My First Half Marathon: SJ Rock ‘n’ Roll 2011

Hi Friends,

This past Sunday, I ran my very first half marathon. Christian has been running this one for a few years now and I was always on the other side of the tracks playing photographer, trying to capture his big  finish. In fact, here’s his first half marathon finish:

This year, I decided to give it a shot. I trained like mad, creating a habit of running 6 days a week (I really needed to cross-train, but ended up focusing on a steady run routine instead – next time, next time). I wasn’t sure how I would do, seeing as how 13.1  miles is a buttload of miles to conquer by someone who really just doesn’t enjoy the act of running. Christian, the most  supportive and patient husband in the world, trained alongside me throughout the course of several weeks, listening to my complaining and huffing and puffing and it really made all the difference in the world to me.

The Race

Me before the race - no sweat, no pain.

On race day, it felt odd to be among the runners. It was pretty awesome that I felt like I finally belonged there, but it was really crazy to think about how just the year prior, I decided that I’d never be up for completing a half marathon; I just wasn’t that dedicated to running to do it. Well, I’m glad I proved myself wrong. I started the race with Christian and our good friend Amy (who has participated in the San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll Half every year since its inception). Amy’s husband Mike ran it too but he’s like a rocket, so the guy got to start ahead of us. As we approached the official starting line, I felt a brief moment of emotional overload where tears started to well up in my eyes and I was overcome with happiness in the thought that I was about to do this… thing. This huge thing that I never thought that I would ever be able to do in my life. It was nuts.

Our buddy Endorphin Dude - Uber-amazing runner and overall guy!

I won’t lie. The race was hard. I was feeling really good for the first two miles. The first band that the runners come across less than a mile in every year is the Independence  High School Band directed by my old high school band teacher, Ken Ponticelli. That guy rocks and so does his band – it was such great motivation and I was so happy to know that I would be seeing him, I decided to run ahead, pull over, and give him a huge pre-sweat hug. It was great. After that, I was still feeling pretty good, checking out all the neighborhoods and people with their displays of doughnuts and beers out in front of their yards for any runners who dared to indulge mid-race, listening to Amy and Christian chat a bit (I’m not much of a chatter when I run – just don’t have the lungs to do both). As we approached mile 3, it was getting a bit harder for me. I was warmer than usual, thirstier than usual, and developed a cramp on my side. From that point on until the end, it was cramps off and on, water and Cytomax walk breaks whenever I could get them, and heat. During the last half mile of the race, my feet felt like they were on fire. I mean, ON FIRE!  It was the strangest sensation and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I usually try to  push at the end of my runs and finish strong  with a light sprint, but there was just no pushing for me on this one; it was a keep-moving-forward-and-don’t-pass-out deal for me. Well, I finished. My awesome Christian ran alongside me the entire race. Our chip time was exactly the same, down to the second (2:24:53). I grabbed my medal, a water, a banana, a muffin, a bagel, a marathon bar, and I was off to go stretch out the pain. It look me about 15 minutes to recover down to a manageable level of tired, but I felt so much better than I thought I was going to. I was also so uber-proud of myself for finishing when I did. It also made my day to be able to see my good friend Kat and her family there afterwards; they’re good peeps & I love them to pieces.

The Aftermath

After Christian and I went home and got cleaned up, we went out for mexican food and a walk around the Great Mall. I was feeling really tired, but great! Later that evening at home, I started feeling really nauseous and took a nap, hoping the feeling would go away. It didn’t work and I felt sick the rest of the night. No puking; just unsettled yuckness. I Mortal Kombatted my evening away and went back to bed.

The next morning, I was sore beyond sore all over. My back, my shoulders, my calves, my quads. You name it,  it hurt. The nausea was gone though, so I couldn’t really complain. Aside from the soreness, I was back to feeling good again. Now I’m able to continue feeling proud of myself for my huge accomplishment and plan for the next half marathon. Woohoo!

Thanks for reading and sharing in my big  moment. Means a lot

From Our Garden…

I was coming back back from a morning run this past weekend and as I ran past our new rose bush, I noticed the awesome dewdrops on our beautiful yellow roses that just bloomed. Our gardener scored us this rose bush for our side yard because he saw that someone was going to toss it. Instead of leaving it to die in someone’s pile of lawn clippings, he brought it over to our house and planted it by our fence. I was sure the thing had no life left; it was brown, wilted, and looked simply pathetic. After a few weeks of water and sunlight…

VOILA!

So pretty

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Madness

Over Labor Day Weekend 2011, I made Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies. This is the fourth time I’ve made Oreo-stuffed cookies; the first two times were with Mini Oreos. Regular-sized Oreos definitely have a better taste to them. The Oreo-to-chocolate Chip cookie ratio is just better. These are now one of Christian’s new favorite cookies. My challenge for the next time I make these is to make them look prettier…

At least they tasted awesome! I will be making them again

Toy Society Drops #4 & #5

Last weekend, Christian and I headed down south for a few days to attend a baby shower and visit a few of our L.A. friends. While we were down there, I made two toy drops.

First toy drop was at the Promenade in Santa Monica.  I left it next to a triceratops sculpture.

An hour after dropping it off, I went back and noticed that it was picked up (yay!)

Later that same day, I dropped off another crochet cupcake in a geocache* on the beach by the Santa Monica Pier:

This one was picked up the next day and the receiver left this comment on my blog (on my toy drop #2 post):

“I found this cutie-pie in a geocache at Santa Monica Pier, CA on May 16, 2011 (if you don’t know what a geocache is, go to www.geocaching.com – it’s very cool)! As soon as I saw its pink sweetness I knew it was special and immediately knew what I would do with it. Just 2 days previous I had witnessed the birth of my good friend’s first baby, Ruby Rose. My friend had made and brought to the hospital pink cupcakes, to celebrate the birth of her baby girl. This sweet toy reminded me of those celebratory cupcakes and the wonderful event they represented. I gave this crochet cupcake to my friend, as Ruby’s first geocache. Thank you for such a special commemoration of a baby girl’s birth-day! ”

How cool is that?!

*Geoocaching is my new obsession.  I LOVE it.  Don’t know what it is?  www.geocaching.com

Special thanks to Justincomedy for turning me on to this awesome new hobby!

Helloooooo Out There

All right, so it’s been a uber-long time since I’ve posted but I am going to keep this one short and sweet.

Check out Christian’s video (and my baking adventure), the ART of the CUPCAKE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1cEhymWoqE and enjoy!

When you’re done with that, watch our latest 48 Hour Film project, Polar Opposites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFWsuvX2GCk

And if you feel like doing a little reading, check out the latest posting on Lock It Down TV titled “It’s a Cruel Summer” written by yours truly.

Off to lunch, then a play, then some work for work. Happy Sunday, y’all!

30th Birthday Fun

I’m a little behind but I finally sifted through photos from my 30th birthday day of fun.  Some highlights:

Sock cake made by the fabulous Rosie

Awesome cupcake bouquet sent by my wonderful Christian

Chillin’ on the lawn chomping on some tasty kebabs

Smiles with Jayden & Kat

Baby Lily sporting the coolest cupcake hoodie ever

Just Dancing in the garage to Womanizer

Here’s the rest of the photos for your viewing fun.  Thanks for reading!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepyeve/sets/72157624350200743/

(Slideshow) http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepyeve/sets/72157624350200743/show/

30 is the Magic Number

On this, my 30th birthday, I’ve finally decided to take a moment to update my blog.  I must say this about every other entry but an update is looooong overdue.  I’m trying to write this up while watching Mad Men (the last thing on my birthday to-do list for the evening), so please bear with me through any grammatical atrocities.

Before I get into the awesomeness that has been my 30th birthday today, I want to share the story of my past 6 months.

30 pounds for my 30th.

At the beginning of this year, Christian and I decided  to get our act together and make some lifestyle changes.  I think we had both hit a point over the holidays when we realized how unhappy we were with how we were feeling and looking.  I was probably at my heaviest  that I’d ever been in my life over the Christmas holiday… and we all know how feasting over holiday meals go…  In mid January, I decided that enough was enough.  I started teaching myself some simple things about calories, nutrition, well-balanced diets, and Christian and I started our lifestyle change.  I decided to join Christian and some of our friends each weekend to ease my way into the world of running.  I’d run some, walk some, run some, walk some more.  We started to eat better meals – homemade, properly portioned,well-rounded meals (home-cooked meals now take about a half hour to an hour longer to prepare because I measure and calculate everything out).  We watched our balance of calories, making sure to keep ourselves accountable for everything we consumed and balanced our days with physical activity.  Some of you are probably thinking, “oh,  so they went on a diet” but no, that’s not really the case.  As I mentioned a few lines earlier, we decided to make a lifestyle change, so this isn’t a temporary fad we put in place to drop pounds; this is a permanent transformation in our way of thinking and behaving to make ourselves healthier, happier people.

Six months later, I’m now officially thirty pounds lighter and ten thousand times happier.  When I lost ten pounds, a good friend of mine suggested that the next  time I go to the grocery store, I pick up two sacks of potatoes to see how that extra ten pounds of weight really felt.  Well, I never remembered to do that, so the next time I remember when I go into a store, I need to pick up 6 sacks of potatoes to account for the thirty pounds.  Ooooh boy.  I’m  happier, I feel loads more confident about myself, and I don’t mind seeing myself in a mirror or in pictures these days.  I don’t really deprive myself of anything I enjoy; I just enjoy it in moderation and/or balance it appropriately with working out.   It’s all about discipline and balance.  And teamwork.  If Christian and I were not in on this together as a team, I’m sure neither of us would have been as successful as we have been.

This lifestyle alteration also has me doing more physical activity than I’ve ever done before in my life.  When I first started running, I’d run two sides of a block before I had to stop for a walk break.  Eventually, the walk breaks shortened and now, I can run for 7 continuous miles on a good day.  No, not training for a marathon or half marathon.  And no, not enjoying running itself either.  I just enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes after I’m done.  The increased caloric capacity to shove more food into my belly is also a plus   To think, when I was a chubby junior high schoool pre-teen, I struggled through a 14 minute mile a week because I had to do it for a grade.  Now, I’m choosing to do a 10:30 to 11:00 mile for way more than just a mile.  I’m nuts.  At least I’m happily nuts.

One last thought on this life change: eating better and working out allowed for me to drop 4 pant sizes since January.  I’ve spent so much money shopping in the past several months because I kept outgrowing (or whatever the opposite of outgrowing is…) my clothes.  Totally worth it though because shopping and trying on clothes is actually a fun thing for me to do these days

All right, enough of that.  On to something else.

What I Did for My 30th Birthday.

I’ll keep this portion as brief as I can because frankly, I’m sleepy and I wanted to get this blog posted on my birthday but it looks like I’ll be missing that by several minutes… OH WELL.

Christian and I woke up around 7ish and went out for a 7 and an half mile run.  7.6 to be exact.  That’s the most I’ve ever clocked in continuous running miles *pats self on back*

After we got back home and took our respective refreshing and very necessary showers, we picnicked in our backyard under our nice ginormous backyard tree.  I love picnics and so rarely go on them, so this was fun

After lunch, we headed over to the movie theaters and treated ourselves to Toy Story 3.  Lots of kids, but it actually wasn’t as annoying to be in the audience with them as I thought.  Great movie – very emotional, actually.

Once the movie was over, we dashed over to the Tech Museum of Innovation and enjoyed a very educational and interesting exhibit on Genghis Khan.  We walked around some of the other Tech exhibit halls after that was done, but didn’t end up staying for too long because we were both starving.

Dinner consisted of feasting on some yummalicious baby back ribs at Henry’s Hi-Life by the Shark Tank.  MMMMMmmmm… ribs, baked potato with a scoop of butter crack and sour cream, and super-delish garlic bread.  Oh, there was a salad of some sort somewhere in there too, but that was totally forgettable.

Since we were  sort of in the neighborhood, we decided to check out one of our favorite Target stores – the one off of Coleman is pretty nicely kept.  Didn’t buy anything exciting, but I just enjoy walking around that store and looking at stuff.

We got home and had a small Mad Men marathon to close out the evening.  I tuckered poor Christian out with my very long list of birthday activities but he’s a total trooper.  I’m the luckiest girl in the world to  have someone like him love me so much that he’s willing to go through all of the craziness and never-ending list of activities with zero complaint just to make me happy.  Thank you for making me feel so special.

All in all, it’s been a really fabulous 2010 so far and a really fabulous start to my 30′s

Thanks for reading.

Sleepily Yours,

Evelyn

Evelyn’s Healthier(ish) Indian Butter Chicken Recipe

I made a marginally healthier version of Indian Butter Chicken for dinner tonight and it was really tasty!  I got the original recipe from Allrecipes.com (my savior) and made a bunch of changes here there based on the reviews and what I thought I’d like.  Here’s my version:

Evelyn’s Healthier(ish) Indian Butter Chicken

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour

Servings: 6
Calories per Serving:~250

INGREDIENTS:
15 chopped, steamed carrots sticks (it’s what I had in the fridge & I microwave-steamed them)
1 onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
4 Tablespoons margarine
1 can fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (omit or use less if you don’t like heat)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1  ( 15 ounce )  can tomato sauce        
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 tablespoon Curry Powder

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F  ( 190 degrees C ) .
2. Melt 2 tablespoons of margarine in large skillet (I used my giganto wok ’cause I’m asian like that) over medium heat.  Stir in carrots, onion & garlic, & cook slowly until the onion caramelizes, about 15 minutes.
3. Add the remaining margarine to the skillet over medium-high heat along with the tomato sauce, evaporated milk, salt, cayenne pepper, & garam masala. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low; cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. While the sauce is simmering, toss cubed chicken with curry powder until coated, then spread out onto a foil-lined baking sheet (no mess!).
5. Bake chicken in preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes.  Once done, add the chicken to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes before serving.

I served it over 1 1/4 cups of steamed white rice.

It had loads of kick and flavor.  AWESOMENESS (in my personal opinion…)  Happy cooking!

Quick Post – Y! Photo Challenge

I know, I know.  It’s been too long.  Just wanted to throw out a quick post to say “yay!” for this photo that I took of our friends’ son Jacob and our Lily dog – I think it just won me a new point-and-shoot camera from the Y! Photo Challenge – Round 2.  What’s funny is Christian was one of the 1st round winners… 

Adorable.

Can You Spot My Voice?

This game comes out this spring.  Can you spot my voice?  I’m in the trailer twice, so you have 2 chances

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/25612

Canada & Christmas

My grandmother passed away on December 16th, 2009 – This was also our third year wedding anniversary.  The last time I remember seeing her was at our wedding in 2006.  It’s hard to lose anyone during this time of year, but it’s even harder for me to think of our wedding anniversary AND Christmas without thinking about her.

I didn’t know my grandmother very well.  She lived with my family for about a year before moving to Canada to live with my Aunt and her family.  Her language of choice was Cantonese and mine was English, so it made communication a challenge.  I learned a great deal about her after she passed though.  Not sure how I feel about that.

Our original holiday plans this year was supposed to start with Christian, his sister Stefania, our dog Lily, and I hopping into the CR-V on Sunday morning the week before Christmas to spend Sunday-Saturday with their parents in Santa Barbara.  With my grandmother’s passing, we couldn’t move forward with that plan since I needed to head to Canada with the rest of my family to pay our respects.  Christian and Stefania ended up staying home a few extra days to wait until I returned before heading down to Santa Barbara.  Bless their hearts for doing that (and their parents’ hearts for being so understanding) because a single one-way flight down there to meet them would have cost me about $250.  EEEK. 

I flew from San Jose to Seattle, Washington at 6:30 AM Monday morning with Mom, Dad, Uncle Bao, his wife, his daughter Annie, my Aunt Linh, her husband, and her kids Cathleen and Colin.  They had booked my flight separately so I ended up in first class on my own.  That was my first experience in first class and let me tell you, it was niiiice.  The seats were so roomy that my feet couldn’t touch the floor when I sat all the way back.  My tea came in a glass mug; I had maybe 3 or 4 refills during the 2-hour flight.  I was even offered a Bearclaw for breakfast (I turned it down in an effort to make healthy choices during this trip).  If you ever have a long flight, first class is the way to go.

Once we landed in Seattle, we had a few hours to wait before our flight to Bellingham, WA.  The family wanted breakfast so we stopped at a Wolfgang Puck Express and ordered a bunch of breakfast pizzas (bacon & ham).  They looked DELICIOUS, but I went for a yogurt instead.    We saw Santa fly by on a golf cart during the meal so I took the kids (and my mom) to see him and take some photos. 

Breakfast Pizzas

Cousins

Mom w/Santa & the Elf

The flight to Bellingham was a short mayyybe 45-minute flight.  I sat next to an audio engineer who works on major awards shows (she was wearing a 73rd Annual Academy Awards jacket, so I had to ask), so I chatted it up with her for a while.  She was a super-nice lady who is building a house to settle into in Bellingham. 

Once we arrived in Bellingham, my Uncle Sen (who lives in Abbotsford near or in Vancouver – Grandma had been living with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin there since the late ‘90s) picked us up from the airport and we all loaded in to head up to his place.  We made a quick stop at the cemetery where my Grandmother was going to be buried in Lynden, Washington – not far from the Canada/US Border.  They were digging the grave when we got there.  Next to the grave they were digging was my Uncle Huy Quyen’s grave.  It was all very strange.  I didn’t think about seeing his grave when we went up there, so it caught me off guard.  He died in a tragic lumber mill accident in 1996 – very sad because he went way before his time.
 

Uncle Huy Quyen’s Grave

Once Uncle Sen was done talking business with the grave digger dude (I don’t know what you call those guys), we made our way up past the border and to his mansion of a house in Abbotsford.  That place is BEAUTIFUL.  9 rooms.  A bajillion bathrooms. Huge.

My Aunt Anh was prepping a feast of a dinner when we arrived.  Turkey with veggies, asian-style. 

Turkey Dinner – Asian Style

After we ate, we all headed to the funeral home for a viewing/memorial at the funeral home.  When we got there, my Aunt Linh had already arrived separately and she was standing before her mother’s open casket bawling her eyes out.  She was so torn and emotionally wrecked, she couldn’t even stand.  It was heartbreaking to watch.  I spent most of the evening staring at my Grandmother from the front row of seats in the hall.  I think it was the first time I’d ever seen a dead person, so it was a very surreal, very trippy experience.  As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t really know her very well, but to see all of the people that came to her memorial and wept for her passing, it gave me a whole new insight into who she had become to this community.  She was very active in her church and her senior community group.  Everyone there was very touched and affected by her and they were all very devastated that she was gone.  I remember one older gentleman who walked in – someone I didn’t know – walked up to her casket, took off his hat, and just about had a meltdown.  Loud sobbing, tears streaming down his face – it was really sad to watch. 

The funeral the next morning wasn’t any easier to bear, but that’s where I learned the most about the person she was to these people.  She was baptized and became an active member of her church.  She made homemade mooncakes for everyone every year during the moon festival.  She became a happy person.  That wasn’t the person I remembered, but I was so glad to hear that it was the person she transformed into.  I mourned the loss of opportunity to know this happy person that my grandmother became and through everyone who was at the funeral, including my family who flew up with me from the states, I mourned the loss of her.  I shed my first tear during this event after our family had to line up as part of the receiving line at the end of the funeral and we paid our respects one last time before they closed the casket.  My Aunt Linh went ballistic – she fell to the ground and had what was probably the biggest cry of her life.  My mom lost it.  She had to sit herself down to try and catch her breath.  My Uncle Bao started crying.  Even my dad, who was completely stoic during this entire trip, shed his tears for her.  So THAT’s when I teared up.  All of her children and grandchildren were gathered around her crying one last cry for her passing.  It was heavy.

After the funeral, we drove past the border behind the Hearse to the Lynden Cemetery in Washington.  We paid our last respects and watched the casket get lowered and grave get filled.  It was all surreal, I tell you. 

Once the burial was done, we made a pit stop at McDonald’s and then headed for the airport.  It was a LOT of work for me to be the only fluent English speaker on this trip… my goodness.  I was so happy to be home once my aunt dropped me off.  It was such a tiring experience and the first leg of my traveling was finally over.

Christian, Stefania, Lily and I all went down the Santa Barbara the next day and spent Christmas with their family.  Christian, Lily, and I made our way back home again on Sunday and then I got really, really sick and had to log on to work the next day.

I’m currently nursing my Christmas cold (Thanks, Santa.  Really, you shouldn’t have) and am longing for my next day off (Thursday).  Here’s hoping 2010 brings better and happier memories.

Thanks to those who made it allllllllll the way down to this point in my blog.  Hope you all enjoy a safe and wonderful New Year’s. 

Post Thanksgiving Update

Okay, so it is REALLY post Thanksgiving… by about 2 weeks post… I’ve been busy. Don’t judge.

We found Dottie a home the day before we left for Santa Barbara. She has gone to the home of a fellow Yahoo and we’re confident that she’s happy.

I ate too much unhealthy food during the Thanksgiving holiday and now feel a bit blimpy. I went for a run with Christian over the weekend to get back into the workout routine and was ready to die.  I’m still sore.  Back to Thanksgiving though, I made this little guy for Christian’s mom:

Isn’t he cute?  He sat next to the real turkey on the Thanksgiving buffet piano (yes, you read piano).

We took Lily to the beach on Thanksgiving Day and she went nuts. She LOVED it – even got into a little bit of trouble:

Loving the beach

Getting into trouble


Christian trying to get her out of trouble

That was exciting.

We took some family pictures of our friends, the Gibson Family, the day after we got back from Santa Barbara.  Here are a few fun ones that I took:

Lily Gibson is such a cutie patootie.   I love it!

Once we got back to work, I worked feverishly to organize last minute details for a surprise baby shower for a co-worker (Geneva).  Never let me throw a surprise party again.

Geneva surprised – we actually got her!

Here’s the diaper cake I made for the party:

As for the rest of December, we have a department function tomorrow night, a play on Thursday, a canned food drive contest at work in which we’re both competing, some parties sprinkled here and there, and back to Santa Barbara we go.

Tired.

Found Dog!

My mom found a cute little Terrier mix laying on her front porch on Saturday afternoon and called me in a panic. She didn’t know what to do with the dog and wanted me to come over and work it out. Christian and I decided to take her in and clean her up while we are on hunt for her owners or find her a new home (no, we can’t keep her… my allergies and sanity can’t take it). She’s not potty trained and I don’t think had ever been on a proper walk, so we are working on that with her everyday (she needs to learn the rules if she’s going to stay in our house). She’s a fun, cute little girl who needs a loving home by Thanksgiving… Otherwise, we will have to take her to a no-kill shelter. I’d rather have her find a good home with someone we know or at least kind of know (friends of friends count) but since we’re heading out of town the day before Thanksgiving (we will be taking Lily with us – not both dogs), we need to figure out what to do.

Here’s a video Christian made of the dog (we call her Dottie for now) and Lily:

Lily and Dottie from Christian Pizzirani on Vimeo.

Here are our online postings:
http://www.fidofinder.com/dog.php?id=185476
http://hssv.convio.net/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7667&news_iv_ctrl=1345

Help us spread the word and let us know if anyone would like to care for this cutie!  Otherwise, we’ll be dropping her off at the humane society on Tuesday.

The Vet Visit & Results

Soooo… we took Lily in to see the vet on Monday (the day after the seizure drama). Her checkup was good – perfectly healthy pup based on the initial exam. The vet took some of her blood to run some tests. He told us that the blood test could possibly reveal issues with the liver or kidney. It could also come back with nothing, which could possibly mean doggy epilepsy… whatever it was, we wouldn’t find anything out until end of day Monday or Tuesday morning. Ugh. Worry worry worry.

The vet tech called me this morning with the blood test results. “Perfectly healthy” was the verdict based on the results that returned. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her organs, nothing wrong with anything in her blood, nada, zip. She said that it could have been an epileptic episode, but I also asked if it was a possibility that she maybe swallowed something toxic because she was walks around our lawn and tends to lick paws clean (yes, like a cat… but she’s not a cat – I swear!) AND Christian had put some snail bait out two weeks ago. She confirmed that it was a real possibility that she could have stepped in some runoff that was tainted with bait and ingested that when she licked her paws.

So this means either no more lawn play time for a while or a really thorough wipe-down after each trip out there.

Oh, one more thing that the vet tech mentioned… A seizure once a year is nothing to be alarmed about (not like it’s okay, but it’s not an indication of anything serious). Anything more frequent than that and we might have to treat her with medication for the rest of her life. Praying that she stays seizure-free forever…

Crazy Dazy Sunday – Seizures & Friends & Babies – Oh My!

Today was a crazy, whacked-out kind of a day.  I went walking with my good friend Kat this morning and when I came home, our dog Lily was acting strange.  She was crouched over and ran around the kitchen that way for a bit, ran into the blinds for the sliding glass door to the backyard, then scurried under the kitchen table.  I thought that she maybe needed to do her business, so I opened the back door and let her out.  She darted out and headed for the grass.  I could see that as she was heading out there, she was trying really hard hold her stuff in until she hit the grass.  After she did what she needed to, she came back to me at the back door but was still doing the weird crouch walk.  Figuring that maybe she wasn’t quite done yet, I coaxed her back out to the grass.  Once she got back out there, she started walking around really strangely, then lost her balance, toppled over on her side, and kept trying to get up.  It was as if the back half of her body was no longer in her control.  She was shaking, kept trying to get up, but then just kept toppling over.  She did this a few times until she managed to limp her way onto the concrete part of our patio and puked her guts out.  Once she finished, she walked around a little more and headed back to the grass.  I had no idea what was going on and was in a panic.  Not knowing what to do, I yelled for Christian to come out so I didn’t have to watch this alone.  I asked him to try and contact the vet as I watched her collapse in the grass.  Her legs were bent funny, her body was shaking, and she starting whining.  I could tell she was as freaked out as I was.  I remembered that I had the vet’s number in my phone which happened to be in my pocket, so I called.  I got a vet tech on the phone and told her everything that had happened and she said that Lily might have had a seizure or stroke.  !!!  The office was closed today, but she suggested that I take Lily’s temperature and if the episode persisted or if her temperature was over 102.5, that I take her to the emergency room (which she mentioned would be pretty expensive).  While I was on the phone with her, I was able to get Lily to come off the grass and lay down on the concrete where I sat.  She was shivering and weak.  She laid her head on my lap and was drooling excessively.  Her back half was still shaking and seemed a bit out of her control.  I started crying on the phone because I didn’t know why this was happening and how I could make it stop, but the tech really helped talk me through everything and helped to map out my next steps.  After I was done talking to her, I let Lily rest there for a few minutes and just rubbed her belly.  There was nothing else I could do but wait it out!

After a little while, I was able to get her to stand up and walk back into the house.  The episode was over and now she was just really weak.  She went straight for bed and laid down.  She still had some drooling issues, so I grabbed a towel and wiped her down.  I sat with her for about an hour while she just laid there.  It was so sad to think about all that had happened and watch her lay her, so weak.  I couldn’t help but check her breathing every few minutes – I know, I’m crazy.  At this point, she seemed tired but okay.  I brushed her teeth and left her alone and she recovered some of her energy as the day went on.


Poor Lily had a hard day

Our friends Jason & Sharon stopped by so Jason could get a quick tutorial on some DVD functionality from Christian – nerd-type stuff.  Our friends Justin, Natalie, and their son Jacob came by not to long after to drop off some things and catch up.  It was a full house and I wasn’t sure how Lily would do with the troubled day she had.  Little Jacob is 14 months old and is the cutest little boy!  He has so much personality and such a charming little face. 

Jacob being cute

He took to Lily right away and she let him chase after her until he tired himself (and her) out.


Jacob & Lily

YUCK

This is me after running today.  I was so disgustingly sweaty, I thought I’d share with everyone.  Have a good weekend!

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2009 was pretty awesome this year.  I was Ursula from The Little Mermaid (Broadway-inspired, not cartoon).  Made my costume in a week – STRESS.

Here I am posing with my girls.

My skirt just sits like a large skirt when I don’t flare it up and out like in the photo (I got questions about how I fit into doorways and my cubicle several times).

Here are some fun Ghosting photos. 

As you can see, I decorated Serina’s cube a la Disney Halloween.  Not good enough to win anything, but it was still fun.  Loads of thanks to Rosie & Christian for their help & support!

Shopping Rocks!

I don’t usually find shopping to ever be a “rockin” good time, but tonight was an exception

I had a free $10 to spend at Old Navy before it expired this upcoming weekend, so Christian agreed to hit the Great Mall with me tonight. I also had a coupon for a free aromatherapy product from Bath & Body Works and since the stores are right across from one another, I figured two birds, one stone.

We hit Old Navy around 830 or so and I picked up two camis, a cute, furry hoodie (all for me ’cause I’m greedy), and a dog collar for Lily. I had my $10 off reward which was set to expire this weekend, but I also had a $20 off that wouldn’t expire until 2010. Typically, stores won’t let you combine coupons in a single transaction and I knew this when I got to the register. I decided to take the risk anyway and asked the cashier if she’d be willing to combine them for me… And she said yes! I guess under any other circumstances, it would have been a no, but since she was the manager or supervisor and was one of the last few employees in the store (it was 9 by the time I picked out what I wanted and they were closing shop), she was more than happy to override for me! In addition to getting my $30 off, everything I picked out was on sale!

After we checked out, I thought I’d give Bath & Body Works a shot, despite it already being past closing time. I looked across the way and saw that the gate was still wide open, so I made a mad dash for the entrance. I grabbed my free aromatherapy bottle, picked up some lip balms that were buy 2, get 1 free, and hit the register. The supervisor scanned my items and told me that because I was spending $15 (yes, lip balms were $7.50 each – well worth it I tell ya!) I was entitled to any item in the store valued up to $13 for free because of one of the new coupons they had available. I had no idea about the coupon and she didn’t NEED to tell me this, but it was super-awesome of her to be on the lookout for me! I grabbed a body wash called “Optimism” and dashed back to the register. The supervisor had to tend to a phone call, so another associate rung up the rest of my stuff. After she scanned my coupon for the free aromatherapy bottle and printed the receipt, she handed everything over to me, including the coupon. I told her that I didn’t need it anymore since she just scanned it and she whispered to me, “keep it – you can use it again.” I walked away with a very free bottle of aromatherapy lotion, 2 coupon books, and the original coupon for a free aromatherapy product.

Total spent for the evening: $36
Total savings for the evening: $80

Color me elated over saving loads of money AND having a fabulous customer experience! Good customer service really pays off because I WILL be coming back soon

Thanks for reading!

My Crazy Life

September and October have been maddening! Not horrible, just really uber-busy. Birthdays, projects, Disneyland, costumes, work – all good stuff – just a lot of it. Pictures to come, but for now, I need rest. Watching TV from bed rocks.

Disneyland – travel day

We arrived not too long ago at the Jolly Roger hotel. It’s not the nicest place ever, but it works. We’re about a 10 minute walk from Disneyland, so we’re walking to Downtown Disney tonight for dinner and to see if we want to make the walk again tomorrow or spring for $14 parking. Everyone’s tired from the drive down, but I’m ready to get out there and take some pictures, eat some yummy food (’cause you know how I can eat), and get some shopping done. It’s going to be an awesome weekend!