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!

Thanksgiving Eve Day

Just a few thoughts...

Our sales team provided us a home cooked brunch for our division and it was the bomb. It was fun chillin' and being able to enjoy each other's company and not worry about answering the phone for a spell.

I am very grateful for my job. A few of you have had to hear me complain about it from time to time but when all is said and done, I love it. It's a beautiful place. Here's a skyview.

I love my co-workers and trades, my freedom, my triple wide trailer that my office is in, I do love my homeowners, some more than others :), I love that I work for a home building company that is secure enough for me to stay employed, and I love that they tell us to put our God first, our family second, and our job third.When we came back from our wonderful breakfast one of my co-workers laptop was stolen from his office. The sad thing is we can almost guarantee who it is and it's quite sad. We have a personal friendships with most of our trades and it's very disturbing that someone would disrupt that because times are tough.

But it's material and we aren't going to let that ruin our Thanksgiving weekend.

Pictures of the 30k

The pictures go in this order. Start, mile 4, mile 9, then finish.

A few races under the belt

During my training for the CIM I've entered a few different races just for change of scenery. On 10-26-08 I did the Folsom Four Bridge Half Marathon. I was on schedule for a 16 mile long run that day so before the half I went to the trails and got 3 miles done. I saw Holly and Jeremy there too. Good times.

Then last weekend, 11-8-08 I did the Clarksburg Country Run 30k, (18.6 miles). My training schedule was for an 18 mile run and I thought that extra .6 miles would be fine. The run was along the country roads right by the Delta. It was so windy my neck was sore for two days from leaning into the wind. I had a hat on and didn't want it to get blown away. I won't lie it was a tough run. They had the officials there so you could wear head phones because the roads were open to traffic. It was a safety thing. Running under 3 hours without music was HARD. Clarksburg High School is the school my mom retired from. I also worked there for a year after my mission. I saw a few runners that were students during my time there. I chitted the chat with them for a brief time. Once again no music so I didn't have anything better to do. :)

This weekend another 18 miles to do but I'll have to get creative to get that amount here in Manteca.

Pulte Good-byes 11-7-08

Once again there was another lay off at work. Its tradition to go to Kelly Brewery for "last supper".

Russian River Wine Tasting - DD 11/1-2/08

Floyd and Brent had booked me awhile ago to be the designated driver for the weekend of wine tasting in Santa Rosa. I usually do it for them every year with a car load of fun folks but it's generally a day trip and not weekend. It's very fun, they have food that goes with the selected wine. The wineries treat the DD's with gratitude, they always have a non-alcoholic beverages. This picture was taken outside of one of my favorite places, very homey.

This year we had a van of 12 full of fun people. Brent and Floyd met a couple on a cruise and some of their friends and family came to CA to enjoy.

We had a great time. On the way back to the hotel on our last day we were singing along to Neil Diamond, Sweet Caroline. It brings out the best in people.