#325 in balmy SoCal

HOORAY! T and I are at my mom and dad's house. We had a nice flight. We almost always fly JetBlue. We like it because it's a good price, it flies directly to Long Beach, and there are TVs on the back on every seat. T and I watched "The Biggest Loser", which of course made me cry. I mean, Shay lost 17 pounds this week and is the woman who has reached 100 pounds lost faster than any woman on the show, and she still gets kicked out? It's not right!

Anyway, my son was cracking me up. He was laughing so hard at Jay Leno that I couldn't help but laugh too.

For dinner tonight we stopped at my favorite, In-n-Out Burger. So yummy! Mom and Dad's kitchen is gorgeous - so rich-looking with the beautiful granite countertops and backsplashes. It makes me want to cook something. :)

Mom has the day off tomorrow because it's Veteran's Day. I think we'll sleep in. I may try to get in a little exercise, either by taking a walk or even finding a gym where I can just pay for the day or something. My knee felt pretty good today, so I'm encouraged by that. Maybe, if it's a nice day, we can convince Mom and Dad to take us to the beach. I love the ocean. I also brought a couple of books with me, one that's almost finished and one to start. I don't have many big plans for this week except for going to D-Land on Friday.

I hope MT and Osi are doing ok.

#324 the second shot

I had the second injection into my right knee this morning. This shot hurt a little more than the first for a couple of reasons. First, I still had a bruise from the first shot, and he did the second injection in the same area, so it was still a little tender. Second, last week, I came home and went to bed because I wasn't feeling well. Today I was up and at work right after the injection. So the injection site was a little sore, the knee is a little tender from the gel that's put in it, and it's kind of uncomfortable. It did start to feel better this evening. I've even been walking up and down the stairs here at home with laundry and feeling very little pain! HOORAY!

The real test will come on Friday when I plan to be strolling through DISNEYLAND with T!!

Yes, T and I are headed to sunny southern Cal for a few days of relaxation and visitation with my family. I'm looking forward to it. I'm a little concerned about MT and Osi. She hasn't exactly warmed up to him. In fact, when he is the first one downstairs in the morning, he will open her kennel door, but she won't come out until T or I go downstairs. I'm sure everything will be fine.

In other news, it looks like MT's family will be here for Thanksgiving. I knew that Jake and Linda were coming. They are headed off on a Panama Canal cruise the day after Thanksgiving and asked us to give them a lift to the airport. Then MT's brother Kevin said he'd be here with a friend or two (or three?), now maybe Kelly and Denise and their boys will be here too. We should have between 10 - 13 people. Whew! That's a lot! We're planning our menu and figuring out where to fit everyone. MT's in heaven thinking about it :P It makes me nervous, but I know everything will work out wonderfully.

Hopefully I can keep up my daily posts from Mom's house. Between her and Dad and T, I hope to be able to get a couple of minutes of computer time!

#323 Manu and the btat

Did you hear about the bat that was flying around the court during a San Antonio Spurs basketball game? I was reading about it this morning, and I just watched the video. I don't know if you'll be able to watch the video from the link, but I attached it.

Anyway, a little bat was flying around the arena on Halloween night (!). It had disrupted the game a couple of times because it was flying near the court. Finally, Manu Ginobli reached out and swatted it out of the air and killed it. Then he picked it up, handed it to a trainer or someone, got a few squirts of hand sanitizer, and they continued to play basketball. It's a bit disgusting, but there you have it.

In the paper this morning, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were all upset about Ginobli's murder of the bat. Their statement said, "Yes, it takes either a small man to bludgeon a 4-ounce animal to death or a totally unthinking one with no respect or consideration for lives humbler than his own."

I totally agree that animals should be treated ethically, but I have a hard time buying into the PETA thing. I had a bad PETA experience when I went to the circus a couple of months ago. I think PETA goes overboard with their message. Maybe it's just me.

I know that if there was a bat flying around me, I'd be swatting at the air and screaming at the top of my lungs. If I happened to make contact with it during my arm-flailing, I'd probably pass out.

Critters like bats don't belong in basketball arenas. It should have been outside. What the heck was it doing in the arena? I've seen bats flying around during baseball games at night. I don't like it very much, but it's where they live, and they are chasing little bugs for dinner, so who can blame them? I'd still swat my hands at them and scream if it flew my way, even outside at a baseball game.

I read another report that the bat didn't die. It flew away so it couldn't be tested for rabies, so Manu Ginobli had to get a rabies shot. So there, PETA. Manu had to pay for his misdeed by getting a rabies shot. Leave the poor man alone.

And I don't even like the Spurs! They are the most boring team (although they are very good) in the NBA. This is probably the most interesting story I've ever heard about them!

#322 Snowbird and my ups and downs

MT, T and I went to the Snowbird ski resort this afternoon. Snowbird was doing a charity thing, and for a can of food, you could get a free ride on the tram. It was a really beautiful clear day, so we headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon.

There is a little bit of snow up on top, and I'm glad we took our winter coats because it was pretty cold and windy up there! I don't remember skiing at Snowbird back in the days when I did ski, so I've never seen the top. It's a very pretty view from up there. Here's some pics:

This is the view to the backside of the mountain when you get off the tram.

View of the valley

Coming back down the mountain. Steep, huh?

My boys. Notice how MT isn't looking at the camera.

Doesn't he look happy?

Me and my sweetheart. Notice how he's not looking at the camera. I don't know why!

MT is pointing out the double black diamond run he and Kevin skied last year. Again, not looking at the camera.

Anyway, it was a really fun outing. I enjoyed being up in the mountains with the boys and doing something different than going to a movie and the bookstore. Come to think of it, we did stop at the bookstore before we went to the Bird.

We had lunch at a cool little place at the bottom of the canyon called The Porcupine Grill. I've been there a couple of times, and the food is good. I had a french dip sandwich, T had chicken strips and MT had a salmon sandwich. It didn't sound very good, but he said it was delicious; so good that he wanted to order another one!

When we got home, I laid down on my bed, turned on the Utah football game, and took a long nap. What a delicious Saturday!

Now it's time for a WW update. Last Saturday I neglected to mention that I gained 2.8 lbs. I was pretty horrified by it and embarrassed, too. I haven't had that kind of gain since I started my journey, and I don't know how it happened. Well, obviously it happened because I wasn't paying enough attention to what I needed to take care of. I didn't drink enough water; I didn't eat right; I probably didn't get enough bang for my exercise buck, whatever, I had the big gain and I was unhappy about it.

This week I vowed that I would get back on track and have a loss. Then, of course, I was sick all week, so I missed a couple of workouts and generally felt bad all the time. So what happened at this morning's weigh-in? I lost 6 lbs. I started laughing. What else can you do? I know the loss was a result of not being able to keep any food in my system all week. But I'll take it when I can get it.

#321freaky Friday

Today was strange. I haven't been feeling well this week, and I've been up in the middle of every night and been sick. Because of that, I've been tired in the morning, so I've skipped going to the gym today and yesterday. Skipping my workouts makes me feel a little cranky and "off," you know, like something just isn't quite right. This morning was extra bad. Work was strenuous on my brain yesterday, and I had a little work hangover from that, so I was finding it difficult to get in the groove this morning, in addition to my gastro-issues.

Then, around 3:00 or so, I suddenly kicked into gear. I started working on a project and I was full of energy and everything made sense and it was good. I got so carried away, I didn't leave the office until around 6:15, and I wasn't the last person there! The downside is that when I got home, I totally crashed again. I probably would have gone to sleep at 7:30, but then I thought that I would wake up at a really early time and be miserable tomorrow, so I roused myself for a bite to eat and a movie.

I watched "Rachel Getting Married." It stars Anne Hathaway, who I love, but this was not your typical Anne Hathaway movie. MT hated it and left about 30 minutes into it. I stuck with it, but I didn't love it.

Tomorrow we are going to ride the tram at Snowbird! I'll probably post some pics. Have a great weekend, everyone!

#320 is life passing me by?

Do you ever get the feeling that life is just passing you by? MT and I were having a discussion about that feeling the other day, and I've kinda been thinking about it ever since. Then on the radio just yesterday, the guy was talking about how his life is pretty boring, but he thinks most everyone's life is probably pretty boring. He said, "I get up a go to work, go to the gym after work, then watch TV and eat cheese doodles."

The comment made me laugh, but he's not far off. That's what most of us do, right? We go to work, come home, make a little dinner, clean up, help with the homework, watch a little TV, go to bed to do it all again the next day. That's life, man! Maybe it's not LIVIN', but it's life.

I think MT misses hanging out with other people. I think that's why he likes to go on vacation so much, because he likes to socialize and talk. I've already heard most of his stories, so it's not as much fun for him to talk to me! I've been thinking of things that we could do to meet new people, but short of joining the Church, I don't have many ideas. ;p

Probably the key to not letting life pass you by is hobbies and interests and the willingness to say YES when opportunities come your way. I think you also have to find the joy in the little things that happen every day. It may be any old ordinary thing, but enjoy the moment.

Tonight when I was driving home, I noticed that the clouds were the most beautiful pink color. It was just at that moment before the sun completely sets, and the sky was just lovely. I was kind of proud of myself for recognizing the beauty in that moment. Maybe that's dumb, but that's what I do to make sure that life doesn't pass me by.

#319 a bit of this, a bit of that

I was watching the World Series, but it seems nearly certain that the Yankees will win, so I decided to write for a minute before watching my new guilty pleasure "Eastwick." ;p

Work was really busy today. It's the first of the month, which means closing the previous month's books. It's always a little stressful, but since we're now coming up on the end of the year and we're trying to wrap everything up, I don't want to miss anything, so I am trying to be extra attentive. It's very tiring!

I missed doing Zumba this morning. I just spent time on the elliptical machine and it's good, but it's not the same fun level as Zumba. Oh well. I'll look forward to getting back to Zumba in a few weeks. It will probably be good to take a rest from it because it will be that much more fun when I go back.

My knee felt bad today. It was at the same old pain level. It's not that I expected the gel-stuff to work this quickly, but I guess part of me was hoping it would.

And I am still having a little gastro-intestinal distress. Yucky.

On a much, much brighter note, after a couple of months of pondering where to go on vacation next year, we have finally made a decision! We are going to Palm Island in the Grenadines. Our travel agent, Marcie, has been there and told me that it was her favorite place she's been on vacation. This lady has been pretty much everywhere, so I think her endorsement is a good thing. It's a private island resort with less than 40 rooms on the island. MT and I are really excited about the trip. We are leaving in mid-February and will be gone for 10 days! I'm sure I'll be writing more about the trip as we get closer.

Tomorrow I'll try to think of a topic instead of just these little details about what we are doing. Ooh! I just thought of something. I hope I can remember it until tomorrow!