Monday, June 25, 2007

Thirteen

Thirteen years ago today, Todd and I got married. It's hard to believe it's been that long, but at the same time it's gone by so fast! We celebrated with dinner in La Jolla at George's rooftop overlooking the ocean. The view was incredible and the food was equally good. I had skirt steak with garlic spinach & onion rings. Todd had herb-encrusted halibut. We both had dessert, yummy! Afterwards we took a sunset stroll past Ellen Browning Scripps Park to the Children's Pool, where we watched seals swim around and lounge on the sand. It was a nice way to celebrate Lucky #13.
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Wednesday, June 20, 2007

This N That

I've been quiet lately if anyone's noticed. Besides work, I've just given myself permission to take the pressure off myself to not HAVE to do stuff. I ran at Miramar Lake for the first time in 3 weeks yesterday. It felt good, because I wanted to run, not because I HAD to run. On the way there, we drove by the fire at Penasquitos Canyon Reserve. There were lots of news vans there and firetrucks. We actually saw the fire and it was creeping up towards some houses at the top of the canyon. When we arrived at Miramar Lake, we noticed lots of people there watching the reservoir. Turns out the firefighting helicopters were getting their water from Miramar Lake. It was fascinating to watch. The helicopters hovered above the water while a big tube was inserted into the reservoir to suck up the water. When they have enough water, they take off. It was like watching a big mosquito land on water. Fortunately, the fire was contained in about an hour, and no houses and people were hurt.

The last few days I have been working hard to finish all my homework for my Make Your Photos Pop class. I fell behind during those two weeks when I was inundated with work and had to work extra hours to cover for a vacationing coworker. I finished all the homework for all 6 lessons, and I received my certificate of completion. As an example here, I learned to sharpen photos to get more details to come out. The photo is of Hanauma Bay on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. We were there last December.

Before:


After:
Here the reef looks much more defined. Anyways, here's a link to my online gallery from my class assignments, if you're interested in all the things I've learned and done in the class.

I've also just been laying low because three weeks ago I had a panic attack. It happened out of the blue. I had just finished exercising and I suddenly felt really dizzy/faint. My heart was racing, I had cold chills, and I felt very weak, nauseous, and my arms and legs felt tingly. I was very alarmed because I thought I was having a heart attack. I laid down and was better in 10 minutes, but had no idea what happened to me. For a few days after that I was anxious about my health, not knowing what was wrong, and when it would happen again. A few days later I was driving to work, when it occurred to me that it could happen while I was driving. As I drove I got more and more nervous, and finally I started to feel dizzy, my heart was racing, and I couldn't catch my breath. I turned around and went home. That afternoon Todd took me to urgent care and they did an EKG and it was normal. I had done some research on my symptoms and all my symptoms matched panic attacks. All the literature I read said this just happens out of the blue sometimes, when someone has been through a lot of emotional stress, like losing a loved one. It made sense to me, but I didn't know why the body would have a mind of its own like this. I felt anxious all the time because I didn't know when the next panic attack would come. A week after urgent care, I went to see my regular doctor and described my symptoms and what's been happening with me. He agreed that I had panic attacks, and was suffering from anxiety from them. I got some medication. I've been a lot better since then. I feel normal now, as opposed to two weeks ago. I have driven by myself and it went fine. I'm not anxious anymore.

So that's been the story. I'm off all caffeine now, for the time being. Caffeine can trigger panic attacks. During this time, I've had some fun too. We took my dad to a Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium for Father's Day. Todd, Sally, and I went to the Taste of Gaslamp and ate some good stuff. I'll be writing and showing some pics soon.
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Wednesday, June 13, 2007

John Mayer @ Coors

The day finally came! Last night Todd and I went to the John Mayer concert at Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista . This time, we had a GREAT time, which is unlike the last time we went to a John Mayer concert, which I wrote about here. I didn't bring my camera, so the photos are courtesy of the internet.Our seats were great! We were the first row in the upper section, so there was plenty of leg room. Plus, that section is higher up than the previous section, so we had full view of the stage. Getting into the parking lot took a while as there were huge lines of cars. Coming out, surprisingly, was very easy. We got home in 35 minutes. We had a great time. Only thing is, I wish he would have played more songs. It seemed so short, considering that he's got several albums out now.
Here's the set list from last night:
  • Belief
  • No Such Thing
  • Good Love Is On The Way
  • I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
  • Clarity
  • Gravity
  • Why Georgia
  • Vultures
  • Dreaming With a Broken Heart
  • I Don't Need No Doctor
  • Bigger Than My Body
  • 83 - acoustic (encore)
  • Daughters - acoustic (encore)
  • Waiting for the World to Change (encore)
John got a new haircut. The last time I saw him he had long curly hair. Internet concert photos from May had him sporting the long hair still. So this shorter cut must be new.
I wish we could have sat closer up so that I could see better, but everytime we sit closer at a concert, it's too loud for me. Guess I'm getting old!
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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Music for today

I was watching VH1 Top 20 Countdown on Saturday, when I realized I wasn't in tune with new music. But I came away with two songs/videos I really liked. Dashboard Confessional's "Stolen". Filmed at the Hotel Del Coronado here in Coronado. What's with the snow? It never snows here! The grown-up woman is Olivia Wilde, who was on season 2 of The OC. Next is Bon Jovi's new song "(You Want To) Make a Memory". This seemed kind of like the movie "The Sixth Sense". See if you agree.
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Thursday, June 7, 2007

Cardiff-by-the-Sea

I've been so busy the last few days with work. We had our monthly financial/operational review this morning, so now I finally get to breathe. Last Sunday we went for a walk at Cardiff State Beach. It was a little bit overcast, but it was still picturesque and scenic. Afterwards we had pizza at Bonjiourno, a pizza place in Del Mar close to the fair grounds. The pizza was delicious! Thin crispy crust. I had spinach & feta, and pesto. (They sell by the slice.) Todd had pepperoni and jalapeno peppers, and sausage and pineapple. It was all good, all good!
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Sunday, June 3, 2007

For the love of running

I've made some decisions about running for now. On Friday I achieved my goal of running 50 miles in 4 weeks. But in achieving the goal, I lost sight of running for the fun of it. It became so goal-oriented and counting miles that it wasn't fun anymore. I developed "ritual clutter". I was almost unable to run unless I had my running hat, my iPod, my Nike + iPod chip, my headphones, my water bottle, my armband to hold my iPod, etc. I didn't like it. Running was freedom, but I had boggled myself down with my "stuff" and my rituals. On top of these, I was driving myself to get the miles in, so I injured parts of my feet and my left shin. So, for now, I am dropping the goal-oriented running and I'm just gonna run when I want to, with or without all my gear. I'm still going to log my runs, because I've kept track of my runs since the beginning of 2001. But I won't run just to get the miles in. I'll run for the love of running. I'll run free.
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How 'bout them Cavaliers?

Last night the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Detroit Pistons to take the NBA Eastern Conference title and play in the NBA finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Cavs in the NBA finals for the first time... EVER! How great is that? How great for my hubby Todd, how great for the city of Cleveland!

We were there! Ha ha tricked you! We were there two weeks ago, not yesterday. But good pic anyways eh?
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