Well... I outran 100 people...

Race report coming soon. My knees are killing me. Ahhh that’s what I get for undertraining. :p

I’ve got a couple of photos to put up but they’re not that important.

I just realized that I didn’t post for Friday. Gah!!! (re: NaBloPoMo)

This afternoon I went to Huntington Beach to pick up my bib and walk around the expo. The expo was tiny… or I didn’t walk far enough.

I’m tired and should be getting my stuff ready for race day tomorrow, so here are some bullet points about my day:

• teenage volunteers are annoying when they crowd (read: block) the only entrance and exit to the expo
• this expo kind of sucked
• I considered getting an iFitness belt and decided against it until I am more comfortable with not bringing my water bottle
• it’s going to be cold tomorrow
• I don’t have a rain jacket – I drove all over OC today and nothing. Each store either sold out or didn’t carry any. So I’m going to wear my REI jacket that looks like something like this and hope for the best. Worst case scenario: I overheat (doubt it) and chafe (Body Glide is my best friend). Best case scenario: it actually rains so I’m not wearing it in vain.
• There are A LOT of asian people at South Coast Plaza
• while I didn’t find a pair of boots in-stock at any of the major dept stores, all the sales people (Macy’s, Nordies, Bloomies) who tried to help me were VERY good, EXCEPT the jackass at Saks. She can suck my left armpit.
• REI staff are super helpful even though I didn’t find a rain jacket there
• I did not like the Road Runner person who I talked to about a rain jacket – he seemed like a jackass too. Too bad, I almost always have good service there.

I’ve been trying to read the user’s manual for the Garmin. It’s not going well; mostly b/c I’m lazy and I just want it to work when I turn it on. I drove out to see the in-laws and have dinner with them. I’m also their IT helpdesk when I get there- heh.

Tonight’s 10 is brought to you by the keyword “chandelier.” (See: SNL skits with Scarlett Johannson and Ryan Reynolds.)

1. costco.com
2. blogs
3. friends with wit
4. NaBloPoMo – making me remember to add a post each day
5. a new toothbrush
6. understanding managers who “got your back”
7. tea
8. hot water – this deserves its own post
9. Malcolm Gladwell
10. calculators

BAM!

Bangs! Again!

I now look like I’m 12. Awesome.

I like the ‘do. I’ve got a lot of layers and my hair’s thinned out. I have a lot of hair. A LOT.

… but anymore! w00t!

Check me out! 3 posts in one night. Sweet. NaBloPoMo is working out…. so far.

Tonight’s 10 is brought to you by a busy day and the realization that I need to step up my game at the office. I’ve been lax and I know I can stretch to kick more ass/flex my MBA guns.

1. candid conversations at the office
2. DineLA - I’ve been able to try out three different restos at a discounted price – total appreciation here!
3. Zappos – freakin A. I never have bad service from these guys. Truly a top-notch company with brilliant customer service.
4. my dad – I get my gastro-adventurism (is that even a word?) from him.
5. the in-laws – I really lucked out on the in-law lottery
6. flan – need I say more?
7. my new wrist brace
8. Advil – my go-to for caffeine headaches (shhhhhhh.. had 2 Cokes today)
9. Daisy – one of our best friends who came out to visit
10. hot water

Do you heart Zappos, too?

Er, I’ve missed last Sunday’s long run. It was supposed to be 11 miles. I missed it because of a severe case of heartburn. I just about died when I got up at 3am, trying to appease my torso area. Fast forward to today. There are only 3 more days left until the Surf City Half Marathon.

My original goal was to run it under 3 hours.

After realizing that I’m a wuss when it came to cold weather/rain training, I changed it back to “run it in 3:15.”

Seeing that my training has been pretty pathetic, I’ve decided my goal for this race are:

• finish the race
• run it under 3:15
• don’t die
• don’t cry
• don’t give up
• if I start to die, run it under 3:45

I’m feeling some fear or anxiety about this race. It’s so close, and yet it seems so surreal. I haven’t prepped the way I did for Long Beach (my first half). The only thing I can do is stay positive.

Dear baby Jesus, please help me stay the course and stay focused on Sunday. I have a feeling it’s going to be a tough race.

The time has come to start wearing a wrist brace any time I feel some tingling or pain. I do not want to see a doctor for this. I don’t want cortisone shots. I just want to work on my laptop in peace. I get pain on and off – it’s not a big deal, I think everyone gets this after being on a computer and/or using a mouse for long periods of time.

Well, the FTH, sick of seeing me massage my right wrist (and me, sick of him yelling at me to get off the computer), got me a wrist brace.

Awwww… that’s love… and it saves us an argument about the amount of time I spend online.

I'm an invalid.

So, I get this brace yesterday and I play with it. Today, I wore it on the way to work. It was uncomfortable. I couldn’t hold the steering wheel, so I took it off.

I didn’t want to let people at the office know I was having some pain, so I put it in my purse.

I got home tonight, put the brace on, and hopped on the laptop. Um. I can’t use my mouse. Bwhahaahahaha!! There’s cushion and a metal piece in the brace which blocks my palm from touching the mouse at all. Plus my damn fingers are so short that I can barely touch the button. Heh. #FAIIL

Well, I guess I’ll try to find a workaround.

Sheryl wrote about the start of the new month’s NaBloPoMo – and that caught my eye. I think I might just do this. BUT I am not signing up officially – I think I’ve signed up on enough sites.

This month’s theme is TIES.

I’ve just re-started listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point on audiobook. The book is brilliant. One of these days I’m getting all 4 so I can write in them. Anyway, ties. This makes me think of tonight. I had dinner with Roberta tonight at BoHo – we took advantage for one last DineLA meal at a resto we’ve never been to. I appreciate the ties I have with some of my former classmates from grad school.

BTW, BoHo? The food was good but not scrumptiously delicious. I probably wouldn’t go back. My salad was fantastic. The lamb shank was ok – I think it could have used a little more spice/kick. But the best part was the chocolate mousse – yum!

My fancy watch came in the mail today. Whee! I’ve charged it and will be playing with the buttons soon.

I spent the day with my dad and youngest brother B. Since my stepmother was out working (subbing for someone), my dad was free to grab some lunch. At first, I was going to take them to King Taco in East LA. I hadn’t been to that location but figured, TACOS!!! Then I had the ‘brilliant’ idea of taking him to the Westlake area to Mama’s Hot Tamales!

My dad told us of the days when he used to go fishing IN MacArthur Park. The park where:

• people were shot with rubber bullets a few years ago, when they were protesting immigration
• drug dealers hang out
• homeless folk use the park as their home
• it’s ok to hang around in the day, but I wouldn’t feel very safe at night

Unfortunately, they ran out of beef and chicken tamales, so my dad ordered a beef burrito, B ordered cheese & chile tamales, and I ordered a cheese & chile tamale and a veggie tamale. My food = damn good.

@ Mama's Hot Tamales

It’s nice to be able to take my dad out to non-Chinese food restos. Since my stepmother pretty much only eats Chinese food, he, too, is stuck eating the same foods. BoooooOOOOooooooOOOoooring! If I was smart enough, I would have made a reservation for another DineLA resto. Meh. Another time.

Overall, great food.

It was a tough week last week, and I think it might be a tough one this week too. Tough weeks are when I get into the office and am slammed with urgent tasks, when I don’t leave my chair except for bathroom breaks, when I don’t step out of the office for some air, when I can’t account for the time spent on a client.

I was just totaling up my hours for the month, and I took a couple of hours trying to reconcile my timesheets with the invoice. Granted, I was watching KELL ON EARTH, but still. I don’t know why this always takes me so long.

Now I’m watching Millionaire Matchmaker. Holy crap. This Patty is crazy. She totally went on the defensive on the “Botox Bitch” from Minnesota. I can see that she’s (Patty) trying to make herself look like the victim, but that hairstylist just seemed taken aback by her directness and, quite frankly, brashness. Patty didn’t have to be so bitchy to her new client. Of course, it IS reality tv – aka. editing heaven.

Eh.