Running to Laughter

In honor of my first 5k this Sunday {eek!} here is some running humor.


Sad, but true!




Maybe...maybe not.



Watch out now!



Always be prepared with TP!




This makes me laugh and groan at the same time!


I have not trained as much as I planned for my 5k, but I am confident that I will do well.  "Well" meaning finish even if I have to drag my ass across the finish line!

Wish me luck!!

Dr. House Sings the Blues

This past Saturday night, Gary & I did something we've never done before - we went to see a Blues concert.  The cool thing is that it was Hugh Laurie, who plays Gregory House on TV, and his band.

We've been fans of the show "House" for all 8 seasons and were super sad when we found out this would be the last season.  Ironically, the last episode aired just a few days before the concert.  So, even though we lost "House", we gained a chance to see Hugh Laurie in his other element.

I wasn't sure what to expect, since I had never heard Hugh Laurie sing before.  When we found our seats, the people next to us were from Sacramento and extremely friendly.  They are fans of Hugh Laurie's music career and talked to us about it before the show.

Once the concert started, it flew by!  Hugh came out and spoke to the audience a bit about his longtime love of music, and joked about him being an actor, not a musician.  Trust me when I tell you, he IS a musician!!  I was amazed at his talent of playing the piano and the guitar.  His band was just as impressive.  There were times when I could actually feel the music in my soul.

He played for 2 hours straight, and I was still sad when it was time to go home.

If you are interested in his music, here is a link to where you can buy Hugh Laurie's album.

Miss Me??

It's been almost a week since my last post....I miss you guys!

I have to admit it WAS nice not to blog for almost a week. 

I am drained...last week I spent Thursday & Friday in Disneyland with my Seniors.  I am not complaining, because it was an amazing experience, but I was up for exactly 24 hours and 17 minutes before I got a chance to crash on the bus for 4 hours.  Then it was 3 hours before I took another 4 hour nap. 

This week is Graduation week at both my high school & Gary's, so our theme at home for the week is "Survival."  Easy dinners, no stressing about housework not done and did I mention easy dinners?  Mostly salads and BBQ.

Sorry for the short post, but I wanted to let you know I am still alive and that I should be back to regular blogging next week.

BBQ Season Is HERE!!

As much as I dislike the weather {98 degrees 3 days in a row in MAY} there is one, and only one, benefit to it: It's BBQ season bi-atches!!

This is how hot it feels in the Central Valley lately!

What does this mean for me?  I get spoiled twice, sometimes thrice, a week to juicy tri-tip, delicious chicken, and {soon to experiment with} grilled veggies!


It doesn't matter how hot it gets outside.  As long as Gary has a beer, he will BBQ the heck out of some meat for us!

BBQ essentials

This also means I get a break from the kitchen for the most part.  My only job on the nights Gary BBQs is to prepare a side dish, which to me means a sweet potato and a salad or other veggies.

Honey, go relax...I've got dinner covered tonight!

Soon, you will be cooked and in my belly!

Someone thinks they're sneaking a lick off the ground...caught ya!

But my FAVORITE thing about BBQ season?  The final product!

Could this dinner get any better?  I think not!

***Do you like to BBQ?***

{Almost} Wordless Weekend

May is a BUSY month for my family!  Within 1 week, we celebrate Gary's Birthday, Mother's Day and my dad's birthday!  We typically meet on Mother's Day to celebrate all three.  Here's how we enjoyed our May Celebrations this year:

My Mama & Papa in their lovely garden!

Gary & I - mugging for the camera since 2000!

My Papa & My Hubby = a happy Mo!

By the koi pond

Love my Mama!

Bryant & his GF Laura - I knew I liked her when my mom asked her, "so your a vegetarian, but you drink margaritas?" and she just laughed it off.  Well played!

The Grill Meister reporting for duty!

Typical family gathering photo bomb!

Mama was spoiled!  Wine from B & Laura and a mani/pedi to come from Gary & I!

Yes, that is a card with 2 asses on it.  Yes, that was from my brother. You can decide who is Beavis & who is Butthead...

Papa and his Andre Reiu CD

My family drinks....don't judge.

Showing how I keep sane during family gatherings

Bryant, Mama, Papa & I - the original 4!  :)

***How was your weekend?  Do anything fun & exciting?***

Top 5 Friday - Hubz Love Edition

Tomorrow is Gary's birthday!!  In honor of his special day, this Top 5 Friday is dedicated to him!


Here are the top 5 things I love about Gary {totally PG rated}


1. His sense of humor - 98% of the time this includes jokes about poop, farts and the combo of sharts!  I may roll my eyes at him a lot, but my inner kid laughs like crazy!  


2. His love of my cooking - I am definitely the cook in our family so Gary has been subject to some meal creations that were barely edible.  Luckily, he has been kind enough to stomach them before telling me his thoughts.  He is always the first one to encourage me to try new recipes {especially those with meat} and cheer me on when I make a great meal!


3. His love of music & movies - these are 2 things we bonded over quickly when beginning our relationship nearly 12 years ago.  I helped convert him into a country music fan and he renewed my love of classic rock.  We both also love movies and look forward to our Friday nights, when we cuddle on the couch to watch the latest Blu Ray release!


4. His Type B Personality - Opposites attract.  We are living proof of that!  Gary has helped me go from MAJOR Type A to Type A- {I am a work in progress}.  On our first vacation together I had our whole trip planned out minute by minute and had a melt down when on Day 2 we were late to something.  Instead of saying "See ya later, you crazy bi-atch" Gary helped to pick me up and continue our vacation and showed me the fun side of not having every activity planned out.  


5. He has a heart the size of Texas - I have heard this said about Gary's dad numerous times since his passing in 2008, and every time I hear it, I think how lucky I am that this was a trait Gary got from his dad.  When something bad happens to a family member or friend, Gary is always the first to think of reaching out to help.  When there is a stray dog that wanders on to Gary's school campus, he makes sure they have water and gives them a belly rub.  When we were going through infertility treatments, Gary always made me feel good about myself and let me know that I was enough for him.  I think my husband has a heart the size of the whole United States!

***In honor of Gary's birthday weekend, make a shart joke, watch a good movie or give someone you love a hug!***

Chillin' At The Mall

I hate the mall.  


I will try to avoid going there at all costs.  


When I do have to go, I try to get in and out as soon as possible.  Which is always fun to do when there are a million other people there.


Half of those million are under the age of 17, which means two things for me:


1. I will ALWAYS run into a student {and I always pray it won't be while I am looking at the adult section in Spencer's}.
2. I will get stuck behind a group of the Under-17's, who tend to walk slower than a turtle.


I can only hope that I didn't walk that slow at the mall when I was in high school.  Probably not, because I was either googly eyed over some cute boy or rushing to get some clothes at Wet Seal.


Half of the half million left {great math term} are those with children, so they make abrupt stops because their child has decided to have a tantrum right in the middle of the mall.  SO not their fault, but please move your child to the side as quickly as possible so the rest of us don't have to long jump over them and possibly spill our Orange Julius in the process.


The second half of the million people {can you believe I went to MIT?} {I didn't} are those like myself.  We want to get the HELL OUT OF THERE!!  We went in for a pair of pants and are now walking out with 6 bags because god forbid we have to come back to the mall before Christmas season.

Walk faster & get out of the way, people!  I need to get to Orange Julius!

My attitude toward the mall cracks me up because in my 6 5 4 years of high school, I probably went 3-4 times a month.  I LOVED the mall.  My friends and I could hang out without our dorky parents.  We could flirt with cute boys from other schools.  We could get an Orange Julius {well, at least one thing hasn't changed}.  I would spend HOURS looking through all the stores playing their cool music, which now I hear and think "turn it down!"


The only time I can now stand going to the mall is when I am on vacation.  That's because I get there 5 minutes before it officially opens with a strategic game plan and I know the Under-17's won't get there until I am about to leave {remember sleeping in until noon at that age?  Me neither, but that's a whole different blog post}.


So now that you know I am a crotchety old woman at the age of 31, get off my lawn you darn kids!

{Almost} Wordless Weekend

Friday night Costco dinner

Exactly what a WW needs next door...a burger joint!

Saw this at the mall...I always knew this Johnny Cash kid would make it big one day!

Ran my #blend5k Sunday morning.  Proof I finished alive!

Sasha enjoyed an afternoon of protecting her toys from the neighborhood cats!

Gary's weekend project. New vertical blinds on the back slider.

Used this to get what you see below:

Venti non-fat Mocha Cookie Crumble Frapp during Happy Hour!

 ***How was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun?***

Be Back Monday

It's been a LOOOONG work week.  


No time to blog anything worth reading today for Top 5 Friday.

See you all on Monday!

Buddy System

Remember the "Buddy System" from elementary school that we used on field trips to ensure that everyone stayed with the group?  Well, it always made things more fun than having to walk single file, all alone.

I've decided that this method still works to this day!  On Saturday, my BFF drove all the way from the Bay Area so we could try a 3 mile walk/jog to see how we will do in our 5k on June 3rd.  I was able to map out a 3.6 mile round trip on MapMyRun, that didn't seem to hard.  We did  a few things to make it closer to 4 miles total.  From start to finish, including an extra walk around my court and 5 minutes of stretching, it took us 55 minutes.  We probably walked more than we should have, but we had a lot to catch up on.

4 miles was definitely the longest I have done in a LOOOONG time, so the fact that we made it without passing out from exhaustion thrilled me!

Our hour passed by quickly.  In addition to catching up we experienced 2 dogs trying to jump over fences to attack us {okay, the second dog probably would have licked us to death, but the first dog would have enjoyed feasting on my thick legs}.  Then as we got closer to home it seemed like bees were just attracted to me.  No joke - a few actually stopped in mid air as I was running and I had to jog around them {my BFF is my witness that I am not overreacting}!

Once we got home, we cooled down a bit then hubby drove us to Qdoba for lunch....yum!

We both felt so accomplished that we decided to get together at least once a month on a weekend to take a jog.  This will mean both of us driving 45 minutes to meet in the middle, but we know it's going to be so worth it.  We're meeting one more time before out actual 5k, so I am excited to see how our time improves between what we did Saturday and at the end of May.

2012 Goals {Check In #4}

Back in January {which seems like a lifetime ago} I set 4 goals for the year.


For the fourth time this year, I am checking in to evaluate how I have done.


1. Take more time for me.  Not so good, but not horrible.  Honestly, I just didn't have time this past month to take time for myself.  Even the fun things I did included other people, which is not a bad thing, but it did not give me much time to focus on myself and MY inner peace.


2. Get back on track health wise - eating.  As in March, this was not stellar.  But I did up my game a little bit, so some improvement is better than none.


3. Get back on track health wise - exercise. Ah.Mazing!!  I've been religious about getting workouts in at least 3 times a week.  I've even added a few 20 minute walks in at work, which has helped me reach my personal goal of 10,000 steps a day.  Signing up for a 5k was the best thing I could do to motivate myself!


4. GO ON VACATION!!  We're going on a road trip!!!  Oregon, Washington, the coast....I am in heaven!  And the BEST part is that we've saved enough money to do this vacation and not stress!  :)


My grade this month - A-.  I really need to get back on track with eating well 90% of the time, so I can indulge that 10%.  One thing I'm doing is making my own iced coffees to take to work.  Basic ingredients, no extra crap that Sbux put in and waaaay less calories!  My 5k is one month from tomorrow and I'm pretty confident that by then I'll be able to jog 1.5-2miles of it.