First Week

So, we made it through the first week. On Thurs. I had to return to the hospital to sign the paperwork for k's birth certificate. It was weird to walk through the hospital hallways again, this time as a mom. (Before I went into labor, the doctor had me walk up and down those hallways for two hours to see if I could jumpstart the contractions. I ended up with blisters on my feet!)


Here is k in front of our penguin themed Christmas tree. Christmas was kind of a blur for us since we were so exahusted that day. k was able to meet her great grandma though, so that was special.


It seems that when k is not feeding, she is napping. The times in between when she has her eyes open are pretty rare. Here is one of those times.


Nap Time

On Wed., Uncle Kevin came over and brought us lunch, made fried rice, and showed D how to install GFCI outlets. For the past couple of days, k has also been able to spend some time with her Uncle Simon and Aunt Jackie who flew down from Sacramento. I think k is enjoying all of the attention!

45-10

That was the score in the 2006 Holiday Bowl. The Cal Golden Bears defeated the Texes A&M Aggies tonight and it was, by my estimation, our biggest bowl win since 1938.

Cal won the Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One bowl; Cal was 2nd in the Pac-10) in 1991. However, this Holiday Bowl was the first Rose bowl (for 1st place in the Pac-10) or Holiday bowl (for 2nd palce in the Pac-10) that Cal won since 1938. (The Holiday bowl did not consistently pit the 2nd place Pac-10 team until 1998.) The reason I believe this game is a bigger win than the Citrus Bowl win is that we were co-Pac-10 champions, Texas A&M is a bigger rival than Clemson, the margin of victory was larger, and Jeff Tedford has turned the program around.

It was close in the first half as expected. The line was for Cal to win by 5 points. However, Cal shut out the Aggies in the 2nd half. I was nervous throughout the game until the middle of the forth quarter. L & k watched it with me, which was nice. k was startled once when I started clapping my hands loud.

I am happy about the way the season turned out. It would have been nice to not have lost to Arizona and playing in the Rose Bowl, however we probably would have lost to Michigan so this season is a success in my book. Cal beat Stanford, won the Holiday Bowl, and was 7-2 in the Pac-10. After the bowls finish, I will take a long break from following college football (I will follow the recruiting a little bit). Now I will concentrate on college basketball; however to a less intense degree.

The First Days

I was proud of D for being able to stay in the delivery room the whole time with me. He witnessed everything first hand and had a better vantage point than I did. Here is k being checked out for the first time.



We got to go home around noon on Sat. morning. Apparently, a lot of people scheduled c-sections on the 21st so they could be home for Christmas.






Until Christmas day, k was not able to sleep at all unless she was being held. Once she was able to sleep on her own, albeit for a short amount of time, it was a huge relief.



Our little burrito. I can't recommend this wrap enough--it has velcro tabs, making the whole swaddling thing a lot eaiser. (Thanks jen & jason!)

D+L+k

k:
7 lbs 2 oz
19.75 inches

Nursery Decor

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of the nursery. My mom sewed the valance, which I think is quite cheery. She also sewed the "boppy" cover as seen on the chair. The form is a "nurture nest" from JoAnn's. The changing table is just a card table, but I think it should work. I want to find some cute artwork to hang on the otherwise blank walls. The crib is pretty basic...I think I will wait until KJ comes to show you pictures of it.

The Corner Place (Korean BBQ)

This weekend's eating adventure occurred at The Corner Place in Cerritos. Since it is a Korean BBQ place, I figured it would not be a good place to take a baby, and that we should go now while we can.

We went on Saturday during lunch because I had heard that was supposed to rain at night. It turns out that they have weekend lunch specials (as well as weekday lunch specials) so I was happy. We ordered the #1 (bulgogi and kalbi), $12.95 and #4 (spicy chicken--I don't recall the Korean name), $9.95. Each came with a 1/2 bowl of their renowned cold noodles (more on that later).

After we picked our way through some panchan, the waitress heated up our tabletop grill and started cooking our red meat. She also brought plates with shredded green onion and lettuce to eat with the meat. The kalbi was boneless, and really good. I also enjoyed the bulgogi and chicken. Thankfully, she left a pair of tongs so we could turn the meat. I don't like it when such places expect you to use your chopsticks to cook the meat and then eat with them--ew.

We didn't order rice, but the dong chi mi noodles did a good job of cooling down our mouths. This dish consists of somen noodles served in an ice cold broth. I did some internet research and came across stories about how the recipe is top secret. Sure enough, the menu said that the noodles were not available for take out (they don't want anyone to decipher the recipe!) Another funny tidbit is that many suspect that the secret ingredient is 7-up! One person even ordered 7-up to drink, to which the waitress responded, "cold noodles"?

We finished all of our food and my hair soaked up that Korean BBQ smell. Lovely.

The Corner Place
19100 Gridley Road
Cerritos, CA

(605 N, Right on South Street, Right on Gridley, on your left, across from Toys R Us)

Early Arrival?

Yesterday I went to another doctor's appointment--I have them weekly now. He told me that I am about two weeks ahead of schedule! KJ is full term now (37.5 weeks), so she won't be premature. Still, I was kind of surprised to hear that. Of course, nothing is 100% certain, and the doctor also said that he did not expect to see me before my next appointment next Monday morning.

After my appointment I went to check out a new Famima!! store in Long Beach, close to our first apartment. It seems like a weird location...not quite close enough to CSULB to become popular with the students to whom the store would appear to appeal. It has been touted as a Japanese 7-11. I picked up a fried curry bread (good, not greasy), chicken mushroom bao (a bit undercooked and slimy) and a katsu don buri (ok) for D and I to have for dinner. I also bought some CA rolls for D, but I forgot to take them out of the fridge for him to eat! Last but not least I bought a mini tiramisu but we are saving that for tonight. That is because last night we shared a chocolate fondant from Beard Papa's in Gardena. Yes, I finally tried the cream puffs. They really are not too sweet--I thought it actually needed the chocolate on top as found in the eclair-style puff.

The Holiday Bowl

First, I was glad to see Cal beat Stanford for the fifth time in a row! Next year's Big Game will be at Stanford, however we should be good with Longshore (QB), Jackson (WR) , and Forsett (RB) back. Stanford will have a new coach and will lose both QBs.

The next and final game for the 2006 season will be the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on December 28th. This will be the 2nd time CAL is going to the Holiday Bowl since 2004. The Holiday Bowl is for the 2nd place team in the Pac-10. It is a new era for Cal in college football. We haven't had this type of consistent success since the 1950's.

We are playing Texas A&M. My good friend Chris Willis is an alumni, so there is a lot riding on this game. They have a good running backs and have a 9-3 (5-3) record.

Be Prepared

So, I finally put together my "hospital bag". It is ready and waiting near our bedroom door. I feel better knowing that it is there since I am sure a lot of other things will be on my mind when the time comes.

I was also able to buy the last few things we needed for K's room. I would still like to make some curtains and I need to clear more stuff out of there.

Side note: The windy weather is putting a spring in my step. I think I will put the flannel sheets on our bed tonight.

Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving was a little different this year because D and I were not on the road. Usually we visit my relatives in Paso Robles or his relatives in Nor Cal. This year we decided to play it safe and stuck close to home. We had the traditional Thanksgiving feast at my parents' house, along with my youngest sis and her boyfriend. I made a cranberry punch, cranberry jello (with pineapple, yum) and yams (with a pecan-rice crispy topping). My mom made everything else, including the turkey pictured above. I thought everything was quite delish even though my mom claimed that the turkey was too dry (it wasn't). D even looked forward to the leftovers today--he usually refuses to eat leftovers, so that is a big deal.

Just as Rachael Ray calls herself a "stuffing girl", I am a self-proclaimed "cranberry sauce girl". Today I had a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce. Tonight I plan to make turkey quesadillas with cranberry sauce (as suggested in the LA Times on Wed.), and tomorrow morning I want to toast up some bagels and spread them with cranberrry sauce mixed with cream cheese.

This morning D and I attempted to take part in Black Friday, but we didn't have too much success. We woke up at 5:30 (which wasn't too difficult, as that is our normal weekday wake-up time). First we hit up Office Max to buy a 1 GB SD digital memory card. It was a pretty good deal, especially since no mail-in rebate was required. It will definitely come in handy to take lots of pictures of K when she arrives.

Next we kept it real and went to Westminster Mall. Although it's not the fanciest of malls, it does have a Macy's, which was our main destination. We were armed with our coupons, but did not find anything that was worth standing in a long line for. We also went to Old Navy and GAP, which was very hot and stuffy, but no luck. It didn't help that I've been feeling under the weather the past couple of days...we just did not have the energy to keep going.

D and I will be spending the rest of the weekend watching football (him), cleaning/decorating our place (me) and napping (both of us). We cannot believe that in approximately four weeks we will be parents! Thanksgiving has been a good time of reflecting on all that God has provided for us.

Baby Shower #2

Today D's co-workers threw a baby shower for us during lunch at Maki Maki in the Irvine Spectrum. There were close to 30 people so they sat us at a long table outside. It was really warm out--it did not feel like mid-November! I thought it was nice that they organized the shower for D since it seems that dads often get left out of the whole pre-baby celebration. I was also glad that D was feeling better today because yesterday he was pretty sick.

We received a lot of nice gifts...Keilah is a lucky girl.


There was also a cake with raspberry filling and a cute little lamb on top.


Here's a picture of my side profile for those who haven't seen me in a while.

I guess it doesn't show much since I'm wearing black. I'll post more pics later--the "bump" is definitely getting bigger. Only 5 more weeks to go!

This Past Weekend with C-Willis

Please read about D+L's past weekend in C-Willis' blog. See "Monday Nov 13th, 2006".

It was a lot of fun hanging out with my buddy from B-school. However, it was also very tiring and I am glad I had today off!

Workout, Magazines, & Bible Study

Just want to update my readers about my recent workouts. I ran 4 miles in 38 minutes. The trick was to increase my speed 0.1 mph every 1/4 mile. Also I swam 800 free and 400 breaststroke in 30 mins. I swam 200 free and then 100 breaststroke; four times. The reason I switched to breaststroke is because using a kick board is boring and really slow. I am not good at breaststroke, but I am hoping to get better and it works your legs more than the other 3 major strokes.

These are the magazines I am planning on reading on a regular basis. Forbes (I get it from my in-laws), ESPN, and Outside. I like magazines that come once every two weeks like Forbes and ESPN. I have been getting Business Week, but I don't get to read it as much as would like and it piles up. Forbes is a really good mag. I like Outside even though it comes every month (I get bored of a mag after 2 weeks), because it has fun exercise/activities like skiing and hiking. But also it has natural park/travel ideas. L doesn't think I will do any of the activities it describes. It will give me ideas. ESPN is interesting. However, I only really like college football and college basketball. So a lot will be boring, but I am glad it only comes every 2 weeks.

There is a Bible Study at Mazda as well as a Bible Study at Ford's Premium Auto Group. This week at PAG they played the first part of the movie; Invisible Children. It is a really sad situation. We should pray for the children of Sudan; that they do not get kidnapped and forced to kill people.

Super Saturday

Last Saturday D and I took a childbirth class at the hospital, called the "Super Saturday" class. It lasted from 9-5 and is designed for those who cannot or do not want to take the class on a weeknight for three weeks. Since it would have been a challenge to get D to the classes after work, we opted for the all-day version. There were 11 couples total, and 8 couples were expecting girls! (2 couples were expecting boys, and 1 couple was leaving the gender a surprise). The class was a nice mixture of lecture, movies, and exercises. I was a bit apprehensive about the graphic "movies", but they were ok. However, I did cheat by closing my eyes for parts, especially of the C-section. I was surprised that the breathing techniques were not that technical--they are more designed to make you concentrate on breathing instead of the pain. I feel a little more prepared, but thinking about the actual labor is still very daunting. Hopefully having D by my side will make it more bearable. One prospective dad 1/2 joked about wishing it could be like the good ol' days where the dad just sat in the waiting room until the whole thing is over. I think having D being involved in the process will be a good thing for both D and me. I don't expect D to cut the umbillical cord, though--ew!

It was a long day, but we made it through. One good thing about taking the Super Saturday class is that they provide breakfast and lunch! I liked the turkey sandwich on jalapeno cheese bread--D couldn't even finish his. Hopefully the food they serve to the patients is just as tasty.

Mazda CX-7

The Mazda CX-7 is a new crossover from Mazda. I am blessed that I work for Mazda and get to drive a new vehicle every year. This year I was planning to drive a Mazda 3, which is a great car, but I am really excited about this new crossover. It came in handy when I wanted to bring home the baby crib. It had plenty of room, and with 244 hp the CX-7 has some punch. I notice it gets a lot of looks on the highway.

Meet Our New Nephew

Here are the aforementioned pictures of our new newphew, adopted from Taiwan by D's brother and his wife. His name is Shaun and he's almost six months old.


Flying in the air!


D's getting practice :)

A Weekend Without D

This past weekend D went up North to visit his family, including our new nephew! (Pictures to come). I didn't feel comfortable flying in my condition so I stayed at home. It felt kind of weird not having my "other half" around, even for a couple of days. I slept in the middle of the bed instead of "my side". I arrived at church a few minutes early, instead of 15 minutes early, as D usually insists that we do. I kind of had a lot of errands to run, so I wasn't exactly bored, but I just felt a little empty inside--hard to explain. Now that I tend to take my time with D for granted, it's hard to imagine how we made it through our long distance relationship in the past.

Off Season

In my off-season I haven't been working out very hard. However, I am working out. I have been alternating running and swimming. This alternating has worked out really well.

I have been running 4 miles on the treadmill with a 0.5 incline and the last 2 times I have been running it in under 40 minutes. This is my fastest 4 miles on the treadmill so I am happy about that; however I would like to get faster to help with my 2007 half-marathon pace.

Today I swam 200x4 freestyle and 200x1 with a kickboard. I swam the total 1,000 meters in under 27 minutes. I don't really care about my time in swimming, but I would like to keep my heart rate up.

Also I have been improving my eating since I need to watch my cholesterol. I have eaten oatmeal almost every day for the past 1.5 weeks. Also I have eaten turkey tofu sandwich, turkey tofu spaghetti, chinese chicken salad, & healthy choice for dinner this week. For lunch it has been sandwiches; the best one being Lee's Sandwiches (Chicken).

Keilah Joy L.

When L & I were trying to pick out names for our baby, we wanted to find a name in the Bible; preferably the Old Testament. The Old Testament is rich in history and has cool names i.e. e.g. Meshach, Shadrach & Abed-nego. Biblical girls names, I believe, are harder to find than boys. However we found a town in present day Israel whose name was Keilah.

Keilah was a town in the lowlands of the tribe of Judah which was made famous by its story in 1 Samuel 23. David (before he was King David) rescued Keilah from the attack of the Philistines. King David was of the tribe of Judah & eventually rules over all 12 tribes. The town is west of the Dead Sea.

When I type in Joy in biblegateway.com, there are 242 results. However, one verse pops into my mind when I think of the word joy. It is in Galatians 5:22-23. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

A Relaxing Weekend

Yesterday we had a visitor on our balcony. Granted, a visiting cat doesn't seem that out of the ordinary, but we were surprised since our condo is on the second floor. I guess he/she climbed up a nearby tree and took a flying leap. This same cat climbed our stairs a couple of weeks ago and dashed through our front door which D had momentarily left ajar.

I love this season weather-wise. We had a brief spat of rain on Friday night, perfect for reading in bed. Saturday the air was brisk and D and I watched college football. (I'm getting sucked in, I tell you. It's much more interesting now that Cal is actually decent!) In the afternoon we hung out at Barnes & Noble in the Tustin Marketplace and met up with a group of people to celebrate E.Y.'s birthday at Buca. D was able to have his fave--chicken marsala.

Today at church I found out that my friend was in the hospital, going into labor. I'm excited for her and her husband, but at the same time it is kind of scary to think that will be us in a couple of months.

Nesting Mode

Last week I started a new part-time work schedule. I am also now working from home! With my new-found free time, I have been trying to get our place in order. There haven't been any overnight miracles, but things are slowly getting organized. I also went to my first "MnM's" (Mom's group) meeting at WPC and the first topic was organization--how appropo!

I have also been able to cook a little bit more, although I still want to expand my weeknight repertoire. Today I tried to make banana chocolate chip muffins, but our oven kept on setting off the smoke alarm. I guess I need to clean our oven, as the muffins themselves were not burnt. Argh.

All of a sudden, I feel like there isn't much time to get ready for the baby. When I was working full time, I was kind of putting it off until October, since I knew I would have more time then. Now that October is here, I can't believe I only have a couple of months left to prepare. One good thing is that I've been able to do more reading on the whole parenting topic. There really are a lot of theories out there. Discernment will be key!

Nursery Decor

I ordered these wall decals for the baby's room a while back, but they finally arrived in the mail today. They are pretty neat because they are removable so you can re-stick them if need be. The colors turned out a little brighter than they appeared on the website, but I think it looks cheerful. Hopefully baby likes them!

Houston's

Last Saturday D and I went to Houston's to celebrate my birthday. Actually, it was a joint celebration since we used the gift certificate my parents gave to D for his birthday. Neither of us had been before, although we have been to Bandera and Rutherford Grill, which are part of the same restaurant "family". All of the restaurants have a dark, swanky ambience. We went to the Houston's in Irvine.

The Houston's hamburger was on the list of "Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die", so that's what D ordered:


D: The waitress said I could get it as rare as I wanted since it is prime beef. I selected med-well and it had a little pink to it. It was really good. It was not over-seasoned so you could taste the high-quality meat flavor. The chese was sharp and the lettuce & tomato fresh. The bun was seasame and was just the right size and density.

After doing some internet research, I decided to order the prime rib French dip sandwich:

It looks kind of gross in this picture, but it was actually very good! Plus, I need to get more iron in my diet, so I didn't feel too bad :) The horseradish sauce on the side is a must!

We were too full for dessert.

Home Office

I am writing this post from our bedroom/office. That's because last weekend my family helped us move some furniture. What was once our office will become the baby's room, and our "office" is now in our bedroom. Now I don't have to yell for D to get off of the computer to go to sleep because he'll already be in the bedroom :) With all of the shifting around, I feel like we're moving again, but I like the feeling of having a fresh new start. I am determined to "get organized", especially before the baby comes.

Restaurant List

As we all know, D likes lists/rankings. I am famous for my best travel destinations list. However, I have decided to extend my list line to a different category; restaurants. I was thinking about a hotel list, however I haven't had the opportunity to stay in many great hotels recently. Below is my initial draft of best restaurants by category.

#1 Steak
- Flemings (Manhattan Beach)
- Rutherford Grill (Napa)
#2 Hamburger
- Father's Office (Santa Monica)
- The Counter (Santa Monica)
#3 BBQ
- Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse (Cincinnati)
- Tony Roma's (San Francisco)
#4 Pizza
- Giordano's (Chicago)
- Zachary's (Berkeley)
#5 Italian
- Don Giovanni's (Napa)
- Biba's (Sacramento)
#6 Fine Dining
- Casanova (Pebble Beach)
- George's at the Cove (San Diego)
#7 Mexican
- Old Town Mexican Cafe (San Diego)
- Papasito's (Houston)
#8 Seafood
- Fishwife (Pebble Beach)
- Stillwater (Pebble Beach)
#9 Asian Fusion
- Roy's (Pebble Beach)
- Sam Choi's (Honolulu)
#10 Breakfast
- Hash House a Go-Go (San Diego)
- Rick & Ann's (Berkeley)

Disneyland 1/2 Marathon

Waiting in the Corral

This Sunday in the early morning I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon. Lauren was a good wife and stayed with me from when we got there at 4:15 a.m. to the start at 6 a.m. and then met up with me at the end. I was in corral D since when I signed up 6 months ago I estimated a slow pace; corral A is for the fast runners and E for the slow runners.

There were some runners dressed up as Disney characters; The Incredibles, Tinker Bell, Mickey, etc. It took about 12 minutes to cross the start line since there were 12,000 runners. However, it doesn't matter when you cross the start line since you have a chip on your shoe to start the clock for your time. I did have to run around a lot of slow runners/walkers. The first 4 miles we ran though California Adventure and Disneyland. I had to slow down when people got water so I decided to walk a little during every water station. I think I acidentally skipped water stop 2.

Then once I hit mile 4 and we were out of Disneyland, I saw my wife with a couple of other ladies from WPC. I gave a halfhearted wave since I was conserving my energy and they got a good laugh out of that one. I then hit my stride and was running well and with people at the same pace as me for the next 5 miles. Then when I hit the river trail by the Pond and Angels stadium I started to cramp up in my calves. I ran through it and got to run through Angels stadium around the warning track on the first base side and then the third base side passing the dugouts.

The last few miles were tough, but I was able to run slowly and the music playing from bands and speakers helped me keep the energy level up. Also I had a Power Gel before the race, one after the 4 mile marker, and then one at the 9.5 mile marker. I ran though Disneyland again and finished the half-marathon in 2:19:11 That is under 11 minute miles. My latest goal was to run it in under 2 hrs and 30 minutes, so I am happy about my time.


I finshed in 3,259th place!

Baby Shower

Last Friday my co-workers threw me a surprise baby shower-lunch. Even though I don't like being the center of attention, I had a good time. Everyone chipped in for a gift card to Babies R Us. Now I just have to figure out which brand/model of things to buy. Apparently, a lot of the car seats work best with the LATCH system, which our Camry does not have. Who knew? I'm also uncertain about the stroller and crib.

Friday night I hung out with some of the moms and other moms-to-be at WPC. There's something like ten pregnant women altogether (not all of them were there). I guess our daughter will have a lot of playmates around her age!

San Diego Get Away

D and I just returned from what will probably be our last "weekend get away" before the baby arrives. Saturday morning we woke up nice and early to get an early start, only to be stalled by construction on the 405 freeway (the four left lanes were closed!) I guess we should've checked the traffic report beforehand. We stopped at the Original Pancake House in Laguna Hills to fuel up for the day. Despite our unexpected delay, we made it to San Diego a little past 9 a.m., so we were back on schedule.

Our first activity was taking a two hour narrated cruise of San Diego Harbor. The first hour was enjoyable because it wasn't too crowded. We had to pick up more people for the second hour, and there were waaaay too many Asian tourists taking pictures. We were able to get some nice views of downtown San Diego, however. D and I got a good chuckle when the narrator mentioned that the Beach Boys had recently played in San Diego, and that they "could satisfy anyone's musical needs".


The Midway


San Diego Skyline

Afterward, we headed to the trendy Hillcrest neighborhood and picked up a picnic lunch at Bread and Cie. We then drove to Balboa Park, spread out a mat on the grass and enjoyed our turkey and roast beef sandwiches, bread chips, a slab of lemon cake and a Sprite. The sandwiches did not have enough meat for D's taste, but the bread was good (always important!) and the cake tasted surprisingly healthy, like it had whole grains, or something. The weather was perfect--a little sunny and breezy, and we had a hard time getting up to go on with the rest of our day.

Finally, we strolled over to the Robert H. Fleet Science Center. We checked out the educational exhibits and caught an IMAX movie in their dome theater called Into the Deep. God's creation is truly amazing!


Balboa Park Fountain

After checking into our hotel, D got sucked into watching the second quarter of the Cal game. Since we were already recording it at home, he let us leave for dinner at half-time. We decided to check out Old Town and we went to Old Town Mexican Cafe, even though it was listed as "overrated" in our Frommer's book. Since there was a 45 minute wait, we were able to check out Old Town. Part of it reminded D of Old Sac, but there were a lot of people out and about so it seemed more lively. We enjoyed our dinner (beef fajitas and rotisserie chicken) and the handmade tortillas were very good. All of the food came out piping hot, just like D likes it.


Hand-Made Tortillas


Old Town Mexican Cafe--Not Overrated

With full stomachs, we returned to the hotel room, where D proceeded to watch more college football.

This morning we returned to Hillcrest to eat at Hash House A Go Go. The hostess was going to put us at a small corner table, but when she noticed my stomach, she asked if I would fit! Then she told the busboy, who was giving us water that she thought we should move to "Table 12", which ended up being a table for four! I guess she was just being nice, but I had to laugh. That was the first time a stranger has acknowledged my protruding stomach. The restaurant was industrial-chic, and the portions were ginormous! D had a scramble with bacon, avocado, and cheese, and I had a blackberry granola pancake. Too bad we couldn't take the leftovers, since we weren't going straight home.




Scramble Big Enough for 2


A Lot of Pancakage

We were able to walk off some of our breakfast when we stopped at Mission Bay. There were a lot of people running even though it was pretty warm. Then we made a stop at the Carlsbad outlets, where D found some deals (I sadly, did not). Finally, we stopped at Gelson's in Irvine to redeem some coupons D had received at his work. When we got home, guess what D did? Watched more college football, of course! Overall, I really enjoyed my time with D this weekend. Lately I've become more aware of other couples with kids and have seen how all of their attention seems devoted to the kids, rather than to each other. I hope that we will be able to achieve a healthy balance.

Back 2 School

Although it's been a while since I've gone "back to school," I still look forward to this time of year. It brings back memories of the promise of a fresh new start, new teachers, new clothes, new school supplies, etc. I enjoy the "nip in the air", as mentioned in the Berenstein Bears book my sister and I used to read with my Mom. Good luck to one of my dearest high school friends who will be starting school tomorrow, as a teacher at our alma mater! I visited her classroom and the campus last weekend and it brought back a lot of memories. Even though it has changed, it still feels the same.

Huntington - Labor Day

L & I went to Huntington Beach. It was warm today so we decided to go to the beach. Also we hadn't gone since probably July. Note: This is the beach that I have visited the most in my entire life.





There was some BoardFest event on, and we saw a Hello Kitty display, so of course we needed to take a photo.



P.S. I received my Mazda 3; finally! A nice employee benefit. This is the best car I have ever owned or leased! Sorry Jeep Grand Cherokee! Better handling and gas mileage. Chicks still dig it. Well at least my wife, since it has an I-pod plug in.

Baby Boom

WPC is experiencing a mini baby boom. Last Saturday I went to a baby shower for my friend D, who is expecting in October. There were three other pregnant women there, including me! We posed for this picture, in order of when we're due (L-->R = October-->January):

It's A Girl!

This morning D and I found out that we are having a girl! D and I both took the morning off and went to my ultrasound appointment together. The technician said she was "90% sure" that it is a girl, which is good enough for me. I guess this means we have to get more serious about picking a girl's name. I was wavering, but put it off since I figured I wouldn't have to worry about it if it turned out to be a boy. I am also excited to start thinking about how to decorate the nursery and deciding what to register for. I was hoping for a girl, perhaps because I am pretty much a girly-girl. I also had a feeling it would be a girl, as girls tend to run in my family. My parents have three daughters, no sons, and my grandma has five granddaughters and no grandsons!

3 Weeks

I have 3 weeks till my half-marathon. I was thinking about tapering off my training, but my co-worker said I should run longer. So I decided to run another 10.5 miles. Another co-worker told me about energy gels and how I should have one before I run. I did feel lightheaded when I last ran 10.5 miles, so I decided to buy some energy gels. Further, my co-worker said "don't change anything on race day", and since I was planning on eating something on race day, I decided I better try it out now. So L & I went to REI on Friday night. I bought 3 PowerBar Gels, 1 GU, and 1 Cliff Shot. I looked at all three makes, and all were made in Berkeley, CA. Interesting. I had the Cliff Shot right before I got out of my car to run. It didn't taste good, and I needed to drink a lot of water to wash it down. When I ran I felt stronger and my legs had more kick. Further, I didn't feel lightheaded and I didn't cramp up. I felt like I needed another energy gel mid way through coming back. I ran it in 1 hr and 44 mins. Over 8 minutes faster than my previous best 10.5 mile run. So I am excited that it worked. However, I am not too sure if it was all due to the gel, because I did cut my hair really short. I have run 3 10.5 mile runs, and I am thinking on tapering it down now that I only have 3 weeks left. If I ran what I did today and then power walked that last 2.6 miles, it should get me under 2.5 hours.

Pho Today

I always thought it would be cool to have a neighborhood restaurant to call our own. You know, like the Central Perk on "Friends" or Luke's Diner on "Gilmore Girls". However, I always like trying new restaurants, so we never really become "regulars" at any specific place. The one restaurant that comes closest for us is Pho Today, on the corner of Katella and Knott (behind Del Taco). We like this place because it is close by, pretty cheap, friendly and non-intimidating, and the food is good! Nothing beats a bowl of steaming hot pho when you think you're coming down with a cold, or you just want to warm up. We like to super-size #8 ($5) for $1 extra. Also, ask about the daily special--$5, (usually some sort of stir-fry with rice), including drink. I also recommend # 44--vermicelli, charbroiled beef and egg roll, $6.50.

Anaheim Pride

On Saturday D and I went to an Angels-Mariners game with Debbie, Lisa, and Eugene. This was our first, and will probably be our only baseball game of the season. We usually try to go about once or twice a year. Since there aren't many good food choices at Angels Stadium, we ate at Charley's Steakery at the Block beforehand. D used to go there when he worked nearby. Lisa and Eugene introduced us to the $5 parking lots that are near the stadium (as opposed to the $10 stadium parking that we usually use). The game was pretty good, although a little too close for comfort(especially for Debbie) at times. Also, we ended up sitting one row behind a couple of people we know from WPC--what a coincidence! D had a good time showing off his MC Hammer moves during the "Can't Touch This" break and shocking everyone when he took off his hat to reveal his horrendously short hair cut during the National Anthem.

Harvest Crusade

My favorite types of music are Christian and Country. For Christian music my favorite bands are Third Day and Newsboys; for Country it's Brooks & Dunn and Rascal Flatts. So I was excited to hear last week that Newsboys were playing at the Harvest Crusade at Angels Stadium. L & I went and were having a difficult time finding a seat, but luckily ran into "T" (From Wintersburg) and friends at the Crusade, who had two open seats. It was a beautiful day and we got to sit in the shade on the upper deck. It was pretty packed except the "outfield" area since the stage was on second base facing toward home plate. MercyMe and Newsboys played. L liked MercyMe better, however I liked Newsboys better. I was pleasantly surprised by both bands.


Angel Stadium View


Mercy Me


Newsboys


Newsboys' Lead Singer