Crossing of # 12

Well I did it. I accomplished #12 off my list; participate in the 2010 climb california, in SF for sure, but maybe another city.

Last Saturday The Girl and I climbed to the top of 555 California to benefit the American Lung Association.

Here are some stats.
The youngest climber was 6 years old. She climbed the building in 20 minutes, 46 seconds.
The oldest climber was 83 years old. He did it in 18 minutes, 58 seconds.
The fasted climber did it in 7 minutes 49 seconds. The guy who came in second was just 2/10s of a second slower. Bummer for him, but still a great feat.

My team - Team Aloha - raised $230! Woo Hoo!

I was concerned about making it to the top. I had been battling a bad cold for the 2 1/2 weeks before that. It had unfortunately turned into pneumonia. My doctor told me not to do the climb. I had to, though. People contributed to the cause in honor of me climbing. I had to at least try. Besides, I wasn't too keen on my daughter climb by herself. I knew we'd get separated during the climb, but I didn't want her to stand in line by herself.

While we were in the queue to start our climb we compared notes as to what we were rockin' on our mp3 players. The Girl chose to climb to the tunes of Brooke White, of American Idol fame. I walked up the stairs with my mp3 player on shuffle, enjoying the music of The White Stripes, Robert Cazimero and Queen with a little bit of Horace Silver and the soundtrack for Brazil thrown in.

I'm so proud of Hyla.

We hit the first step at the same time. She got one step ahead, turned around, smiled and said "see ya". That's the last I saw of her until I reached the top. Out of 967 climbers, Hyla came in 668th place. Her time was 19m25sec. Of the 22 people in the 0-18 age group, she placed 15th.

I, on the other had, did not do as well as I did last year.
In my defense, however, I had pneumonia the week before and wasn't at my best. My goal was to beat last year's time of 27 minutes, 10 seconds, but, alas, it was not to be. I came in 945th place with a time of 37m, 27sec. In my age group, I came in 165th out of 172. I'll get 'em next year.

Hubby and The Boy met us up at the top in what used to be The Carnelian Room. They arrived shortly after The Girl made it to the top. When I was at floor 26 I texted the Hubbs to tell him I was halfway there. He texted back telling me he found The Girl at the table full of carbs enjoying a snack. I figure she made it to the top when I was at about the 20th floor. When I got to the top and found the table full of carbs, The Girl ran up to me and gave me the biggest and bestest hug ever. She had a great smile on her face. We were both sweaty and bright red. It was definately a moment to remember.
 
The Girl wasn't sore at all. Of course she wasn't. She's 11. She's fit. She can run for an entire basketball game and not get tired. I knew she'd fare well. I did well, too. My legs were a little restless on Saturday night, but I wasn't sore, and I didn't get sore the next day.
 
That afternoon we drove to Oakland for a BBQ at my friend P's house. I felt a little woozy so I didn't drink any alcohol, and I felt better after having some protein - bbq pork ribs, some water and some soda.
 
I fell asleep right after we put The Boy to bed that night and slept the sleep of the just.
 
It was a pretty good day. I'm glad I got to share this experience with my daughter. I can't wait to do it next year. I hope we can grow our team from 2 people to 100, or maybe at least 10.
 
So a Big Mahalo Nui Loa to all of our donors and all who showed us support. We hope we can count on you next year, or better yet, we hope you can join Team Aloha!

Emperor Norton's Grave.

Today Hubby, The Kiddies and I stopped at the Woodlawn Memoral Park on our way to Costco. We drove around the cemetary looking for Lot H, then to find the final resting place of Emperor Joshua A. Norton I.

We all took pictures next to the headstone.

Little Mister napped during his and hubby's turn.

I smiled and hugged the tombstone

 

and, just like the 'tween she is, she read and pretended she didn't know us.

It was a nice afternoon.

How You Found Me: because I'm a copy-cat

If you've learned anything from me so far, you've learned that I'm a copy cat. I steal ideas and make them my own. I don't really think it's stealing, though because I do tell you from whom I stole the idea and give you a link to the idea I've stolen. In my head it can't be called stealing, but it can be grounds for calling me a big fat copy-cat. I can deal with that. I copied the MalteseKat with her 101 things in 1001 days (except I'm doing 50.5 things in 500 days and calling it The List). I copied a story from BeerGirl's story she put on Facebook. I also followed various crochet patterns of monsters.

Hubby has a blog on Wordpress. I tried to use Wordpress but I couldn't figure it out. Funny, Hubby said wordpress was way easier to manipulate than Blogger. I say the reverse. I guess great minds don't always think alike. They just think similarly.

He used to have this little feature on his blog about how people got to his site. I always thought it was interesting.

I recently found a tool to do the very same thing.

Here are some of the things that brought you to me ----

10. 2^32 seconds in years

9. 2^32 seconds in days

8. lady sonja blag gum

7. lil miss hula tshirt

6. bazooka zooka bubblegum

5. dancing pregnant lady

4. onaona i ka hala

3. gem donuts

2. 32 seconds to minutes

and finally, the number 1 search term used when stumbling upon my blog

1. AGENT DALE COOPER

If I weren't on the South Beach Diet right now I'd go have a piece of Cherry Pie.

Cross number 38 off The List

On Sunday (8/30) the fam and I walked the Barbary Coast Trail. Seeing pictures and video of myself dance on Saturday night, although beautiful, seemed to indicate that I am a little "Rafaelite". Little Miss says I am huggable like a Fairy Godmother. God bless Little Miss. I figured a day of being active (followed by many more days of being active) was the thing to do. We had perfect weather. It was a little chilly if you were standing still but quite nice, and even a little warm while we were walking. We drove down to the garage on Mission St. And started our journey in front of the Old Mint. I thought it would be fun to take pictures of all of the street markers point the way. Hubby humored me and took pictures of the first 5 or so. We zig zagged though the downtown streets of San Francisco. At one point we realized we were just going on a nice walk rather than learning about bits of history. We had no guide, no guidebook. So that's what it was, walking a premarked trail. I did see some parts of SF I'd never seen before. I have walked down Grant Avenue through Chinatown, but never any streets parallel to Grant. I took the time to look at the really amazing designs, carvings , mouldings and inscriptions on many of the buildings. About the time we got to the Kearny and Bay intersection we were hungry and tired. We decided to call it quits, walked to Fog City Diner for some Truffle Fries and Asiago Cheese and then took the #10 to Market and walked back to the car. On the way home the Kiddies fell asleep in the car.
When we got home we hung out a little bit, then made dinner. After dinner, and after the Kiddies were in bed we watched "The Cheese Nun" on netflix; a documentary about Sister Noella. Nice Day.

Yup, still hate 'em.

Last night I accomplished #22 of my list (22. Try dolmas again. I hate them but I recognize that people's taste buds change. Maybe mine will and I'll like dolmas one day. I would really like to like them.)

So freaking gross. I almost couldn't go through with it.

We went to Whole Foods yesterday to pick up some snacks for our upcoming vacation. It was getting a bit late so we decided to get dinner from the deli and bring it home (or as Little Miss did, eat it in the car). I ordered 2 dolmas from the deli case thinking last night should be the night I try dolmas again.

Oh my gosh, you guys. It was so disgusting. I picked one up, was a little grossed out by its sheen but nothing I couldn't deal with. What I couldn't deal with is the horrible smell. I put it down right away. I couldn't take a bite. Little Miss picked one up, took a bite and although wasn't grossed out like I was, didn't really like it. I thought 'if Little Miss can do it, so can I', so I did. I picked it up, took a bite, chewed and swallowed.

Worst 20 seconds of my life, followed by the next worst 20 seconds of my life when I realized I had nothing to wash it down with.

Now I know, without question, that I truly hate dolmas. I thought maybe it was just the dolma producer, maybe it was a lingering taste I had in my mouth that made the dolma not taste good, maybe my taste buds hadn't reached maturity. Nope. None of that. I am a dolma hater.

2 down

This weekend I accomplished two more things on my list. I did #43 Take Little Miss to a Festa and #49 Ride the Giant Dipper with Little Miss.



This weekend Hubby and I took the Kiddies to Santa Cruz to enjoy the Festival of the Holy Spirit. Oh my gosh we had fun. We got to Santa Cruz about 9:30am on Sunday, found a nice comfy place to sit and waited for the parade to start. Little Mister, of course, was not interested in sitting so the Hubbs and I took turns walking him up and down the street. Little Miss was a little restless as well, but as soon as the parade started she got into it.Tons of girls around her age dressed in really pretty white dresses with trains longer then they were tall. I gotta say, the trains on their capes (I guess you would call them capes) were beautiful.


After the parade we drove to Church then off to the Portuguese Hall, met up with Hubby's aunt and a few of his cousins. I gotta say, I really like his aunt and cousins. Not only are they very nice people, they just look like good people. They seem to exude good, always welcoming, always with open arms. I really like the Santa Cruz wing of Hubby's family. Now all I have to do is get all the names straight of all of Hubby's cousin's kids.



The moment I stepped out of the car I smelled the smelly smell of sopas. MMMM. One of the yummiest things ever. The link above to the Festival of the Holy Spirit has a recipe at the bottom. I'm sure that many different regions of Portugal, The Azores, Santa Cruz, Merced, etc. have versions that are specific to their area, family or terroir, but you'll get the basic idea.



We ate and ate and ate and ate and ate. About a year ago Little Miss gave up beef, except for Festas and St. Patrick's Day dinner. She ate beef yesterday. I was worried she'd get a tummy ache but she didn't, at least she didn't act like she felt yucky. She did feel a little guilty, but she got over it once she smelled the yummy food. Little Mister, it being his first Festa, pleased all on lookers old and young. He must have eaten his body weight in Sopas. Good boy. So glad I've raised two eaters.



We left before the dancing started. I think it would have been fun to stay for a while but we had a 2 hr. drive ahead of us and we needed to make one more stop . . . Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We totally lucked out on parking. 2 hr metered parking right across the street. Sweet.

I bought tix for Little Miss and me to ride the Giant Dipper. Yay, #49 is done. I don't think I like Roller Coasters. I think I don't mind them, but I don't think I really enjoy them, except Space Mountain. I like that one. Hubby and Little Mister waited for us at the exit. After riding the Giant Dipper we went home.



We were tired, sweaty, dirty, a little cranky, but mostly happy and satisfied. We had a big day. We drove to Santa Cruz, we watched a Parade. We went to Church, we saw family we hardly ever see, we ate a whole cow, we rode a roller coaster, we had some cotton candy. It was a full day.

The List update

Please tell me I'm not a failure and I didn't wimp out, get soft or let my vanity get the better of me. I dyed my hair. #46 of my list says that I will let my hair grow long enough to see my natural color. A good spin doctor would say I accomplished that goal half way. I was/am clearly able to see that the bulk of my hair is a mousy kind of gray. I don't think it would quite look like Heloise if I let my hair grow all the way, but it's still a respectable gray.
I just couldn't stand it. I was faced with the choice of cutting my hair, the dyed parts off or dying my hair, which of course would make me throw #7 right out of the window.
Oh gosh.
I'll let you know how it turns out.

The List Update.

OK let's just get right down to it. I've stopped doing one thing on my list two weeks early - eating at least one raw meal a day for 1 month. Lunch got too boring, plus I couldn't figure out what the point was. I figure I eat enough raw food anyways. Why do I need to put it all in one meal. I usually have a banana on the way to work and then between getting to work and lunchtime I snack on whatever fruit I've thrown in my bag. At lunch I may have a sandwich, but I usually hit the salad bar for a little salad. There are always veggies at dinner. So, I gave up that part of my list. Didn't really see a point to it. Besides, I have enough gas.

THE LIST update

I've started my list. It's been easier thought it would be but that may be because I'm doing the easy stuff on the list.

An old boss sent me to a Franklin Covey organization class once. The class was uper creepy and the guy that taught it was a total tool but he repeated a particular phrase at least 30 times that got my attention. It takes 30 days to create a habit. I figure if I tackle the easy stuff for 30 days, it will become habit to continue with my list.

Here's what I started last week and the progress I'm having with it.

#14 - updade my progress on my blog at least once a week
easy enough

#3 - At least one meal a day will comprise only raw food for one month during the week, not on weekends - This one has been pretty easy as there are a few salad bars to choose from in my office's neighborhood. I think I may get sick, however, of salad bar and may have to get crafty in finding raw food for breakfast so I can have a sandwich for lunch once in a while.

#7 - Not cut my hair until at least 10/25/09
#46 - let my hair grow out long enough so I can see what my natural color is
These two items go hand in hand. By not cutting my hair I will get to see my natural color.

#8 - Practice hula for at least 1/2 hour every day until 10/23/09.
I have to admit I've been a little cheat-face on this one. I've been banking my practice. For example my normal hula class is on Wednesdays and is 1.5 hrs long. That takes care of my practice for one day, plus puts an hour of practice in my bank in case I don't feel like practicing that day. I'll have to stop that.

#29 - Compliment someone every day.
I've tried to do this one. I think I've been doing it. Am I cheating by telling my son he's a smart boy when he does a new trick? or telling my daughter how pretty she is? Those two things are givens and I do them anyways.

#44 - put $1 in the change jar every time I pick my hangnails and they bleed
$4

#10 - finish the blanket I'm making for my mom.
I'm working on this one. I don't know why this is taking me so long

#11 - crochet a blanket for Darin and Rose's baby.
I bought the yarn for this one but haven't found a pattern yet I like.

#9 - put my change in a jar until I finish this project.
OK, I haven't started this one, but I haven't been going nuts spending my quarters and dimes.

This week I'm going to start
#4 - I will climb the Coit Tower stairs every day for 3 weeks, excluding weekends
and
#5 I will walk from the office to the Muni instead of taking the shuttle for one month.
My company has been doing some reorganization. If I want to do #4,5, I'm going to have to do these now in case I get reorganized as well.

OK, that's it for now.