High Fiber Oatmeal

I try to eat oatmeal every morning at work. For some reason, when I went to Safeway, I accidentally grabbed the "high fiber" oatmeal rather than the regular oatmeal. It was in the same box and I didn't read very carefully.

I need to go get the regular oatmeal because the high fiber one makes my stomach unhappy a few hours after I eat it. My stomach just grumbles and grumbles. That's probably TMI (too much information). It tastes good, but having a grumbling stomach is not much fun.

BOREDOM

The definition of boredom is:

The state of being weary and restless through lack of interest.

I'm not sure this exactly describes my state, but I have been pretty restless because it is a very slow period at work. All of my projects are either finished or waiting for others. And those people are on vacation at the moment...

I know I should appreciate the downtime, but I hate being so bored. I finish my work after an hour or so at work. And then, I have to find things to do until it's an acceptable time to leave work. I may "work from home" tomorrow. At least then, I can watch TV while I'm bored.

THIS JOB IS MAKING ME FAT!!!

I decided that my job is making me fat. Why you ask? Let me explain.

The past few weeks have been pretty boring at work. In fact, I have a hard time going to work because it is hard to look forward to being bored all day. So, what do I do all day? I snack. Not because I'm hungry. But because I'm bored.

So far this morning, I've had a packet of oatmeal, some grapes, and a handful of pistachios. I know it's all healthy foods, but I should have stopped after the oatmeal since I wasn't hungry anymore.

Ok, no more food until lunch time. That's only 2 hours away. I should be able to make it...

Vegas

I went to Veags for 24 hours to visit with my family during their
vacation. Grandpa loved the penny slots. Good thing he didn't see this
slot machine!

While I came back with a bit more $$ than I left with, it was not
nearly as much as it could have been.

One day, I will probably learn to quit while I'm ahead!

Travis

Last night, I learned that one of our team in training honorees and
friend passed away after his long battle with leukemia. He suffered
major organ damage during his second bone marrow transplant in his
battle.

Travis was a vibrant spirit on our teams. Always smiling and so
positive. He will be missed.

Travis was 32 years old and leaves behind a wife and baby daughter.

Red Light, Green Light

Yesterday, I rode my bike to work. On the way home, I manged to hit almost every light. And there are a lot of lights as I ride my bike to get home.

The first few lights weren't a big deal, but then it started getting annoying. The light would turn red just as I was getting to it and I'd have to wait out the entire light cycle. Not a big deal for the little streets, but for the big intersections, it was a long wait.

So, as I got more and more annoyed at each light, I decided that if it was close, I would try to make the yellow lights. I made it through 2 small intersections just as the light was turning yellow, but then got stopped at a few other intersections. By this time, I was not happy. In fact, I was really mad. At Lawrence Expressway (the longest light cycle), when I just missed the light, I stopped and threw my water bottle on the ground. Yes, I was THAT mad.

Then I turned around and saw that there was a police car behind me. Oops. I didn't get a ticket, but the officer looked at me funny. I smiled and picked up my water bottle.

I didn't run any more lights on the way home.

VEGAS!

This week, my parents and my grandpa will be headed to Vegas again. My grandpa had so much fun on the last trip, that they decided to go again. So, I have decided to use some of my frequent flyer miles to go to Las Vegas with them. I'm headed out EARLY Friday morning (6 AM Flight!) and back on Saturday morning.

Shall we take bets now on if I'll sleep in Vegas? or just gamble?

Great Meatball Sauce Recipe

I bought a package of frozen meatballs from Costco (I think they were the Kirkland Signature brand) for the party this weekend. I wanted a good meatball sauce recipe and searched on the internet. What I saw were recipes telling me to mix chili sauce with grape jelly.

Yes, grape jelly.

I was a skeptic. How could grape jelly taste good mixed with chili sauce? They had to be kidding, right? But recipe after recipe said the same thing. Mix equal parts of grape jelly (not jam, jelly) with chili sauce (found near the BBQ sauce at the grocery store), simmer and mix until combined, then throw in the meatballs. I put all of that into a crock pot and crossed my fingers that this strange recipe would be good.

It turned out to be very good. The meatballs were a hit and I am no longer a skeptic about the grape jelly meatball sauce.

Birthday Weekend

This is the end of my birthday weekend. I had a great time and am exhausted.

On Saturday (my bday), we had a Team in Training run. I rode my bike to the run, so I only ran a few miles.

Later in the day, I had a combo housewarming/birthday celebration at my new house. It was a blast. Lots of people, laughs and probably a little too much alcohol... And I figured out that Drunk Amy is obsessive-compulsive too, since I couldn't go to sleep until after I cleaned up the house.

Sunday, I slept in and ran some errands. Then I went for a massage at a spa at Stanford where I got manhandled by a big Russian guy... It wasn't the relaxing kind of massage, but the knots in my back are gone or are at least hiding out of fear.

Now it is time for another cupcake, then it is time for bed.

Not affected

I wasn't affected in today's lay-offs. Good thing because that would have sucked as a birthday present!

RIF

Today, my company is having a reduction in force (a.k.a. lay-offs). I
don't know who is or is not "affected", but I'm doing my best to
hide... If they can't find me, they can't lay me off.

I know this is all a part of business these days, but it is still
unsettling. I hope I don't get laid off, but i'm sure I'll be ok
either way.

Alcohol Abuse

Is this picture after a really bad day at the office? Or maybe a really good night at home?


Neither actually. This is a picture of wine that was in my storage unit while I was "homeless" earlier this year. There was a chance the wine would be bad because it was very hot while in storage.

I only had the heart to open these 6 bottles of wine. They were all bad. There are more bottles to check, but I assume the rest are bad too.

Now, that's serious alcohol abuse.

Sneaking Out

Today is a very quiet day here at work. So quiet that I'm going to sneak out and go to the movies this afternoon. I normally am swamped, so this quiet time is unusual for me. I've spent the past 3 hours surfing the internet because I'm bored...

Still Home

This past weekend was the 3rd weekend in a row that I have been in the US. While this doesn't sound amazing, it is the first time this year that this has happened.

What is even more amazing is that I will be here for at least two more weekends! It feels nice to settle into a routine again with life. I never realize how disruptive travel is until I get to be home for a few weeks.

Workout

Today I did my first "real" workout in a long time. I rode my bike to
Stanford, where we had our first Team in Training run of the season.
I'm coaching again this season.

Anyhow, I went out for a short run with the team and afterwards, I
rode my bike home.

It was only ~34 miles on the bike and maybe 3-4 miles running, but it
was enough to wipe me out. But it feels great to be working out again!

8-8-08

The number 8 in Chinese culture is considered lucky and prosperous. China took this to the extreme and started the Olympics on 08-08-08 at exactly 08:08:08 PM.

There are also hoards of couples getting married on this day at 08:08:08 PM. In fact, most of the wedding reception locations were booked years ago for this date and time... at least in Asia.

I was thinking about what I could do to make 8-8-08 memorable and wasn't able to come up with anything. How boring of me.

At least it is the beginning of the weekend!

Passport

My passport was returned in record time! They added more Visa pages as
requested.

Of course now my passport is too thick to close... But I can leave the
country again!

Determination

This past Saturday, friends raced a local Ironman distance triathlon in 95-degree heat and gusty winds. They trained for 9+ months and toughed it out in the rough conditions.

I have watched them go from "normal" to "Ironman". While it sounds dramatic, training for this type of event really does change who you are because you have to constantly push your body and mind to the edge of failure. I was happy to see each of them out on the course and can't wait to hear the race stories.

Below is a picture of Stef finishing her race. This was her 4th attempt at an Ironman-distance triathlon. While most of us would have given up long ago, Stef would not. After 7 years of trying and over 18 hours on the course that day, Stef crossed the finish line and became and Ironman.

Congrats!

Gas

I filled up my gas tank... It was "only" $4.27 per gallon (down from
$4.59 a few weeks ago). I felt like I was getting a great deal even
though it still cost over $70 to fill up... I think it is time for a
car with a smaller tank!

Bier