I got my KEYS!!

Okay some may have heard through the grapevine that I was looking at buying a house and some this may come as a total shock. That's right, I'm on record, I've got my keys to my very own house. I didn't want to talk too much about it since me backing out of the condo in Sacramento and it crushed me. I knew life could happen this go around and not talking about it may be the best. I bought a foreclosure and got a screaming good deal. The house hasn't been occupied since Jan of 2007 and it's been move in ready. They took really good care of it. I'll post some pictures once I'm good and ready. Not trying to sound like a snob but I have the before and just want to get my things in there before I submit it after. Funny, paint makes all the difference in the world.
Off to celebrate. :P

Dollar Tree Christmas 12-21-08

Every year our group of friends get together over at my parent's house for a night of dollar gifts. One of the rules is you don't spend more than a dollar on each gift but there are some you just have to splurge on, what another $1?

I included a few of the favorites from the evening.

This is Jenna with the white bear that my parents got her. (yeah more than $2) She belongs to Rob and Chelyene.

After opening of the gifts was homemade enchiladas. YUM!! My favorite part!

100th post Woot Woot Christmas Eve

Our work Christmas party was a few weeks ago. Working in the home building industry during this economy crisis I can honestly say we don't have the budget like we use to. I'm cool with that. I'm lucky I still have a job and I'm grateful for that.

We had our work party at our Pleasanton Office. They had a caravan bus that came and picked some of us up in Manteca. There was a handful of us. Good times.

They had these two massage chairs in the office and I spend a BIG part of the time parked there.

They had a ping pong tournament and Ralph and Mike were practicing here. Santa came and he was also wanting in on the action.

They had a really nice lunch for us. Lori showing you what she's got going on.

They also had Texas Hold'em. I just took a picture, I have no idea how to play.

They had raffles throughout the day. I won the grand prize. A $250 gift card for the Stoneridge Mall. Woot Woot! Guess who's going shopping after Christmas and going to hit the killer sales? That's right...me!

I've mentioned Bass Pro Shop that opened in Manteca a few months ago...well with it being Christmas season they had to out do themselves with the festivities. They moved all the show boats to outside and made that section a children's area with different stations. I went there with Valerie and her beau, Kevin after our work party. I work with Valerie. She is a dear friend. We are all each other have at work...only other girl in the field. We got our picture taken with Santa who was a little creepy for me so I asked if we could take a pic next to this cute snowman. Never mind the family in the background.

CIM (California International Marathon) 12-7-08

Wow it's been awhile since I've blogged. I will be honest. Blogging has slipped to a very low priority this past month. Work has been loca en la cara (crazy in the face), I had to finish with my marathon, buying a house, getting ready for Christmas, and dealing with relationship issues.
I thought I would be able to copy and past my marathon pictures when they came out like my 30k but these photo punks have it blocked so if you want to bore yourself you can check out the website if you want to see my pics http://orders.racephotonetwork.com/QPPlus/Proofs.aspx if it asks for a bib number it was 1975.
I'm still very much a rookie when it comes to the whole marathon pacing. I blew through my first half and suffered through my second. It took me 20 min longer on my second half than it did on my first. It SHOULD be the other way around. A few comments about the race...
1) The spectators were awesome!
2) It was about 42 degrees during the run. Foggy as all get out which means no wind however, fog has moisture and so within the first 5 miles I'm soaked thinking...hmm I've got 21 more miles to run, LAME. I was cold the whole way. Not to the point where I was shaking but my layers were damp and just from the motion of running you constantly have a slight breeze running through your clothes. I planned ahead. I packed a set of dry clothes so at the end, where brother Brent was to greet me and drive me home, I could change into dry warm clothes. Ahhh
3) I've always geared up for myself to hit "The Wall" in the 20's but it caught me off guard since looking back it hit me at mile 16. I was not mentally prepared for that. Who is? Damn wall!!
4) I watched Run Fatboy Run on the eve of my marathon. Funny movie.
5) I was in the best shape for this marathon than any other run. I've been working out at the gym almost every day with weights to make myself stronger and not focus solely on my running. It burned a lot of calories too. Thanks Andy!
6) Favorite spectator: He was just getting ready for what I have no idea but as I was running by this tall man about 30ish, 6ft 5in, really thin took off his coat and had a red Speedo on and was rubbing something on his skin (perhaps to stay warm) Not sure what that was all about but it made me smile :)
7) I was talking to a gentleman before the run just people watching and he's an experienced runner, he's run Boston. We were talking how great it is to be in a group of people so large that want the same thing you do, to finish this marathon. We have conditioned our bodies to complete a 26.2 mile run. We all have some method to our madness. We were all running for different reasons but we were all running. That felt good. No, it felt great!