Weekend Wrap-up

Although we didn't do much shopping, we still had a pretty event filled weekend. On Friday we made our way up to the LBC to John and Joes Christmas cocktail party. It was a good time and we got to catch up with old friends.

Saturday we finished up with some Christmas errands and made our way to Irvine Lake for some fishing. Maria was finally able to break in the rod and reel that we bought about a month ago. Erick and Norma met us at the lake and we picked up some IN-N-OUT on our way there. After a delicious lunch we all set up our fishing gear and tried our luck. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting and I wasn't even lucky enough to catch a boot. There were some reeds in the water which we all kept getting our hooks caught on. Overall it was lots of fun but it would have been nice if someone would have left with a delicious fish.

Sunday afternoon we met up with Heather who is down in SoCal visiting. We met up at Claim Jumpers and finally got to meet baby Thomas who is such a cute kid. Thomas let Maria and I carry him and he wasn't fussy one bit. It was nice to catch up with Heather and to see how much of a caring mother she has become. BTW, I ordered the chicken pot pie and it was delicious but very filling. We also shared a red velvet cupcake for desert with a delicious cream cheese frosting on top.

Random Find

Last Saturday Maria and I went to pick up our 5k racing packets at the Chicks sporting goods store in Tustin. We grabbed our packets and t-shirt and were leaving the store when I overheard a lady tell a family that there was an Olympian at the AT&T store next door. My ear hustling sparked my curiosity so I convinced Maria to go in the store to get a look. Olympic gold track star Sanya Richards (400 relay gold and 400 bronze) was signing autographs and taking photographs with the customers. Even better was that there was only a couple of people in line. We took a photo with her and she gave us a signed photograph. She was really nice and seemed very down to earth. Better yet Jack FM (93.1) had a table inside the store. Maria and I were able to walk away with stickers and t-shirts too. Sweet!

Make Room For Santa 5K

On December 12, we participated in a local 5k run. The run was in Irvine and the course was made up of public streets and bike trails. It was a very brisk morning with bright morning sunshine. I wasn't particularly in the running spirit both because of the temperature and I had a couple of beers the night before. I ran the course in 23:44 which wasn't necessarily an outstanding time. I grabbed my complimentary sports drink and snacks and headed to the side lines to wait for Maria to finish. This event encourages runners to dress up like santas, elves, and the like. I was surprised to see a group dressed up like the manger scene (see photo). Maria ran in at 33:22 which was a great time considering she hadn't been consistenly running. Later that night I decided to check the race results--little did I know that I actually placed 3rd in my age group (30-34). The top 3 finishers in each division were awarded a pint glass with the run emblem. Maria was nice enough to pick it up for me during the week. This is the first time that I've actually won anything.

Beware of Your Surroundings

On one of our last trips to Costco we were stopped at the intersection waiting for the light to change. I was driving the Suby and Maria was with me in the passenger seat. Since it was a decent day we were cruising with the windows down.
While waiting we begun to hear this strange music and stranger singing. Maria and I looked at each other perplexed and we quickly noticed the music was coming from the vehicle to our right. The girl/lady had her windows rolled down and was belting along with her favorite song (woman singer with heavy duty guitar rifts). I try not to be critical of people but it was truly some awful singing that sounded like a cross between opera with some Emo edginess mixed in. Maria, who was eating an apple at the time nearly choked and started coughing. I on the other hand started laughing out loud and had to cover my mouth so she wouldn't hear me. Maria and I were both trying hard not to laugh so we had to look straight ahead and ignore her.
The poor girl obviously had no clue we heard her terrible singing. The light finally turned green and I was sooo embarrassed for her that I had to switch lanes so we wouldn't have to drive next to her.
I am often guilty of rocking out to my favorite songs while driving. But when this happens I am usually alone with my windows rolled all the way up.

Running

A week ago I participated in a 10K Turkey Trot at Bonelli Park (San Dimas). This was probably the toughest 10K run that I’ve run. The course was probably 75 % paved walkways and 25% trails. It had rained a few days prior to the event so the trail portions were pretty muddy. The course started on a hill and that was the sign that this was going to be a hilly course. There were several hills along the course and they sucked the life out of me. I still ran a decent time but I definitely coasted in to the finish line. It was a fun event but I was disappointed that they ran out of event t-shirts. It was a long sleeve t-shirt with the picture of a turkey--- it would have become my new Thanksgiving shirt. So to make up for no t-shirt I made sure to drink plenty of water, Clif Bar snacks, and took some extra energy drinks home with me.

We will be doing our last race of the year on Sunday. We’ve been doing some moderate amount of running so I think we’ll be okay for the 5k. We did this event last year and it was pretty fun. This year they’re going to include a Christmas ornament in the goody bag-- pretty cool.

Holiday Transition

Is it me or did we just stuff our mouths with Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and all the trimmings. It always amazes me just how quickly it goes from Thanksgiving to Christmas. So fast, that it feels as though there is not enough time to rest and recover before it’s time to take out the Christmas decorations and start the shopping. I finally hung Christmas lights this year and I have to say that they don’t look too bad. Now our house looks like we finally have some Christmas spirit.

So far I’ve been good at work and I’ve been able to fight off the urge to eat the Holiday junk food. I normally gain around 10 pounds during the holidays but so far I’m still the same weight. The season is still young so I’ll probably have to indulge in a few delicious holiday treats, especially once Maria starts her baking.

These last few days have been pretty cold (for Californians) and it now feels like winter.