This morning I kissed a sleeping Matt goodbye and left for work.. works seems like a different world after weekends as nice as this past one. We had a lovely bday celebration and spent most of it away from the heat, in foggy Half Moon Bay.

Half Moon Bay is a cute little town. They have these little stores everywhere with benches and the mandatory older husbands sitting outside waiting for their shopping wives. We went to a kickass sandwich shop (very good, but I think Little Luca's Sandwich Shop in Brisbane is still better, not to mention the Godfather) then went to a doggy beach where every other dog seemed to be a chocolate lab.. I'd never seen so many! What's up with that? Chocolate labs everywhere!! mm.. chocolate.

China had a blast running around in the sand. We played frisbee for a while and she thought that playing 'Keep Away' was the best game ever.. whenever she'd pick up an errant frisbee she'd pick it up and shake it around like she was killing it which I'd never seen her do before. We did a pretty good job of keeping her out of the water, until we were distracted by another chocolate lab we ran into who was completely immersed in gopher hole investigation. We had a good chuckle at her persistance and as soon as we turned around China was gone. She'd trekked her 97 pound self down this steeep embankment, just so she could wade in the nasty ocean water.. ew! Luckily Matt found a hose and she was sprayed down well before the drive home.

Yesterday I made a honey cake in the pretty 'lil bundt cake mold I got last Christmas. The recipe was from Martha Stewart's Living (subscription given to me from Lizette, danke) and it was pretty yummy! It uses a lot of sugar and honey.. ahhh.. sugar coma.

Last night I watched Donnie Darko. Hearing all the buzz about this movie made me curious.. plus I really like Jake Gyllenhaal and his real life sister who play siblings in this movie.

It's an absolutely beautiful movie at so many levels. It's hard to me to review any movie without it seeming like a cheesy junior high book review. But forget all the hype about this movie and see it for yourself.

Yay, it's Matt and Isabella's bday tomorrow! ;)

Just bought this

and this

and this

and this

Someone stop me.

Mmm.. crabs. Me wanty.

Happy Birthday, Isabella!

Ok, so she won't ever read this, but yay! Isabella is 10 years old today.. weheee..

Stole this from Wayne's site. It's funny cuz it's true! heehee.

Today is gloomy, cloudy, dark, and foggy. I love it! This is my favorite kind of weather.. I'm in bliss. Sure, sunny and clear is good too.. but I think I mainly agree with people when they say, 'what a nice day' to be amicable. To me, this is the perfect weather.. for snuggling up on the couch, for riding Isabella, for hiking through the woods with China, shopping, or sitting by the beach.

I think it's because growing up in PV, most days were like this. In the early mornings the fog would roll in and a stillness would come over everything. There were cars moving, people doing their thing, but everything was blanketed in a quiet calm.

In lunch news, I'm getting closer to perfecting *the* bring-from-home bag lunch. Trader Joe's has awesome burritos, but the chicken and green chile ones are the best. Add a nectarine or banana, trader joe's passionfruit yoghurt, and something salty (like beef jerky or a few lime corn chips) and that's the perfect meal. A harmonious balance and sweetness and saltiness.

I've finally decided to shoe Isabella. As much of a big fan as I am of keeping her barefoot, her feet are just getting jacked up because she's in a stall now. I'll probably pull her shoes for the winter and hopefully one day when I have her out in pasture, but for now she needs to have shoes for when we ride over anything rocky or hard. So, today I'm meeting with a Natural Balance farrier for Isabella's shoeing appointment. Natural Balance shoeing is probably the next best thing to barefootedness.. unfortunately Isabella's last few trimming haven't been great, so her hoof angles are off, which is even worse than having shoes on. Ah well, I hope this farrier works out.

Friday night I went to the movies with Laquel and Mark.. AvP. Don't bother with it. Hoorriiblah!

Mark was nice enough to dogsit China for the weekend so Saturday/Sunday was spent in the city with Matt. We did all the usual touristy stuff, ate sandwiches at the park, walked around Fisherman's Wharf, went to the Farmer's Market at the ferry building (late). It was a lovely weekend.

However, it was riddled with more gastrointestinal problems.

Saturday evening we made this KICKASS dinner of chicken fajitas. Mucho yummay. As pleasurable as the meal was, my stomach burned for the next 5 hours as I was coiled over in the fetal position. Last week was particularly stressful on me emotionally, and combined with the spicy food and lots of coffee, my stomach/small intestines brewed the perfect environment for a bleeding ulcer. I found this out after googling 'black poop' as a result of a trip to the bathroom.

The next morning my stomach still burned but to a much lesser extent but going down to the ferry buildings was rough. I felt dizzy, light-headed and weak. I layed down for a little bit after we got back, then we went to the Berkeley Marina for some fresh air where I felt eons better.

Last night I treated Matt to Yammy sushi.. Mmm. We ordered 5 different rolls and I kept asking him, "Are you sure? It's a lot of food.." and he kept replying, "Oh yeah, I can *eat*. No problem." I was skeptical because compared to a lot of guys I've known, he doesn't really put it away like some guys can (like Amit or my brother, whoa nellie). Anyways, food came and as we were eating I could tell he was getting really full with lots of roll left. Sushi was oozing out of his ears and finally with 2 pieces left, he finally looks at me with sad, puppy-dog eyes and says, "Sorry baby, I just can't." haha! He amuses me.. it's such a guy thing, I love it.

Before I forget, the quote of the weekend.

Setting: Sitting at Matt's place watching Olympic Equestrian Show Jumping.

Matt: You'd think the female horses would have the advantage because they don't have their ding-dongs hanging down.

tee hee!

I'm having gastric disturbances today. Yesterday's pork burrito with beans and salsa cultivated a lovely environment for my stomach to begin acting up last night and on to today. It hasn't reached stage 3 category yet, but it may be headed in that direction - watch out Punta Gorda! I thought I could appease it with a Diet Dr. Pepper and a Godfather sandwich (which, btw, the only bad thing about this sandwich is realizing after you've taken the last bite that its gone), but alas, it only seemed to anger the gastric gods even further. Mind over matter.

I wouldn't mind if it went category 3 though.. it kind of feels good after the storm. Everything is calm and peaceful.. still and quiet.

South Koreans were gipped!! Both of the South Koreans performed way better than Hamm over the competition.. damn Americans. ;)

One great horsey weekend after another..! (with my favorite person, who could ask for more?) :)

Friday night started off with a night of Cavalia. Tickets were expensive at $80 a pop, and I was hesitant at first, but Matt had convinced me that I *really should go* and it didn't take too much for me to change my mind. I'm glad I did - the show was absolutely amazing. Worth every single penny!! I really have nothing to say other than GO SEE IT! Even if you aren't a big horsey fan, you'll be amazed. Our seats were right next to the $300 "VIP" seats.. I had so much fun!

Saturday afternoon we went to my company picnic held at Bay Meadows Race Track. Matt was pretty amusing - he donned a Panama hat and a somewhat muted Hawaiian shirt for the occasion. He looked like he had just stepped off a cruise ship.. hot. I convinced him to go down the airslide with me and we had a pretty good time betting on the 4 races we saw.. he won $29 off a $10 bet, woohoo! I won $11 off a $5 bet.. not bad. We both came out in the hole, but I think we'll be back. The atmosphere was pretty fun down by the track and I could see spending another weekend afternoon there.

I left Matt to his own devices afterwards to go ride Isabella. It was pretty chilly and windy that afternoon.. so when I tacked her up and got on, she was moving pretty stiff. This was after a week of 'rest' to recuperate after last weekend's hoof soreness. I was worried that she wasn't moving very well on the concrete parking lot so I asked Lloyd, an old-timer cowboy who's been riding forever and a decade to watch her walk. He said she seemed a little stiff, not any big lameness.. so I should go up the trail a ways and see if she loosens up. I'm glad I took his advice.. I was going to just get off of her and give her another few days off, but once we got on the trail, she was moving out great and was eager to go. We went about 5-6 miles at a good pace on soft footing.. she was awesome despite the chilly windy prime-spooky conditions. When we got back to the barn, she was still a little tenderfooted on the parking lot.. she definitely doesn't like that footing. Hopefully her Old Mac's will arrive soon so we can start riding with those on.

I met up with Matt again later that evening and we both had a hankering for crab (mmmyummay). So we ghetto'd it up and went to Art's Crab Shack in Oakland. Talk about swanky! This place oooozed of the Ladies Man from SNL. The restaurant's atmosphere and guests were quite entertaining and highly amused us. Oh! And the crab was to die for!! Donning a bib and metal ball CRUSHERS, you dig in to a pile of crabs cooked for you with loads of garlic, butter, and mushrooms. *drool* SO FRIGGIN GOOD.

So, I'm slowly turning Matt into a horse obsessed freak like me. Actually he'll probably never get to the point I am, but he's definitely turned around from his pre-Julienne era when he was pretty much intimidated by them. He's agreed to accompany me on another endurance ride next month.. he's pretty darn awesome. :)

I think this is one of the most scattered random posts I've ever written. My grammar also sucks, but ah well! I have to give a tutorial/presentation to a bunch of people tomorrow at work which may explain why my synapses are firing randomly in my brain. Cripey.

The horse shows up in almost every mythological writing,folklore, religion, and spirituality. There is the mighty winged Pegasus,the eight-legged horse of the Norse god Odin, the stallions of the Hindu sungod, the stallions of Apollo, and the 4 horses of the Apocalypse and so on. Many legends speak of the horse as being clairvoyant and able to perceive humans with mysterious powers. No single animal has given man/woman thephysical freedom of movement as the horse. If you are drawn to Horse, you feel a power in your spirit that is sometimes difficult to control. Horse is a symbol of loyalty and devotion, and faith in his master. He says that you love to travel and progress, and have more than a touch of gypsy in your soul. Horse is also your warrior spirit - the brave fighter who brings you safety in your journeys, both physical and emotional. Horse's medicine includes power, stamina, endurance, faithfulness, freedom to run free, control of the environment, awareness of power achieved with true cooperation, interspecies communication, expanding one's own potential abilities, friendship and cooperation, travel, guardian of travelers, warns of possible danger, Horses can symbolize coping under difficult circumstances.

A photo of Isabella and me at the River Crossing at the Fireworks Endurance ride. There are about 4 of photos- notice Isabella's rapt attention on the people across the bank - there were firemen on site just in case anything happened (but of course to her they were HIGHLY abnormal and very suspicious). First picture is nice, notice how firmly her feet are planted. The second one is okay also - steering was pretty critical because there were some large boulders at the bottom of the river. Third photo - I'm kicking at her pretty hard to keep her moving cuz there was a guy on the other side yelling at us to keep going so it looks like I'm pleading with her to continue walking. I especially like the last of the 4.. what the heck am I doing?? I look like I'm going to fall off. And who knew I did that thing with my tongue when I'm concentrating? DORK!!

Which one should I buy? I'm not going to buy the 4th one.. They're about $40/pop in 8X10 format, but the scenery is so pretty I want to buy one of them.

I like the new Honey Nut Cheerios commercial. You know, the one where all they're selling in the grocery store are boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios? A customer is in the produce section, comparing two boxes of Cheerios to see which one is heavier, another one is walking down the dairy isle, scanning over the boxes of Cheerios in the deli fridge to see which one she wants. My favorite is the customer at the meat counter, pointing out which one he wants to the butcher. He points to one box, the butcher points to a box, the customer goes, nonono - *that* one and points to the box he wants again. The butcher pops his head over the counter to look where he is pointing then disappears behind the counter to grab for the box he thinks the customer is pointing to. HAHA. Cracks me up.

I had an odd dream this morning. I dreampt that I had thrown up.. I had eaten something that had made me really ill and I found a wicker waste basket to throw up in. I remember thinking, "This basket isn't lined, how am I going to clean this up??" About this time, my alarm clock went off and I woke up. I found I had COMPLETELY drooled, all over my chin and down my neck. GROSS!! It's been a long time since I've drooled, let alone cause a mass floodage on my face like that.

Ridestory posted!

Note - I wrote this for ridecamp, so it may have redundancy with what I've written here. :)

I'm just a bundle of excitement today. You know what's tonight?? The day before tomorrow, and you know what's tomorrow?? The day before Saturday.. and you know what's Saturday?? The Fireworks Endurance ride, woooohooooo!!

My mind is completely distracted at work. I've been getting stuff done, but I find my thoughts drifting off to what the ride's going to be like. What starting the ride will be like, what the vet checks will be like, what the river crossings will be like (hopefully not like DSC 4228-4234), what the finish is going to be like, what camp will be like.. I'm totally daydreaming with interjected thoughts of paranoia - Isabella coming up lame, Isabella being a freak, truck/trailer breaking down, etc.

Eeeeee!! I can't wait!

Debating whether or not I should attempt the rollerskating dog walk routine again this afternoon.

I need to do laundry and I'm afraid because I know it bothers my neighbor downstairs. I'm "the noisy neighbor".. my floors are all hardwood pergo and I can hear myself stomping around even when I'm barefoot. My truck is also pretty noisy. Is the TV on too loud? Argh, I'm totally parnoid. Thank goodness Ms. China is a quiet dawg.

Did you know when you're in MS Word and you type 'aldehydes', it wants to correct it to 'baldheads'?

Courtesy of my coworker. :)

This Friday, I will be heading off to Santa Cruz to ride in The Fireworks 25. I haven't ridden in an "endurance" ride in 3 years, so I am a bit nervous about the whole thing. I have no doubt that Isabella is prepared for the ride.. we'll be going pretty slow, but there are just so many different things to remember! I'm going to be a bundle of nerves.. heck, I already am just thinking about it.

If I put it all in perspective, it seems silly that I'm getting so worked up about a 25 mile ride. After all "real" endurance rides are considered more like 50+ miles. This past weekend was the Tevis Cup, an internationally famous 100 mile ride which goes from up near Tahoe ending in Auburn, CA. The ride begins at 5:30am Saturday morning and ends 5:30am Sunday morning. I'd like to be able to finish a 100 mile ride.. one day.. I figure everyone needs a crazy goal like that in their lifetime. Riding 24 hours covering 100 miles is mine.

Saturday night was Walt's bday party at Chevy's in the city. I'm not sure WHAT the heck they're cleaning their floors with, but the whole restaurant was like an ice skating rink. Being that our table was the farthest away from the bathrooms, I put on quite the show for the other patrons as I made my way carefully across the floor in my 4" heeled boots. I slipped several times. Anyways, the night was very fun.. most of the early evening was spent making fun of me "overreacting" at a recent game of RISK at Laquel's. WHATEVER guys, whaaaateverrrr.

I haven't been writing too much lately. It's hard to find things to write about when 90% of your thoughts are consumed by a bloggy "secret". Muhah!