What a fun-filled Halloween weekend! It all started on Thursday night at a friends apartment with some pumpkin carving with lots and lots of punch. Mmmmm... Punch... Toward the end of the night when the punch ran low, it turned to orange juice and vodka. Mostly vodka. OK, pretty much all vodka with a splash of what was left of the orange juice. We divied up into carving teams of two by picking names out of a hat. So we had 7 pumpkins slaughtered by the end of the night by the teams and needed a way to judge them. Hmmm, what better way to judge a bunch of pumpkins at 10pm on a Thursday night than to line them all up outside and go through them one by one and scream the loudest for the ones that you liked? Pretty brilliant, I must say. Of course the neighborhood probably thought it was the most obnoxious and irritating thing ever (which in a sober state I might have to agree with them). However, need I remind you about the punch... errr... pretty much straight vodka... that hindered all logical thought at that point. So here are some pics of the whole punchy filled night :)

Our hostest with the mostest!


PC carving it up:


Drinkin' Da Punch!


The new pumpkin patch.



Saturday night was the start of the next punch-filled party. The food was excellent and the alcohol was plentiful. A success! This was a costume party, so we did our best to dress up. K's costume suffered a setback right from the start. Her wand broke and her fake eyelashes didn't stay on. However, her boa was fantastic! I played the part of Gene Frenkle of the Blue Oyster Cult playing "Don't Fear The Reaper". If you're saying to yourself, you must still be drinking that punch cuz there is no Gene Frenkle in the Blue Oyster Cult, I beg to differ. Here's a quick refresher: Here So yes, I played the cowbell guy (Will Ferrell). Complete with gut hanging out and everything ;)

Here's the gut along with PC as "Little Red Riding Hood that didn't get away from the wolf", and The Duker as the great mountain climber.


Our hosts:


Party pics!





Sunday was also a blast. We went to April and Brad's place for the final Halloween party of the weekend. Plenty of booze and lots of friends make for a great day.

Did you catch that awsome Packers game last night? Whoohoo! Go Pack Go!

--S

BOOTCAMP!

Yours Truly signed up for a 4 week bootcamp session. They are going to whip me into shape (a shape other than "pear")!

Blondie had enough bootcamp with his time in the army, so it will be just me suffering 4 days a week. But I'll complain about it so much that Blondie will feel worse than if he actually just took the class with me. I'm good that way.

11/26/2007 - watch out - it's the start of a new Yours Truly!

--K

Celebrity Sighting!!!

I forgot my most excellent news. Last Friday, after picking up our race packets from the Nike Expo, Blondie and I were headed to a bar for a quick drink before going to Sweetie J's for some tasty din din.

On our way to said bar, we were following a guy down the street, who was stopped by 2 people coming towards us for a picture.

It was Tyler Florence from Food Network (Food 911!). He's also the Applebee's Chef in the Applebee's commercial.

It was my second celebrity sighting (the first being Blue from Old School), but my first sighting in SF!

--K

PICTURES!

The Pooh Family at Mr Pooh's Graduation!

Mr Pooh and The Cutest Kid In the World!

We ran like girls!

Like girls who kick ass!

Last year's theme for the Nike Half-Marathon was "Run like a girl", and the t-shirts at the end said "I ran like a girl" on them. That's a farking cool theme. Or at least I think so.

This year's theme was much lamer: "Run together". YAWN.

Blondie and I definitely did NOT run together, b/c Blondie KICKED SOME MAJOR ASS and RAN LIKE A GIRL ON STEROIDS, and finished the course in 2:22:41. That's 13.1 miles, over SF hills, in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 41 seconds. Which is AMAZING.

Yours truly also finished, but nothing rock-star like (although considering my lack of training, just finishing the thing was amazing in itself). I did in 3 hours, 10 minutes, and I can't remember the seconds. I'm a slow runner, and did have to walk a good portion of the course, but I was out there, sweating, panting, running, walking, for 13.1 miles.

We are now both in possession of pink t-shirts cut for a woman (sorry Blondie!) that say "Half-Marathon Finisher" on them, and silver Tiffany pendants (sorry again Blondie!).

Blondie is also in possession of distance-running bug, so I will try to catch that also. I honestly would like to be able to run a half-marathon in under 3 hours (2:45 sounds good to me), so I am going to start training seriously (none of this "I did 3 miles today, that's enough" which I have been doing) for another half in spring '08.

This is all thanks to Bikram - my lung capacity has improved so much due to yoga, that if I hadn't been doing it, I would've been looking at a 4+ hour half-marathon.

Funny coincidences from yesterday - I had read somewhere (I think my Runner's World magazine) that a lot of people focus on people in their lives for each mile they run - like mom for mile 1, dad for mile2, etc, and it makes the time go by faster. So for the first 9 miles, I focused on the people in my immediate family for each mile, before letting the pain take over for the last 4 miles.
1) My sis-in-law Mrs Pooh - when it was time for her mile, I ran past a gospel chorus (the only one on the entire course). Mrs Pooh is a church-goer, and this seemed pretty cool that this happened on her mile.
2) My mom - when it was time for her mile, I was running along Embarcadero/Crissy Field - which is right on the water-front. My mom loves the water, and being on the bay/ocean seemed pretty appropriate.
3) Funniest of all though was when it was Shug's mile - and I saw a GUY WITH A COWBELL! He was just standing there clanging away. It was so freaking random - when Shugs graduated from graduate school, her entire family brought cowbells and rang them like crazy when her name was called. It was sooooo funny, and seemed totally appropriate for Shugs' mile!

So give Blondie a HUGE hand and congratulations for how great he did! You can just give me a hand and a small congratulations.

-- Half-marathon Finisher.

A visit...

The KY visit was this past weekend. WE HAD A BLAST!!! I seriously did NOT want to come back to SF. I'm on serious sleep deprivation right now BTW - so if this blog makes no sense, that's why.

Flew all night on Thurs night, landed in KY on Friday. We were met by Mr Pooh, and mom and sis. Specifically, we were met by Mr Pooh doing jumping jacks, and mom and sis laughing their asses off.

Blondie rode with Mr Pooh to pick up Sliders (White Castle hamburgers to the lay person), and mom, sis and I hit The Pooh's home to visit with Mrs Pooh and The Cutest Kid in the World. We all went for lunch, before I collapsed from lack of sleep on Mr Pooh's carpet.

Brother R woke me up with a phone call, and then we were off and running. The beer drinking started. The revelry started. The card playing started. And then it was 11 pm, and Blondie and I were dead.

We got up the next morning at 5:30 am (this is all ET, and it makes me cry a bit) to go see Mr Pooh get his MBA degreee! And his President's Cup Award! We ended up sleeping again that afternoon on Mr Pooh's carpet (once again), before the UK game started.

Then it was time to drink beer, and watch the Wildcats beat up on LSU! We ended up at Brother R's house, enjoying his new deck and his beer fridge, and listening to the fireworks they exploded after UK won the game.

On Sunday, we had a layover in our old stomping ground. We spent the 2.5 hours watching the Packers play at the airport bar, getting drunk, and striking up random conversations with the people around us.

I am so tired today I can hardly see straight. And it's only 2 pm. And it's only Monday.

Thank you L-Clan for everything this weekend. We had so much fun and it was killer to leave on Sunday! Congrats Mr Pooh!!!!

--K

Dear Giant Zit On My Chin -

I know we've had some good times together these past 48 hours, but it's time for you to go back to where you came from. I don't know how else to say this. It's not you, it's me. I'm not ready for this kind of commitment.

Sincerely,
Yours Truly

Funniest thing I've heard in a long time...

The Cutest Kid in the World (my niece) calls her grandfather (my dad) "Bald 'Pa".

Bald 'Pa. HAHA HA HAHAHAH! I love it!

Keep in mind my niece is only a little over 2 years old.

--K

Happy Happy Happy Happy Legal Anniversary!!!!

It's our govt-recognized 4-year anniversary!

Go Blondie! Go Yours Truly!

--K

One more date!!!

10/21/2007 - Blondie and Yours Truly will be running the Nike Women's Half-Marathon. Can you say free Tiffany necklace to those that cross the finish line? I can.

The good news is that I've started to fall back in love with running (I seriously think this is thanks to Bikram). The bad news is it was too late to really do some serious training.

I'm hoping for a 3 hour finish time (13.1 miles), but will honestly just be happy to finish it at all.

--K

Happy happy happy happy happy SF-versary!

A year ago yesterday, Yours Truly moved to SF, and started the slow painful process (painful for them - I had a blast though ;) of inflicting herself on Shelbs and Mr Bbbb for 6 weeks.

A year ago yesterday, I was a wreck. I didn't know if the move was a good thing, I didn't know if the TX house would sell, I didn't know where we were going to live, I didn't know anyone in SF but Shelbs and Mr Bbbb, I had a new office and new people to look forward to that I didn't know, I was missing my cats, and Blondie was only staying a week before heading back to TX.

Looking back though, this was the best thing we could've done. We needed to be jerked out of the rut we were in, and what a way to do it!

From meeting some of the best people in the world (Sweetie J, Party C, and everyone else I've been priviledged to cross paths with!) to leaving the despised old job... it's been a whirlwind.

So - THANK YOU:
1) Shelbs and Bbbb. Of course. If it hadn't been for you all, well, I don't know if we would've stayed out here.
2) Sweetie J - for taking me under her wing and introducing me to her FABULOUS friends and for her insane cooking skills!
3) Party C - I need someone like C to remind me that fun time starts the minute I walk out of the office at the end of the day.
4) Blondie - for trusting me enough to know that I meant I needed out of TX. And for paying for this move. And for moving with me.
5) Blue Angels - if you keep flying over the city on my 1 year SF-versary, I'm going to get pretty dang spoiled!

Other important dates coming up:
1) 10/10/2007 - Blondie's and Your's Truly official 4 year anniversary.
2) 10/17/2007 - Sweetie J! (yes, I realize it's lame I remember these dates, but I just do)
3) 10/28/2007 - Party C! (yes, STILL lame)
4) 11/17/2007 - the cats became SF residents
5) 12/16/2007 - Blondie's SF-versary

Other important things coming up:
1) Going back to KY for the first time in 16 mos on Thurs evening. Will get to see the fam (including the Cutest Kid In the World) and see Mr Pooh get his 4.0 MBA degree. Will get to take Blondie to White Castle (ugh) for the first time. Will get to see Brother R's new deck for the first time. Will get to see Sis' new cats for the first time.
2) Going back to TX on 11/16. Will help Blondie say goodbye to his work and will spend one last weekend in downtown FtW (yes, beer will be heavily involved in this trip)
3) Going to Spokane for Thanksgiving. Will be spending the holiday with family for the first time in a LONG time. Brother R and Shugs, Crazy Crazy Uncle and Aunt, and me and Blondie.

So much to look forward to!
--K

Needing a pick-me-up.

No, this blog post won't be about beer (whoa!). Or about drinking (double whoa!). Or about the bar (whoa whoa whoa!)

I'm not having a good day. In the spirit of what they teach us in yoga, I'm trying to distract my mind from what is going on. I'm going to do that by saying my 1 favorite memory about each person in my family.

The Cutest Kid In the World: When your grandma took the fake powder-puff and puffed your face and you would get all whiney and look like you were about to cry. I laughed myself sick over that.

Mr. Pooh: I wasn't there for this, but you sent me email afterwards, which made me laugh myself sick (anyone see the pattern about these memories?). The email involved a Vanilla Ice song, a dance off in front of a bar, and a bucket o' booze (I can talk booze here b/c it didn't involve me).

Mrs. Pooh: Driving back from UK in your car (Mr Pooh was driving) and you stuck your finger up his nose. Before I started laughing myself sick, I remember something along the lines of "I'll get your boogies."

Brother R: Of course - Havasu. Specifically, trying to get you to jump off the cliff. I laughed myself sick, especially when those guys started asking if you wanted your mom sent up to help you. (Another favorite memory of mine involves Maui - but that also involved booze, which I promised not to talk about).

Shugs: 2 words: apple martinis. ;) I won't say anything else.

Sis: For some reason, I'm stuck on 1 time in college when we went through the drive-thru at McD's, order a shit-ton of food, had it super-sized, and then asked for Diet Coke's. You and I laughed ourselves sick, and could barely pull the car around to get our stuff.

Mom: Honestly, the time when we were playing cards and you asked "You know when you fart and it comes out the front? What's that called?". I laughed myself sick (literally I think). Oh god. I honestly thought I would have a heart attack that night b/c I couldn't catch my breath.

Dad: "Andrew, this is the Lord. Buy your kids pizza." And you always did. It's amazing how easy it was to get pizza out of you.

Blondie: All of them. But in particular, the night we went to see a movie in Texas, and then decided to stay out, just you and me. We ended up talking all night long about "Things that don't suck", and came up with a brilliant business plan, before heading over to BellBottoms to listen to Le Freak (and watch that crazy old lady dancer). Perfection!

--K

Pop quiz time. Get your pencils ready.

1) If MSU and University of Wisconsin play each other in football, who wins?
a) MSU
b) University of Wisconsin
c) Was there a game on? I was too busy running back and forth for more beer.

2) You are at the bar on Sunday. You start drinking early. The bartender buys you many many drinks (you meaning yourself, Blondie and random new friend we met there). Then said bartender buys you a shot of Jameson's. Do you:
a) drink it!
b) politely decline b/c you can't stand whiskey!
c) excuse yourself, go to the bathroom, relieve yourself of excess booze (i.e. vom), go back to the bar, and do the shot of Jameson's!

3) After the bar, you are on your way home. You both are super intoxicated. You need food! What do you eat?
a) Burger Meister! A hearty meal is just the thing to sop up all the extra booze.
b) Pizza! A heart meal is just the thing to stop up all the extra booze.
c) Hummus/pita bread, chips and salsa! Because you are too out of it to realize you need a hearty meal to sop up all the extra booze.

Answers: 1) Trick question: both b and c; 2) c obviously; 3) c obviously.


Obviously, it was a good weekend. There was more than drinking done. On Saturday, Blondie and I both went for a run. I did a half-half-marathon (6.55 miles) to time myself to double that so that I could have an estimate of what I will do for my real half marathon (13.1 miles). It was okay. Definitely not good, but not as bad as I thought either. We also made it to a friend's house on Saturday night to hang out for awhile.

And we managed to celebrate our anniversary in the midst of it all! Blondie took me to a sushi restaurant (my favorite sushi restaurant) for dinner on Thurs night. Unfortunately, I went vegetarian a couple of weeks ago so fish is out. Fortunately, their vegetable rolls and veggie Udon rock the house! Love you Blondie!

--K