"What's your name again?"

It's good to be loved, even if the cutie pa-tootie can't remember my name!

Short but adorable!

Friday night my friend Amy, and her husband Jeff, had Trevor and I over for dinner. It was their very unnecessary but super nice way to thank Trevor for his help with pictures from Caleb's Crew. I was not only pumped about a night of yummy dinner, wine and Wii with the Gold's, but I knew I would also get to hang out with my favorite 4.5 year old, Caleb!

Caleb did not disappoint! Here are a few 'Caleb-isms' from the night that made it that much more enjoyable!

**Upon entering the Gold house Trevor and I said hi to Amy and Caleb yells from the other room, "Hey guys, I'm in here!"

**While Jeff and Trevor discussed spiral dynamics (whatever that may be?!?!) and Amy cut strawberries, I sat down to hang with Caleb. Caleb is a very 'touchy' little guy and typically goes right for my hair...not this time. His hand went straight to my cleavage, which I nonchalantly moved away. His response was, "you have boobs"...what could I say besides, "yes I do". Here is how the conversation went:
C: "you have boobs?"
A: "yes I do."
C: "You have boobs. You're a girl?"
A: "yes, I'm a girl"
C: "you're a girl and you have boobs. Boys don't have boobs. What do boys have?"
A: "Uhm"
C: "I don't have boobs. What do I have?" (mind you this is all said by him with a mischievous grin!)
A: "Hey, look...there's the Cat in the Hat book, let's read that!"
oh my...

**During the story Caleb managed to find the tag inside my dress, and get is feet and legs all tangled up in my dress...man...girls are going to have watch out when he gets older!! :-)

**After a bit of reading and some Mario playing Caleb dives into my lap and says, "I love you." I respond with an "Aaawww, Thank you", and his response was..."What's your name again?" I couldn't help cracking up...but I guess it's better to be loved and unknown than never loved at all right??

**After dinner we all sat down to play some Wii together. Caleb and Trevor faced off in a match of sword fighting. (Caleb is actually pretty darn good at this game...and Trevor had never played before!) I think it was during round 3, Caleb says, "You're...........(good 3 second pause).....good??" It started off as a statement and then turned to a total surprised question at the end...we were all cracking up...Caleb did end up winning that round!

Overall it was a very enjoyable evening! After Caleb went to bed Amy, Jeff and Trevor all whooped my butt in Wii Mario Kart...man I suck at Mario Kart!!! Then we had to head out b/c I had the Race for Autism the next morning and had to meet the group at Starbucks at 6:45 am...WHAT?!?! On a Saturday?!!?! UGH!!!

Owls, Mud and Sneezes....

This is going to be a bit random...but here's what I've been up to lately!

Have you seen Molly the Barn Owl?? If not...I highly recommend checking her out here. She is a wild barn own that has taken residence in an owl box in San Marcos, Ca (right here in North County San Diego). She laid a clutch of 6 eggs in the box, so far 5 seem viable. As of today 1 egg has hatched and we now have baby owlet Max! It looks like another egg is starting and had a 'pipping hole', which surely means another owlet soon! If you have kids this is great to watch! I'm totally obsessed. The most amazing part is that these are wild owls...not in captivity! When watching you get to see McGee (the daddy) 'bond' and bring Molly food.

I did the San Diego Mud Run in La Mesa yesterday! So fun! It was hard...and I have a few scrapes from it but I highly recommend doing one! I'm not fast...lovely knee...but it was really really fun to get muddy. I recommend doing it for fun and not for 'the win'. During the run we had to run through big mud pits, go up and down muddy hills, crawl through pipe tunnels that are in mud, do hurdles about 3-4 feet tall, and climb a wall...all while sporadically being sprayed by a fire hose! We lucked out and it was pretty warm...kind of humid actually, but way better than if it had been cold. We had 2 teams of 4, although 2 members of our 2nd team got injured and had to forfeit the race. Bummer. I think overall though we all had a great time! I may be getting mud out of my nails and ears for a few more weeks...but well worth it!


Coming out of a mud pit...trying not to fall!!



Our team at the finish line...we all had to finish together.



Team "Doin it Dirty"...pretty darn dirty!


My shoes after we were done...note the 'tumbleweed' hanging off! The cool thing was that rather than throw the shoes away we donated them to be cleaned and then sent to Haiti.

The only unfortunate part of the entire weekend was that last week I felt like I might be coming down with a little cold...more of just a sniffle though! I really wanted to the the Chelsea King run on Saturday but opted to stay in bed and just get sleep instead. I was really starting to feel run down and wanted to be my best on Sunday (the day of the Mud Run). I literally slept almost all day Saturday and was really starting to worry about how I would feel Sunday. I got up Sunday morning and popped some DayQuil. I took extra with me b/c lame DayQuil only lasts 4 hours...what?!?! So even though I took it when I woke up I would need another dose before the race...jeesh! Unfortunately I left the extra DayQuil in my bag that I checked at the race...oops! I lucked out and even though I felt the meds wearing off I was fine during the race. I was fine after the race while we ate at an Irish Pub...until then end. Then...I totally started coughing...and it wasn't a throat-ey cough...but a deep chest cough. Great! I continued to feel progressively worse, even though by then I had taken my extra DQ. I barely got sleep last night with how many times I needed to blow my nose...seriously! I ended up staying home from work today and oh my goodness...I didn't know it was possible to sneeze this many times! My back is totally sore already just from sneezing. Ugh. Oh well...I have to go to work tomorrow at least for an IEP I have...and then I'll take it from there. All I can say is this is a doozy of a cold!

White vs Tan

Okay...so I know in this age of the big 'C' everyone is anti sun...but really...I can't stand being white! I don't know what it is...but I love being tan! Maybe it's because I have such extremes of white and tan. I'm a mix of Italian, English, mutt, and Cherokee Indian...I'm primarily Italian but still only 25%. When I'm white...I'm English white! Seriously...the palest whitey white ever! But...when I'm in the sun, during summer, I get dark! And not like a little dark...but I can get really dark! I love it and the fact that I have summers off to really just hang in the sun. During summer I tan to a color which is much more like an Italian and or even the Cherokee. My last boyfriend, that I started dating around April after my sisters wedding-so had been tanning some, actually questioned me as fall approached, "What color are you in winter?", he was shocked to see just how white I got! So, maybe it's the dramatic change of colors I have that makes me dream of the color I am during summer...and draws me to tanning as spring approaches. Either way...I love tanning. Just had to say it! (I do, with my ripe old age, now wear daily sunscreen on my face--gotta do whatever I can to keep the wrinkles away) I'm currently hitting the tanning booth in preparation of going to Vegas to sit at the pool in a few weeks. I will continue with working on my base until my 'buy 2 months get 1 free' package ends...in June! Perfect timing for summer! So...I may smell like a tanning booth, but damn, I really like having at least some color!!!

Zoom-Zoom

Big news this week is simply that I bought a new car. Not used...but NEW! I've never had a new car before and it's such a fun thing to do! But...before I digress I should explain why I suddenly did this!

So, if you know me you know I'm not much of a 'car' person, or at least I didn't use to be. Growing up in Salinas I think it is bred into you to like 'big trucks' and SUV's. My first vehicle was a car, but seriously...first cars don't count! Next I had a GMC Jimmy. A nice small SUV. I loved that thing! When that starting having more issues than I wanted to deal with I started looking at cars. I knew I couldn't afford to get another SUV, because the ones I liked were big!

So...I started paying attention to cars...ugh...a car?!?! I realized I really liked the Mazda RX-8. I didn't know what it was for the longest time and would simply tell my boyfriend at the time, "I like that car, what is it?" After the 4th or 5th time of him telling me, "the RX-8", I figured...okay, that's a car I would drive! I studied up on the car and one time when I went to look at it, I ended up knowing more about the dang car than the dealer. I finally went with my mom one day to actually test drive it and never did. We ended up at the Seaside Auto-Mall and talked to the used BMW dealer and he told us about this great car that had just come in. Lo and behold the Miata. Mind you I had NEVER really liked the Miata. But I did love the car. It was so shiny...and cute! It had super low miles, all sorts of upgrades, and a hard top. So...I ended up with a Miata. I've loved having a spiffy little convertable, but as I've 'grown' up, I think I value my life a little more than having a cute death trap car!



While having the Miata I learned these important things:
**A Miata windshield is at the exact same level as where the mud flap from semi's spray--so when you are driving in storm and go past a semi, be prepared for a total blackout on the windshield!
**Random screws may fly out of the car, typically just from the visor, but occasionally from the 'top of the car' attachment...totally safe I'm sure!?!? Nevermind the fact that it hurts when you are driving a screw hits you!
**If is it raining or you drive a Miata through a car wash, you will get rained on or 'washed' while sitting inside of the car. Always a pleasant experience...pouring rain outside...raining inside...nice!
**If you drive a Miata (or at least my former Miata) through a car wash, or it rains, water gets in the passenger side door, which would be fine except that the speaker gets wet! So...until it drys out listening to music sucks! And yes, I had a stereo speaker guy take the whole door apart and replaced the window seal...no one could figure it out
**When the weather gets colder (and yes, I mean San Diego cold...so, not really THAT cold), the Miata had a sticky door locks...meaning that if I was in the car and wanted out the door would stick halfway between locked and unlocked (safe!) and I'd have to relock and unlock the door to get out. If I was outside of the car and wanted to get in again the door would stick halfway and it needed a butt bump and a 'redo'.
**After going through a car wash or when raining, the brakes seem to get wet in a Miata and basically don't work for a few minutes! so safe!
**And can't forget that when it is raining and wet out, the Miata is a very light car that is very 'front' heavy, so basically hydroplanes a lot, fishtails even more, and at times will even spin out. Yes, I have done a total 360 degree spin, I didn't do anything wrong and had even been at a stop light so it wasn't like I was taking the corner too fast. The car simply just does that. Safe!
**Last but not least would simply be the fact that a Miata is small, and people tend to not see it therefor will change lanes right into you. So fun!

**Oh...and one more thing, with a Miata, you really have to carefully plan for any shopping trip...clothes or grocery. And Costco is pretty much out of the question.

Now, I know after all that it may sound like I didn't like my Miata, but seriously I did. It was a great car for me. I loved being able to throw the top down and be near the ocean. I didn't need a 'lot' of car and I loved it. The problem is that living in So.Cal I end up being terrified when I drive, especially in the rain. I think I've had a lot of 'close calls' while driving and last Saturday was the last time I really wanted to take that chance.

So, Saturday I was on my way to the Gold house for the Caleb's Crew kickoff, and yes it was raining. Earlier in the day (or maybe it was the night before) I fish tailed a few times driving home from the grocery store...yes a few times on the 1.5 mile drive. My wheels would just spin when I would have to start moving from a stop light or sign. I wasn't trying to go fast either, attempting a nice slow start in an attempt to no spin out. Okay...so back to Saturday. I absolutely hate Hwy 78 that heads out to Vista and have said before that if I'm going to die in a car accident it will be on the 78. So, of course I have to take the lovely 78, in the rain, to get to the Gold household. I'm cruising along, at a very safe speed to prevent any slipping and sliding, when all of a sudden a car decided to come directly across 2 lanes of traffic directly to the spot that my car was occupying! Luckily I saw it coming, and am still unsure if he had lost control or if he just never saw me, but I had to then quickly get out of his way, but swerving into another lane. I seriously think I had pure luck on my side. There weren't any cars in my way as I swerved to avoid being hit on the full driver side of my car at at least 65 mph. There also happened to an exit at that point, which is where the lane for me to swerve into even came from and I was able to take the exit. If the exit hadn't been there I would have been run off the hwy into whatever else may have been on the side of the road! I was also lucky that my car chose to not lose control as I did all of this...but...it was kind of the last straw! I felt that I'd had too many close calls and that if I continued to take the chances I was going to run out of luck very soon!

Now...I've liked the Mazda 3 for about 1-2 years. I've taken up renting cars when I drive up to Salinas, and have rented the Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 multiple times. I purposely tried to always get the 3 so it could be like an extended test drive. I've been watching the Mazda USA site for about a year and it just never seemed to be 'the right time' to buy a new car. I've looked for 'pre-owned' but at this point in my life if I knew that if I was getting a new car I needed certain extras: GPS and blue-tooth!! The pre-owned cars just didn't have those in them. I think it's mainly because Mazda only has those with particular packages that you have to pay extra for, so the cars with them just weren't out there.





I'm now officially the owner of a 2010 Mazda 3! It has a back seat! It has a usable trunk! Heated seats! GPS! Blue-tooth! And...so many other fun buttons and gadgets! I already feel safer!! (As I should seeing I think I have airbags surrounding me!)


So...Zoom-Zoom