Oscar Party

Yesterday I was invited to an intimate Oscar party at my friend, Nicole's friends, Dyanelle and Dustin. When you walked in, they had a red carpet laid out and you were required to "work it". It was a lot of fun!
Nicole doing the over-the-shoulder-move!

The question they always ask: "What are you wearing?" Well, I have no idea, except for my "bling" shoes, which are Rampage! I was wearing a Fendi purse, the only high-end thing on me!

Here's Dyanelle, striking a pose!

Here's Darcy showing off her stuff!

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty

Yep, that's what it's called: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty aka apnea surgery.

I went to a new ENT doctor (Ear, Nose and Throat) on Tuesday and he gave me the go-ahead to have the apnea surgery on March 10th. Although I am really excited (I've had my CPAP machine for 9 years this April and this will give me a high likelihood of not using it anymore), I am also a little nervous.

The surgery entails removing the tonsils, adnoids, uvula (which I hear is the most painful part), and part of the soft palate. I also have excess tissue that will be removed as well that is common for apnea patients to have but it would look weird compared to other people ("mutant" is what my sister, Heather, said). But according to the doctor it is normal for an apnea patient.

Dr. Rice said that some people can bounce back and go back to work within 4 days but an old college friend of mine, Tara, regaled me of the story of when her husband Mario got it done. Gulp. I think ignorance is bliss.

Even still, I would be happy to go through a few weeks of pain and discomfort in the interest of getting rid of the CPAP. I do not like relying on a machine in order to get a good night's sleep. Back in April I was visiting my sister, Andrea, and her family and my CPAP broke (it was pushing air out at hurricane level). I couldn't get a new one while I was out of town so I didn't get a good night's sleep the whole time I was there. I had to take a sick day after I got back in order to get a new CPAP machine and to catch up on almost a week's worth of sleep!

Please pray that the surgery is successful and that I have minimal pain and recovery periods. Thank you.

Valentine's Weekend

Alas, another Valentine's Day...but this year I have a sweet valentine--my 3 year old nephew, Sebastian, who agreed to be mine this year. :-)


My weekend started out with working late on Friday night because one of my staff is going on vacation next week and she have several schedules to finish and I had to review them to make sure there were no other changes necessary. I rushed out the door at 8:05 (with one more schedule to do...but I told her I'd take care of it) because I had to meet some gals at the movies to watch "Confessions of a Shopaholic" at 8:50. I made it there just in time and had a fun time watching this comedy with 6 other ladies: Lisa, Nicole, Darcy, Jennifer, Angie and another girl who I've met once but can't for the life of me remember her name. Starts with a 'c'. Ah well.

The movie was funny and very endearing. You can't help but love the main character and fall for her love interest, Luke. As we were walking out I reminded the girls about the hike the next day.

I was planning on working out in the morning before the hike, but I really needed to catch up on my sleep. I did get up early enough to get a 16 oz. Jamba Juice Strawberry Nirvana with a Soy protein boost, my ultimate favorite. I did eat breakfast, but I new I would have to drink this right before the hike to stave off a hypoglycemic epidsode. 5 of us ended up going: Nicole, Darcy, Gretchen, Chris (this guy that on a whim decided to come) and myself. We carpooled up together and met the hiking group.

Gretchen and Chris with me in the back seat.

We were all very surprised at how many people there were: at least 50, maybe even 60. Gretchen and I were surprised to see Ken there, a guy we knew from our TNT days. It was a great hike, although parts were quite challenging, only from the standpoint of the incline, as it was a smooth ground hike (no rocks, etc to contend with). As promised, the hike had a great view of the city and the Hollywood sign.

The last lookout point we went to produced the "Ollywoo" sign. Had to take a picture of that!

After the hike, we went to Griffith Observatory. Our original plan was to have lunch in the cafe but, after literally walking around the entire thing trying to find the cafe, we decided the line was too long and we'd get food on the way home.

We decided on Fatburger.

The hike took a lot out of us and made us starving because there was little conversation when we got our food! I had a grilled chicken sandwich (no mayo...which was surprisingly easy for me to ask to exclude) and fat fries (steak fries). I also had a diet coke but it wasn't enough to drink I was so thirsty! My pedometer had logged over 16,000 steps that day and it was only 4pm by the time we got back!

Nicole dropped everyone off at the church parking lot where we met, but I went with her and Darcy back to her house to hang out and get ready for church at 6pm. Church was great, of course. They had some of the kids up there singing during worship.

Afterwards we went to El Tarasco for dinner. While we were there we discussed various social events we are going to plan for our new group B.A.S.I.C -Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Comfort in a Crowd

This afternoon I got really bored. I had already gone to Trader Joe's and picked up groceries and I was just sitting at home, wondering if I should go to Target like I had said I would. So, I went and got a few things. I had originally planned to go to Target and then see another movie since I was bored.

Target is right next to the South Bay Galleria so I drove over and got in line to buy a ticket but all of a sudden I decided against it. I was feeling a bit hypoglycemic, so I decided to hit the food court and got myself a teriyaki chicken skewer for a protein boost. I sat down and started reading "He's Just Not That Into You" which I got at Target. I had just seen the movie and agreed that most women (and myself over the years) have tried to make something into nothing when it comes to these relationships, so I figured I should really get it into my head so I don't slip up and get into that cycle. So far, I like the writer's tone and style.

While I was sitting there reading, I realized I could read at home, but I felt somewhat comforted being in a crowded food court, even though those around me were all strangers. I guess it's my extroverted self coming out...the part that likes to be around people more than being alone. I rarely need alone time, but of course I get too much of that these days. A couple hours every night is PLENTY.

But even though I felt more comforted in the crowd, I decided I should be at home organizing my bedroom and trying to find the pamphlet I promised my Friday night bible study I'd find. So that's what I'm doing--trying to be productive. :-)

Church and Pei Wei

Friday night I was able to make my bible study in Redondo Beach and we had a great time discussing Acts. We are nearing the end of our study of the book, so we are praying about what to study next. We'll probably study 1 Corinthians and go straight through Paul's letters.

I had to rush out at 9pm because I was meeting my friend, Angie, at Rolling Hills AMC to see "He's Just Not That Into You". It was raining a little bit when I got there, but not too bad. The rain must have frightened people away because I was able to find a spot pretty easily. Angie was already there and she had brought Gretchen along.

The movie was funny and I can tell you I related to most people in the story, but most notably Drew Barrymore's character who seems to get rejected over 7 different technologies which is the way of the dating world nowadays.

Saturday morning I had my bi-monthly massage, which was much needed. My lower back had been hurting the latter part of the week and at the gym on Thursday I had attempted a back bend (which I did with no problem a week before) and I pulled a muscle in my upper back. Julie had to really use some elbow grease to work on my tight muscles, as did Dr. Yu, the chiropractor. I felt good after I left, although I'm a little sore today (which is common).

This is Hermosa beach pier. I figured I should add some pictures (which I did not take) to illustrate what I see when I go on my walks.

After that I went walking/running along Hermosa Beach. I thought I had found a solution to my foot and shin pain by doing knee to chest motions for 20 reps every so often. It seemed to help me on Saturday, but today was a different story. Today I went from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa and back, but I wasn't able to make it all the way to Hermosa pier because my shins were killing me. I rotated between walking/running/knees to chest/lunges to try and mix it up. I burned a good amount of calories doing that so I hope I made up for my decrease in distance.

After that I went home and got ready for a day of lounging and errand running. I watched "The Devil Wears Prada" while waiting for my laundry and organizing some papers while I was at it. After laundry was done I went to the mall to pick up a thing or two and then I went straight from there to church.

The church service was great. Chris (the pastor) was really fired up for whatever reason and they turned the lights up more this service. One of my pet peeves is that the service is dark most of the time. It is rather annoying that sometimes they leave it dark when you are supposed to be looking at the bulletin, filling out your tithe check or sometimes they've left it dark when you are trying to greet your neighbor! How can you get to know them if you can't see them? Anyway, it seemed much better with the lights on. Oh, the other reason why I don't like it is because I am very sensitive to light and it makes me feel sleepy!

I was really happy that Jenn sat with me and the group finally! She also went with us to Pei Wei afterwards. Chris is trying to get the church to know one another so they designate a place to go after service. This week is was Pei Wei, which is the fast food version of P.F. Chang's. Nicole, Jenn, Chris and I, along with Corinne and Patrick Jackson (this couple I had met a couple of month's ago and started attending my Friday night bible study). I tried these Vietnamese Chicken Salad rolls and edamame, which were delicious.

As I mentioned I went for a walk, etc. at Manhattan Beach today. Boy am I feeling it. I don't know if it's the extra weight I am trying to lose or if it's just old age. ;-)



Above is Manhattan Beach Pier (I didn't take this or the below picture either).

This is Manhattan Beach in the morning.

Medicine Ball - Watch Out

Last night at the gym the funniest thing happened.

I was with my trainer and she started me on lunges using a 6 lb. medicine ball that I had to hold out away from my body, lunge and then twist my upper body to the side and then switch to the other side. The area that we work in was pretty crowded, with people walking over to get weights or mats right near us.

On my second repetition, I was lunging and twisting my body with the medicine ball when a few guys started walking past. My trainer shouted a warning "Watch your balls!" to the guys. I almost lost it! My trainer is not known for being subtle and this was just what you'd expect from her, except that none of us expected it!

Super Bowl

Today I went to Angie and Gretchen's for a superbowl party for the girls--so there wasn't much watching of the game and more talking about what's going on in everyone's lives. Don't get me wrong--we followed along on the game, but it wasn't a play by play kind of thing.
I brought two things:

1) Three Bean Salad. My mom used to make this, although I used Brianna's Blush Wine Viniagrette instead of catalina or french dressing.




2) Jason Edward's "Rugged Hiker's Dessert". Years ago I went over to Jason Edward's place for a dinner he was hosting and he had this as the dessert. On a whim I decided to make it--it's a delicious mixture of vanilla yogurt, peaches, honey and grapenuts.
Colleen was out of town for her birthday, so a bunch of us brought her gifts.

Here is a picture of all of us except Angie. I asked her to take the picture because she was avoiding the camera all night, so I figured it was best to ask her to take the picture. I forget what she said, but it made me laugh. Tania is holding a football themed plate to prove that it was a Superbowl party!

From left to right: Colleen, me, Gretchen, Tania and Deanne.

Pet Peeves

Yesterday at about noon, I went for a walk/run at Manhattan Beach to take advantage of the beautiful day we were having. I went from Manhattan Beach pier to 22nd street on Hermosa Beach and besides my lower extremities feeling pretty fatigued, I felt good.

From Manhattan Beach pier, I have to walk up two streets and over one before rounding a corner to get my car out of the public parking garage. I was content listening to my Ipod and cool down from my workout. I rounded the corner only a meer 1/2 block from my car when a couple started walking towards my direction on the street.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people are too self-centered to think of anyone else's needs above their own--this is quite evident when you are walking along the sidewalk of a street. I waited (not very patiently) for the young woman to walk single phile behind her boyfriend, but she didn't. If I were to move, I would have had to step up on a retaining wall to get out of their way, even though I had the right of way on the right side of the side walk.

I got very angry and yelled "Single Phile!!!!" at the girl before stomping off to my car. It really ticked me off, but I had to ask myself, why did I get so mad? My friend, Lisa, at dinner that night said I was trying to impose my beliefs on others. It is true, but is it unreasonable to impose politeness and consideration? Of course, the manner in which I was trying to enforce this consideration was pretty rude itself.

Today I went for a similar walk/run along Manhattan. The same situation where people were not moving happened several times today. Instead of yelling at people, I just continued to walk on--even if they were in my way. Not really much improvement, but I couldn't step out of the way even if I had wanted to and they are the ones that should be moving. Sigh.

I had to really take some time in church last night to just calm myself from Saturday. I found a really lovely piano lullaby by Yiruma that definitely calms me so I listened to that a few times before service started.

After service a bunch of people went to El Tarasco for dinner. We all had a good time.