Fluffy McFlufferson

blue bird, originally uploaded by hezcatt.

Today at lunch I was sitting in my car, parked and listening to Howard Stern while I ate my salad at a little park, and this blue bird kept coming up to my car and eyeing me. Hopping closer. Eyeing me some more while I lamented and shared that I forgot my pita and had no food to give him. I didn't think he'd be into lettuce so much. As I was getting ready to snap his pic he puffed all up and got fluffy! Eee!

I know I've done this before...

...but I don't think they had the "collage" option when I did it? Do you think it's a bad thing that Keith Urban has the highest rating for matching my features? Disturbing maybe.

I suppose I should blog

I just haven't felt very "write-y" lately.

I've had a lot going on at work and a lot going on on the inside that I just really needed to kinda sit with myself for a while and reflect.

This weekend is the last event of the year for me. I'll be doing The Sentinel in Santa Cruz on Sunday which is an olympic distance triathlon: 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6 mile run. I haven't really been training for it but I did run that half marathon in July, and swam from Alcatraz in September and I know I can bike 25 miles with my eyes closed and my arms tied behind my back so I think I'll be ok. I won't be breaking any records tho, including my Maui time.

Last Saturday I lolled around until I had to leave for work. I had a board meeting to commemorize and then a tailgate party for the grand opening of the new stadium. Got there at 11:30 and set up for the board meeting and then sat through that and
took the minutes and then went over to the tailgate and hung out for an hour or so. Total hours of OT: 5.5

I rushed home and got ready for dinner at my friend Jim's house. He invited me, Lyne and Willo. Those are pretty good odds for Jim. He also invited Scott. I was really happy to be invited into that group. It was kinda special since they were all friends before me and made me feel like I belong. Awwww.

Jim cooked up a fabulous appetizer of grilled scallops on top of bacon topped with
guacamole served with champagne. Dinner was grilled cod with a yummy peach salsa, tomatoes and cucumbers from someone's garden and corn on the cob and some great pumpernikel bread. And wine. Lots of wine. Tho I tried to keep it under control since I had to ride the next morning...

...Which I was slightly hungover for. I went to bed at 11:30 and woke up at
7:30 and just felt slow and tired. I am really beginning to think if drinking is really worth it. I think that one glass of wine with dinner is fine but it seems that anything beyond that really affects me (of course I didn't drink any water that night either).

Packed up my car and got a call at the last minute that we were meeting at a
different spot on the route since 2 of our riders are new to riding and would only be doing a closed to traffic portion of the route. That took some logistical manuevers that my brain wasn't ready to deal with. But we made it and it was hot down onthe Peninsula. In the 80's and very dry. We hit the road and it was just fantastic until THE MOUNTAIN. Ugh. 4.37 miles at 1630 feet with a gradient of 7.06%. SO HARD. I thought I was gonna die. And in fact I had to stop. I really felt dizzy and shaky and nauseous. The rest went on ahead and when I asked a passing cyclist how
much farther to to the top and he was all, about 4 miles I was all: Clap! Clap! I'm out. There was no way I was walking 4 miles up hill. So I called my peeps and said I was turning around. I felt like the biggest loser/failure ever and only did a 22 mile ride. I will say tho, that I think that cyclist gave me wrong info. When researching the details of the mountain for this blog, I just found out that the whole hill was 4.4 miles and I had probably already done 1.5. Anyways, I was
thankful and relieved to be going downhill and hitting the flats back to the car. All in all, I think it was a pretty ambitious ride for me even without being slightly hungover.

Then I came home and watched a marathon of America's Next Top Model....

...how did I miss a season? VH-1 was showing season 6 which I thought
ended with Nicole winning and here was a group of girls I had never seen
before. So I watched 7 or 8 straight hours of ANTM and then The Amazing
Race season opener.

I've also been meaning to complain about my iPod. Oh how I wish my iPod had two channels. I have been using it a lot lately to listen to Howard Stern. Mario grabs the shows for me and puts them on CD and I load onto my iPod and listen all.day.long. The shows are about 4-6 hours longs and it takes me between 2-3 days to listen in between commutes and fixing dinner. But sometimes I want to listen to music and if I switch out of my Stern show I lose my place and have to make a mental note of where the counter is at etc. It's just a pain.

There. I complained.

Pics here.

This is actually very accurate...

Your Life Path Number is 1

Your purpose in life is to lead others. You have great drive and determination. Nothing is going to stand in your way. You seek out challenges and the spotlight. You'll take all the work - and all the glory. Status and success are important to you. You demand the best from everyone and everything. In love, you tend to take a protective role. You enjoy being the provider in relationships. You expect others to be like you, and as a result, you are often disappointed. A little selfish and vain, you always put yourself first. Remember, everyone already knows you're great - you don't need to remind them!

What Is Your Life Path Number?

Cold War Oyster Weekend

Saturday, Ian and I headed up to Point Reyes/Tomales Bay and the Hog Island Oyster Farm. I have been dying to do this, but it always seemed like a boyfriend-y trip to do. Obviously, boyfriends aren't clamoring at my door and I can't wait around for one to do this stuff, so was psyched when Ian organized an excursion.

After waking up at 6am, and frantically frosting cookies for Misty's birthday, I made a mignonette, a veggie spread from some left over ratatouille and a salad, hopped in the car, got my oil changed and picked up Ian. I forgot the directions which cuts out most of Route 1, which was sad, but we got there just in time for our picnic table reservation.

Hog Island is where they grow the oysters for their oyster bar in the Ferry building and they have about 8-10 picnic tables available to have a little picnic setup. It's recommended that you reserve a table so you can have it all day etc. They also have BBQ pits, so you can see, it can be a well-rounded day. We got our snacks setup and Ian got the charcoal started for some BBQ'd bi-valves later on. There was a large group there too who had 3 tables and reminds me that I am definitely having a birthday or a "just because" party there soon!

Hez dresses the salad rockstar style

I am a relative newcomer to oysters. Not ever a big fan of them (even tho I own my own shucker!) until about a year ago when I discovered the mignonette. This is a vinegar based "sauce" seasoned with herbs and onion-y things. I think cocktail sauce was what kept me from appreciating the oyster. I like it but really only on shrimp. The mignonette is so fresh and light and really allows you to enjoy the taste and the creaminess of the oyster. This is my recipe which I first had at Hog Island in the ferry building and immediately recreated, only to find out later that they had a recipe on their website, they call it "hog wash." I don't use exact measurements because I am that kind of girl.

Some rice wine vinegar
Some seasoned rice wine vinegar
Shallots
Jalepeno
Cilantro
Lime juice

After gorging ourselves on FIFTY sweetwaters and kumamotos, two of Ian's friends showed up. He sent out an email saying 1pm and they got to us at 3pm? Or 4? I have no idea since I went off my diet and Ian and I had consumed two bottles of some fabulous Sancerre-like wine by that point. It definitely made for some interesting driving on the way home...on Route 1...

Question: Can a driver get carsick?
Answer: Yes.

Luckily my uber-fabulous German friend, Nicol, had sent me a package that I grabbed at the post office on the way to Ians and it was loaded with too numerous to count Milka bars, of which Ian and I consumed on the drive home. The sugar did me good and there REALLY goes my diet.

I got home, sang metal at the top of my lungs, ( you KNOW I was buzzed and by buzzed I mean wasted) and had a mere half hour to get ready to head out to Misty's birthday celebration. Did my hair, picked out my clothes, ate more chocolate, packed up Misty's cookies, sent some drunk emails (sorry Dawn, Nez, Nicol!) and left for the Lucky 13.

Drove around forEVER looking for parking then scored a spot right out front. Managed to not drink at all. We then headed over to Cafe du Nord for the Cold War Kids show.

Now, you know, I don't really like to go see bands that I don't really know. But usually Misty is like: you're going and then it's not so bad. I had reservations tho. There is a trend right now in Indie bands of whiny-voiced singers (Band of Horses, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) and I am not really into that. I have heard a few CWK songs on Bagel Radio and liked them enough. Then last week I asked Willo to slide me some more songs and I listened and was all, eh. Whiny. Even tho I was assured that Nathan was hunky, more specifically, his arms.

I ended up having one beer because Mario accidentally ordered two drinks, made my way to the front to find our people. And actually enjoyed the show! Nathan was not so whiny live and the music made me want to bounce up and down. I will say this: Decemberists? They push folk-rock on unassuming kids. Cold War Kids? I think they are pushing southern revival. Good show tho. Didn't even feel like kicking the ass of the kid in the ear muffs. WTF!?!

Left after the show because soooo tie-tie. Went to bed straightaway even tho I craved spaghetti/toast/potatoes and woke up with the worst hangover ever! How is that possible if I did all my drinking before 5pm? I dont' get it.

Pictures here.

I Escaped

Today I woke up at 5am. After a Tylenol PM night and waking up at 2:30am and trying to go back to sleep and actually sleeping but thinking the whole time I wasn't, I dreamt that I was on a spontaneous trip to Paris and had limited time to pack (a la Project Runway this week). I was in the van on the way to the airport when I realized that I forgot everty type of toiletry. Even my toothbrush. "Oh well," I said, "I'll just buy it in Paris."

I forced myself out of bed when all I wanted to do was sleep, made some oatmeal and a peanut butter and honey sandwich on wheat for later, finished packing my bag and put on my swim suit, track pants and sweatshirt, socks and slippers and head down to Aquatic Park. Today I was going to be swimming from Alcatraz.

Down at Aquatic Park it was so peaceful. The water was so calm and flat and nothing like the wind and white caps that were present for my last practice swim on Thurssday night. I looked out across the bay to Alcatraz and was all, "Oh, that's not so far." I walked down to the Starbucks on Beach and Hyde where June and her husband, Chris, where waiting for me. As we were talking I saw Hanson walk by. I met him at the practice swim on Thursday. He came all the way from Ohio to do this. Very impressive. I knocked on the window and he came in to have a coffee with us.

At about 7am we headed back to Aquatic Park to check in, get our swim cap, timing chip and t-shirt (Goodwill will sure be getting all these event t-shirts I've been compiling). We stood around and waited until it was about time to put our wetsuits on. Listened to the National Anthem while looking at the flag on top of the Maritime Museum, heard a debriefing on the course and then all got in line to parade down to one of the piers, led by a bag piper, to get on the ferry.

Ferry? Oh yes. We were being shuttled out to the east side of Alcatraz where we would JUMP OFF THE BOAT to begin our swim back to shore. OH.MY.GOD. While on the boat June and I ran into Luke from Team and Training and my hottie physical therapist, Brian. Brian is an awesome swimmer and he gave us some tips before we JUMPED.

I was so nervous and just kept telling myself that I was just going for a swim. June and I were holding hands while we shuffled with the other swimmers to the port side opening where people were jumping three across. When we got to the door, June had to jump with the group in front of us. I jumped after her and held my goggles on my face with one hand. They told us it was only a three foot jump, but really? it was more like 8 feet. When I hit and went under, water immediately went up my nose.

They told us that after we jump in we should immediately swim away from the boat 1) to not get jumped on top of and 2) to not get sucked into the boat' propeller. OH.MY.GOD. I started swimming so I get could out of the way and took care of business (peed) and then really started. June was right there with me and off we went.

You know what? Alcatraz is really far from shore. The water was fairly flat, though wouldn't stay that way for long. To get to Aquatic park from Alcatraz, instead of swimming directly at it, you have to swim towards the left of it towards downtown. The reason being is that the current is pretty strong and if you aim for where you want to go, the current will slowly and surely sweep you out to the Golden Gate Bridge and beyond. I didn't really want that to happen so I followed orders.

Swim swim swim. Take a break. And by take a break, I mean aqua running. Swim swim swim. Take a break. Swim swim swim. Flip on my back and kick furiously while holding front of wetsuit to keep from choking. Swim swim swim. Look at watch. It's only been 3 minutes.

Usually when I start swimming, it absolutley sucks and I want to quit for about the first 15 minutes. After that, I get into a rhythm and it's not so bad. Swim swim swim. This is hard. Swim swim swim. Rolling waves keep carrying me to the right and out to sea. Swim swim swim. The water is so very salty. Swim swim swim. Waves are giant and coming at me to the right which is the side I breath on. Decide to side stroke with face away from the waves. Swim swim swim. That island IS NOT getting farther away.

About halfway, or what I thought was halfway but was more like a quarter of the way, I decided that I was kinda done with all this swimming. But, I had to get to shore so I just kept at it. June kept up with me the whole way and would catch up when I decided to do some aqua running so we kinda chatted here and there. I was really impressed with how she just kept doing the freestyle and didn't really take any "breaks." I was getting a little too naseous to keep my head down so much. And I was hungry. And that water is so salty. You really have to use mind over matter. I just kept telling mysef that I was tasting too salty broth or that it was soy sauce. Yeah, that didn't really work.

After about an hour(!)...I made it to the opening of Aquatic Park. I was making an effort to keep on doing the freestyle because it really is the fastest way to get the hell out of there, and as I was lifting my head up and forward to sight and spitting out water and trying to take in a breath at the same time, a blue kayak floats about 5 feet in front of my face and into my line of vision and a photographer took a picture. "Great," I said in my most sarcastic voice and he replied, "No! It was a great shot!." Right.

Once inside Aquatic Park the water was as smooth as glass. No rolling waves, so I just put my head down and powered through it to make it to the beach. I figured I could do it in about 10 minutes. Swim swim swim and then I could see the bottom. I stood upstumbled to the beach, gingerly testing out my calf muscles as they tend to get crampy from the cold water, and there was Chris, June's husband with his camera, and Iron Mo, and some people from our loosely organized USF team taking more pics. I ripped off my goggles, crossed the timing mat, got my medal and walked over to hug Iron Mo and waited for June to come in. She was there a mere 5 minutes after me. Then I almost threw up. Just kidding, but I really had to use mind over matter to keep it down. All in all, I made the 1.2 miles in about an hour sixteen. (I'll get the official time in a day or two). I'll probably never do this swim again, since it was so hard and I was so miserably nauseous, but never in my life did I ever think I would swim in the San Francisco Bay, from Alcatraz. I had the Golden Gate Bridge on my right, the bay Bridge on my left, Alcatraz behind me and this beautiful city right in front of me. It was amazing to see everything from that vantage point and it was worth it.

Pics will come later.