's Song:
One Day In My Life - Manoa

PEACE

One Day In My Life

Rain!

I know that parts of the country are drenched right now, but we've had little to no rain for months. I can't remember the last time we had a good rain. Maybe January? I can't be sure. While I took care of some errands this morning it rained big fat drops, and I actually turned on my windshield wipers. We're justthisclose to mandatory water conservation here, and those big fat drops were a welcomed sight. The little shower didn't last long enough. I hope we get more precipitation out of the now grey and ominous looking sky.

Other stuff...

Commercials. I'm gonna vent a little. I am glad that the horse racing season at Del Mar is for a relatively short time. Their commercial drives me nuts. More specifically, it's the song that accompanies the commercial that drives me nuts. It's in a faux simile style of Christina Aguilera about 5 or 6 years ago with all the jazzy ad-lib vocal runs. Maybe 5 years ago the commercial would have been more appropriate, but now it just gets on my nerves. I have to hit the mute button on our TV controller each time that particular commercial airs. For me, it's like nails on a chalk board. Next, is that they're taking songs I like and putting them on commercials. Sometimes that's OK, like the song Paradise by Ana Laan which is used in a Dove deodorant commercial, but when they chop the song to fit the commercial, then it ruins the song. I'm did like the song The Story by Brandi Carlile, but they're using that song in a car commercial, and they chopped the heck out of it. *sigh* I'm not liking that.

I haven't said hot yet. HOT!

Honestly, I'll be glad when Blog365 is over. I've missed a handful of days but I've stuck by daily posting. Once the year is up, that's it. No more daily posting. By the way, I won't be adhering to daily posting while on vacation. I might do a couple of posts, but it's vacation!!!

Yesterday's song:
Candlelight - Richard Eliot

PEACE

Candlelight

It's now a few weeks later, but my husband finally downloaded the pictures from when my sister and her husband were here last month. It's his new camera, which he takes to work, otherwise I would have downloaded the pictures right away.

My Brother in law Jaime and my sister Donna

Jaime by birthday candlelight.

Just one more day until we leave for vacation. We're really needing vacation about now, especially my husband. He needs to detox from working and enjoy spending some down time in a hot and humid tropical paradise.


Yesterday's song:
V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N - Puffy Ami Yumi

PEACE

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

I can't remember if I've mentioned before, but my husband and I will be going on a cruise this week. We fly out Thursday for Orlando, Florida, then we leave on a cruise liner on Friday from Port Canaveral for Nassau and Cococay. It's a 3 night 4 day cruise with about 17 of us from the Pinkdumbbells.com and Johnstone Fitness Forums. Technically, I belong to both groups, but I'm active on PDB. The great thing about this cruise is getting to meet some wonderful people. I'm looking forward to meeting Maggie, Kyra and Cathy, who I've only known from fitness sites as well as PDB. I still get the same perplexed looks when I tell someone I'm meeting people from the internet. No, they're not psycho maniacs. They've all been wonderful people. I've met several runners through blogs and running group sites, plus people from other fitness forums that have disbanded, but it's has always been a good thing. The common thread is the fitness and/or running thing. With fitness and running folks you can discuss your workouts, schedules, nutritional plans, sore muscles, aching limbs, PR's, and everyone knows what you're talking about. No blank stares back. It's so cool. I've had the chance to participate in a few runs with some of my blogger buddies, but I have yet to do a gym workout with any from the workout group. Perhaps a gym workout will happen on the cruise.

Needless to say, packing will be involved, and I really need to get with the program. We really don't have that much to pack, but we have a bad habit of over-packing. As I see it, we're not flying to Mars, we're going to Florida and sailing through the Bahamas. It's going to be hot and humid, and we'll probably be spending the majority of our time in shorts and swimsuits. We should be just fine.

Yesterday's song:
Some Like It Hot - Power Station - Run-DMZ

PEACE

Some Like It Hot

I don't know what it is about the Olympics that makes me stop doing what ever it is I'm doing and watch a sport I know next to nothing about. I find myself cheering for the the athletes, all of them, not just the ones from my country. I love it!

Yesterday's song:
Loose Balloon - Presidents of the United States


PEACE

Loose Balloon

In the news today, a mylar balloon became entangled in some electrical wires and blew a transformer, leaving over 6000 SDG&E customers without power for several hours.

Guess what???? That was my neighborhood. We had no power from around 10:00 AM to 7:30 PM.

I had plans to do laundry and iron, and perhaps surf the net between loads. I ended up sorting through items I have in storage bins, dusting, and playing Hotwheels Crashers with my grandson. I think I had a better time doing the things I had not planned to do. I really detest doing laundry and ironing. Playing Hotwheels Crashers was much more fun.

Yesterday's song:
She's Crafty - Beastie Boys - Barbie2be

PEACE

She's Crafty

I started with two X-tra large mens t-shirts from Goodwill, about $2.50 a piece, plus a scrap piece of black 4 way stretch knit fabric, about 1/4th of a yard...

... and ended up with this:

It's finished, but after looking at the pictures, I've realized I need to prepare the garment for photos, such as ironing it... The next skirt I make will be burgundy, since my daughter found a 4 yard piece of soft stretchy fabric for just $2.00 for the entire 4 yards. I just need to find a small, soft, inexpensive piece of 4 way stretch fabric for the compression shorts underneath and side contrasting color/detail. Don't I look just thrilled in the photo? I didn't have a black or gray tank top, and that black long sleeved running T shirt was all I could come up with. It was hot, which is probably why I look so excited in my picture. I tried wearing a black and gray sports bra top for the photo, but my mid section is so white compared to my limbs. I didn't want to scare anyone.

EDIT
The pattern can be purchased HERE.

Yesterday's song:
Seek And Ye Shall Find - June Rochelle

PEACE

Seek And Ye Shall Find

I had received an e-mail from Runner's World Magazine and the San Diego Track Club about another trial shoe event. We wear the shoes for a few weeks then give our two cents on how the shoe fits, performs and wears. The event was over at the bay, at the runner's bathroom. It's along Mission Bay just south of the visitor's center. I arrived a little early, but it was already crowded with people waiting for running shoes. I'd venture to guess that there were about 100 people there. They gave priority to people who had tested shoes before, like I did, but they had so many shoes that I doubt any one was left out. I came away with a pair of Adidas Adistar Rides. So far I'm really liking this pair of shoes and I'd actually pay for a pair. The last trial shoe I had left my feet hot and sweaty, then blisters happened. These Adidas fit like my Asics do, and I love my Asics. I also tried on a pair of Brooks, but the Adidas fit better. I also did something I wasn't supposed to do. I ran. They needed to make sure the shoe was the best choice, and they had an expert there to test us. I got the OK for the shoe, but then the guy wanted to talk to me. He noticed that one leg seemed shorter than the other and that I should see someone for that. Oops. Then I had to explain the injury, surgery, and physical therapy. I only ran about 50 feet, but it felt good, mentally. I know, I KNOW -- I'm not supposed to be running yet, so stop looking at me like that. I promise not to do any more running at any distance until I get the green light to do so.

My daughter found the sewing machine in the storage shed. Why am I not surprised? She found it while she was looking for something else. My poor machine was not covered. My machine was rather dusty and gunky. I thought it might just need a dusting off and some oil, but it was needing much more. I had to use carburetor cleaner to get it going, then I had to fiddle around with the tension settings, which required busting out the tool set. After a two hours of performing surgery on my sewing machine, I got it running. I think it took longer to get the machine going than it did to assemble the running skirt. Oh yeah, the skirt is done! I knew it wouldn't take long to assemble. Since this is sort of my prototype skirt, I'll tweak the next one, as far as fit goes. It came out OK, considering I used two mens x-tra large tech t-shirts. As my son said, I went all MacGyver on the skirt. Heh. I also had to use a scrap piece of black stretch material I had because one of the shirts had a lot of detail on it, rendering parts of it useless for my skirt. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Yesterday's song:
Failure - Martin Sexton

PEACE

Failure

It finally feels like summer in my neighborhood. Yep, it's hot.

I really liked this commercial.


Yesterday's song:
Where? - Nickelback - Barbie2be

PEACE

Where?

I got in a workout using medium tension resistance bands for hip adductors/abductors and a few other random exercises like push ups and crunches. Movement is becoming easier and I'm less stiff. I had a ton of energy today, too.

I was ready to put my running skirt together. It looks relatively easy to assemble and I'm all set with the right color thread and other notions. Problem. My sewing machine is missing. I don't know if someone put it away in a new place to make room for other stuff. I'm a stickler for putting things away where they belong, but my machine is not where it belongs. The serger is there, but I need more practice on that before I actually make something to wear. My husband is suggesting that someone might have come into our house and stole it. Yeah, right. That's the first thing a robber would take. A robber would think to grab a heavy sewing machine and go. I suppose it could happen, but that's highly unlikely. My husband is known for putting things away without any regard to where they actually belong. My guess is that we'll find it in the storage shed down in the yard. I personally wouldn't put it in there, but I have a hunch it's in there, with all the junk he's not ready to part with. It's going to be like finding Waldo in a hot, uncomfortable room. I'm a little irked at the moment. I could of had that skirt done already and been wearing it. *Sigh*

Yesterday's song:
Time of My Life - Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - Journey To The Real Me

PEACE

Photos from Wikipedia.org

Time Of My Life

Squeeze and scan. That was my morning. I had a mammography and bone density testing.

I'm glad it wasn't hot today, because you're not supposed to wear deodorant/antiperspirant prior to getting squished.

Yesterday's song:
Simple Kind Of Life - No Doubt

PEACE

Simple Kind Of Life

This will be a hot*, quick post. We're re-doing a few things on our computer, so it's down. I'm using the old computer that has almost nothing on it, and is slow, but at least I have internet access.

I hemmed that dress (the one from yesterday) and finally cut out the pattern and fabric from that running skirt pattern I bought months ago. Remember? It was this one:



It would be complete already, but family life happens. The skirt should be finished by tomorrow, provided there are no further interruptions. I'll post pictures of it somtimes this week.

Yesterday's song:
As Ugly As I Seem - White Stripes - Barbie2be

PEACE

* I had to fit in the word HOT somewhere, Heh...

As Ugly As I Seem

Activity: Walk
Date: 08/02/08 12:19 PM
Distance: 2.13 miles
Time: 0:46:47
Speed: 2.7 mph
Pace: 22' 13 min/mile
Calories: 200

It's not like I haven't walked, but today we went out purposely to walk. Sans cane, my husband and I walked slightly further and slightly faster than last time. Next time I'd like to see 3.0 MPH or better and walk 3 or more miles. I'm also walking less like a one year old with feet far apart and hands and arms up or out for balance. My stride is becoming more normal, with my feet closer together, arms swinging back and forth near my side, and limping is now at a minimum. It's not pretty but it's getting there. Progress.

I sort of started sewing something. Well, not really sewing in the sense of making something, but hemming. I bought a cotton jersey sun dress last year, but it's too long for short me. I never got around to hemming the dress until now. I cut about 5 inches off the bottom, now I just need to hem it. This one will be hemmed by hand. I don't have serger thread the color of the dress, otherwise I'd be all over that serger for hem practice. I'm slowly getting into the sewing thing. Progress.

Earlier this year I made a list of things I wanted to do for 2008. I, for obvious reasons, didn't get to PR my marathon and it's unlikely I'll get a 5k PR, but I did get to do other things like volunteer and train with the track club. Another item on my list was to learn how to play the guitar the right way. I had my son restring my guitar, so it's ready to go. Now that the incision on my right leg no longer hurts, I can sit and attempt playing the guitar. Uh, progress... Sort of. I still need to take the guitar out of the case and practice some chords.

This summer, so far, hasn't been very hot. Last year was so toasty that it burned the leaves and buds on some of the fruit trees in our yard. This year has been rather mild in my 'hood, but I'm sure everything will change, just because I'm talking about it.

Yesterday's song:
Love Don't Cost A Thing - Jennifer Lopez

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Love Don't Cost A Thing

This month's Blog 365 theme is HOT. I'm hoping it won't be so much of a stretch to post something about the word hot, since it's a word that can describe so many things -- hot weather, hot food, hot (good looking) people, whatever. How about a gallon of Tabasco Sauce? That's enough hot to last a while.

I've just happened upon an article about America's most overpriced zip codes. I was not surprised to see San Diego listed, however, I must say I was surprised that my old neighborhood of Mission Hills was on the list. We lived in the Mission Hills/Hillcrest area for about 8 years, and the neighborhood is pretty diverse, socially and economically. I would have expected to see La Jolla or Rancho Santa Fe on the list. Yes, Mission Hills is known for some of the older mansions and a few historical homes, but it has a few simple (more humble) sections, too. The street we lived on was in an area that transitioned three different neighborhoods, but we had that Mission Hills zip code. Zoning was rather scattered between small businesses, apartments and single homes. It wasn't quite the suburbs, but it really wasn't urban or city living either. I'm not sure what our little segment of the neighborhood was, but for what ever it was worth, we lived there. The area is desirable because it's close to everything, which included museums, downtown, the bay, the airport, parks, public transportation, shopping, etc. I enjoyed living there. We left the area because the cute, 1940's , 2 bedroom one bathroom house was too small for a growing family, and the more affordable larger homes were across town in the suburbs. The cost of buying a larger home in Mission Hills was beyond our reach at that time, but I never thought that area would be considered one of the most overpriced. Ah, well...

Yesterday's song:
Nothin' Better To Do - LeAnn Rimes - Katiefeldmom

PEACE