Thursday Update

Maggie, my coworker, and I somehow always manage to coordinate our outfits. It was grey this day.

******************************************************************************

Ahhheeemmm. Ok, just kidding, I don’t really have anything important to say at all other than I don’t even really know what I did last week, so I can’t report anything! Oh, it did involve a night out at the Saddle Rack.

Still swimming on Mondays and Wednesdays. I didn’t manage to make it in to the pool last Friday though. I’m just worked by the end of the week- been getting up at 4:30 to be in the pool by 5:10 and then out to the barn after work getting home around 7:30-8.

I did manage to lock my keys in the car on Monday. Thank god for AAA. LOVE them. I only had to wait for 10 minutes, and I’m actually glad it happened on some level, b/c at least I feel like I’m getting my $’s worth out of my membership (o;

What else, what else???

Getting ready at work has been a bit fun. There have been some ladies from work there in the mornings with me regularly, and it kinda feels like a sorority. It’s a nice way to get to know them- outside of work. I share a workspace with 2 of the most awful and appalling women- Anne and Maxine- I hope you’re reading this!!!! They’re constantly making me laugh, Maxine goes OCD with the Clorox wipes, and I feel like I’m back in middle school with the way the 3 of us get to giggling. I guess Maxine does have one redeeming quality- she sends me my horoscope every day. Which reminds me, she didn’t send it to me today until I reminded her. The nerve!

This weekend should be fun. I’m going out to the city on Friday night, will ride Pokey on the trails on Sat. and then will head over to Shane’s parent’s place by the beach (in b/t Santa Cruz and Capitola). It should be a good time. Then, only a 4-day week next week, and I’m off to Seattle and I get to see Jesse!!!!- and Andrea!

And now some recent pics:

Last week Jed, Holly, Kendall, and Mia were in Tahoe which left me to entertain Al- we hung out- at Borrones and then shopping at Stanford, which left him beat, and then finally I took him to the barn where he got a ride int he wheel barrel.

Mia's first Giants game for Father's Day

Oh I do have one last bit to say. I TOTALLY and UTTERLY BIT IT today at work!!! It was actually pretty hilarious. I was pulling up a little wheely stool to sit next to Maggie and file some paperwork, and I went to sit down, and it just FLEW out from under me- chair flying backwards, me going KABOOM straight onto my rumpa. I fell so hard it even hurt my head. Luckily- no one else was there to witness this catastrophe, and luckily too, I am ok other than a headache and sore behind. Yep, it looks like the clutzieness doesn't go away with age. Dangit. To make matters worse, that freakin stool even has a picture of a lady on it falling off, feet in the air and all. Not my finest moment. Not at all.

@#$%&!* on the road....

...honking at me on my bike really grinds my gears!

It's totally a dress- it has a zipper!

Man am I beat!!!!

It was a busy last week and an even crazier weekend. The past week was a little off from my regular schedule. I didn’t feel great on Tuesday so I didn’t bike in, but by Wed. I was feeling much better, so I met up with a friend from work who lives in Menlo Park and did the last part of my ride with her. It was really really nice to have the company. It’s not often that our schedules match up, so we haven’t been able to ride in together before this. Hopefully it’ll work out a bit more in the future.

This was also my first time in a pool in over a year! I’ve decided to do the Masters Swimming at Stanford and had my first 2 swims on Thurs. and Fri. It felt soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good to be back in the pool. We did about 1500 meters on Thurs. and 2800 (that’s about 1.75 miles) on Friday. Tim, the coach is great, the pool is spectacular, and there’s just something a little bit majestic about being up and in the water by 5:30 with the sun rising mid-way through the workout. It’s very peaceful. The idea is to swim on Mon. Wed. and Fri. and continue to bike in to work on Tues. and Thurs. while Pokey’s days of Mon., Wed., + weekends will stay the same. We’ll see if I can pull it off…… I guess time will tell.

On Friday, I headed down to Santa Barbra after work to visit my good (former lifeguard) buddies. I got in around 10 PM on Fri. and hit up a “smores party” with Kathryn. We slept in a bit on Sat. and then headed to visit Jenny at work (a really cute restaurant with neat outdoor seating) just off of State St. downtown. Lunch was yummy! Of course we went out on Sat. night which was absolutely wild especially with it being graduation weekend and all. Got on the road by noon on Sunday and was back in the Bay Area by 5 PM. Washed my car, unpacked, got a fashion show from Jodie (she got her dress for Vegas- yeah boy-ie!). Then, at the last minute, we decided to go and see The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton. I love all of the comic book movies and I love him, so I was pretty excited about it. I’d say it was ok. His performance was excellent, but the plot just wasn’t that interesting at all and there wasn’t one single twist or added element of surprise. And the way the film finished to set up the sequel was just pathetic (and an insult to the average person’s intelligence, if you ask me).

Anyhoo, now we’re on to another week, and I’m just waiting for Friday so I can have a relaxed weekend and catch up on some much needed sleep. I’m in need of some reading material, so if you’ve got any recommendations, hit me up!

Mia's First Swim

I think she's goanna be a water baby like her aunty (o;

Lifeguard on duty!


Oh the paparazzi!


Chillin'

Yes, she's still rockin' the mowhawk.

Black and White Ball

Pre concert dinner

Strike a pose

Seal was amazing. I just hope he didn't get in trouble with the wifey since he missed her birthday to come and perform!

Well, well, well. It’s been a looooooooooooooong time since my last entry. I don’t even really know why. I guess it gets to a certain point, and it feels overwhelming to try and catch up. But here goes:

I’ve been at my new job for a little over 2 months now and am loving it. The people here are just wonderful- friendly, bright, motivated and hard-working- all that you could ask for in coworkers, really. I like the work, am kept busy, and challenged. And the perks, well I could go on and on about those.

I’ve managed to ride my bike into work every Tuesday and Thursday since starting. It takes about 1hr 10 min. to get in in the morning and about 50 min. to get home. I love the fact that I can do this. I see the same woman, Joanne, in the locker room every day I bike in, so it’s a nice routine.

Pokey is doing just great, and my Mom is doing a fabulous job with her.
This weekend I got to go to the Black and White Ball in San Francisco. It was an amazing experience. I got tickets from work that included dinner and cocktails starting at 5:30 followed by a performance at the Davies Symphony Hall by Seal, and then the ball itself. Since I was dateless, I took Monica, and we had a blast. I stayed the night at her place in Noey Valley and then was up and out early on Sunday to meet Andrea at the Sam Wong in North Beach. Marie came over with Belgian chocolates, champagne, and flip flops (how much do I love her?!) and we just had a fun time catching up and then went out to lunch. I love both of them to bits, so it was really nice to get to see them together- especially since Andrea lives in Seattle and Marie could be moving back to Belgium at any time. But hey- now I have a friend to visit there. I left the city around 4, and it took me like 2.5 friggin hours to get into the Union City BART station. From there, I went out to see Pokey. I think I got home around 8 PM. Even though I was completely exhausted after a busy weekend (shopping after work on Friday, then home, then back to Los Altos to take Bentely to the vet, then to the Sex and the City premier- you know I couldn’t miss that!) I still didn’t manage to fall asleep until 2 AM.

I don’t really know what else is going on. Kendall was in her middle school play of Grease, so we did that last week. Jed and Holly found out that they are having a BOY!! I think they decided on the name Gavin, totally cute, I know. Mia develops more and more of a personality every day and is a total and complete ham.

I guess that’s it. Over and out.
~Elizabeth

Inspirational Story

A friend passed this on and I thought it was too good to pass up.

Meet Molly. She's a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana, USA . She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn't overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists.
Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood (that) she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.
And she asks for it! She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too' And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse', she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people. And she had a good time doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life', Moore said, 'She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.'
'She's not back to normal,' Barca concluded, 'but she's going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.'