A weekend for Susan G. Komen Raft for the Cure last weekend in Moab, Utah.
After work on Friday, we started the 4hr drive. I was hoping we’d hit Moab before the sun was down - yeah, we didn’t get there ’til 10:30. We quickly pitched the tent and headed to bed.
The main reason I hate camping is the restless sleep. To combat that, we brought an air mattress. Well, I didn’t factor Wudan in the picture and all the surrounding noises of other ppl camping. The first night was horrible, Wudan got up at least a dozen times. At one point in the night, I turned to him and said, “You are worse than the ppl.” He decided he’d have a better nights rest in the car. That left me and the boy in the tent. I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and got:
“I’m not dad.”
“I know you’re not dad, I’m just giving you a goodnight kiss.”
“Oh.”
“I’m task on keeping you warm for the night.”
“Oh.”
In the morning we quickly got ready for the bus ride out. Wudan was stoked!!
We had an awesome time! I especially liked who we were rafting with - two other moms that helped me keep an eye out on the boy. If I can remember their names. . . I’d be awesome.
We just lounged at dinner - can you tell we’re exhausted??
Don’t worry, I had my priorities straight!!
I think this is going to be a yearly event for the family. It goes to a great cause and we had a blast!!!
So a couple months back Carebear wanted to do a couples-biggest loser contest and put some monies on it. Basically who losses the most wins. But I was really uncomfortable with betting money. Which is really crazy because I use to take weekend trips to Wendover, Utah and lose $250 at blackjack without a bead of sweat. Now I’m like. . “Oh hell no!” Save your pennies girlfriend, you never know what could happen.
Well at this year’s BBQ - I stopped a fish friend’s fiance and she was so skinny!!! I asked her what she was doing and she said it was a friendly version of the Biggest Loser at her work. The girls were just motivating each other to lose weight. Being healthier with snacks etc.
I thought - heck that sounds better than putting some kind of bet on losing weight (because I rather spend money on the hobby if you know what I mean)
So here’s the deal -
I’ve started a blog, Biggest Loser - Friend Edition.
If you want in - you get rights to post to the blog.
Rules:
1. We start today or whenever you decide to join.
2. Weight in date is every Wednesday
3. At least one blog entry a week
4. End date: 12/24/09
That’s right! I hate the rain. . . well I hate it because it ruined my BBQ on Saturday. This is how dejected I looked talking to the President of the fishclub:
Lets rewind a bit. . . each year I’ve ran to be a presidency member for the Wasatch Marine Aquarium Society. Then at the beginning of the year the elected members volunteer to what events they will be in charge of. I’ve choosen the Member Appreciation BBQ and the Reef Tour.
I’ve been in charge of the BBQ for three years now. I think each year gets a little bit better than the last.
The first year - we had fire dancers:
The second year we had games that involved whip cream:
So this year, I thought I’d have a lot of little games. . like a carnival. There was two things that kept the masses from coming, June and all the freaking rain!!!
Lucky for me, Carebear, Frik, Guildy, and Shinobi helped me man most of the booths. I think people’s favorite was the Spray-Away game (shooting pingpong balls off golf tees with tiny water guns) and throwing pies at the President’s face:
I think as the rain fell harder, I got more and more bummed. I guess there’s something to say when 60+ people venture out in the rain to the BBQ. I’m not that sad. . .
So if you know me well enough, you know that my real name isn’t Sukie. Where does Sukie come from??? Well when I was in Jr. High, that was my nickname and it was mainly due to the Japanese song, “Sukiyaki”
Now. . . when I got the name - it was mainly because of 4PM’s cover. . you remember 4PM don’t you? Okay if you don’t I don’t blame you, they only had this one hit in 1995.
So if you know my real name besides my internet name, then you would probably say it’s Amy.
When I moved from Sandy, Utah to West Valley City, Utah - I had a different name. Hang. That right. I was teased for 3 grades. . I hated my name. And if you know my parents then you know they call me Baby Hang in Vietnamese.
So when I moved to West Valley City - I was lucky to move next door to a girl that was my age. She later became my best friend for years and years. Her name was Nga. Here’s the pronunciation (warning you must have speakers on). Nga told me to call her Kim.
When it was time to registered for 3rd grade, she told me that I didn’t have to register with my real name. I could choose an alias. AWESOME!!! She told me that I could choose any name I wanted. The ones that stuck out to me and was popular was:
Jessica
Brittany
Stephanie
Kim (but already taken. . . )
Then I thought to myself. . are there rules?? Like her first name is three letters does mine have to be?? So I asked her. . and of course she thought that you had to have 3 letters in the name. What the hell else would a 3rd grader think!?! Shit, what’s a 3 letter name that isn’t Kim?
Amy.
That’s how I got my first name and that’s probably the name you know me as. . . .
When I was young, my parents worked every day - well it seemed like every day. I would get dropped off at the babysitter’s and they wouldn’t come back ’til the sun went down.
There was one babysitter that had a preschool in her basement. At noon it was nap time. She told me to sleep on the couch downstairs while the other kids would sleep in other rooms. At one point, I felt like why can’t I sleep with the other girls in the girl’s room? So I schemed. . . I don’t remember how - but in the end I wasn’t able to sleep with the girls in the girl’s room. Why? Well, I realized it one day - it was because I wasn’t white.
This other babysitter, one day I was playing house with her kids and out of the blue she dragged me in a room and slapped me across the face. I must of said or did something wrong with her kids. . . but I can’t remember.
I think by the time my parents let me go to kindergarten. . . I would walk home and watch myself.
When I had the boy, I was lucky. I was lucky to have canoe. Both Wudan and I had to work to make a decent living. Canoe watches the boy everyday. She makes sure he gets a snack. She makes sure that if he’s sick - he gets meds. There’s one point where I was talking to her on the IM and she tells me that the boy wants to use the computer so she’s going to jump off. She cares and loves unconditionally and I’m lucky to have her in my life.
I’m trying my best to pay it forward.
Before Wudan’s surprise party, carebear asked if I could watch squirt. I didn’t even think about it. “Sure!” Yet, my whole story for the week was not to see any of our friends. . .yet I would babysit for one. . . kind of asking for holes in my story don’t you think?
Our other couple friend asked me to watch their kids and again I said, “Sure!” Now I didn’t really realize I’d have 3 kids running around my house and I’d have to juggle them. I thought, if the boy keeps their boy at bay then I could keep their lil’ girl busy. What’s the plan? I did need to do chores around the house. . how bout a lil’ slave-child-helper?!?! That worked! ‘Til I was too tired and had to make dinner. The girl got bored. . . and started to test our limits. . . but I made it.
In the end, I think I am paying it forward since Canoe has watched my son for so long without asking for anything in return. On the other hand. . the kids are in good care. I don’t want any kids to go through what I went through when I was little. Jumping from one stranger’s house to the next and not knowing what to expect is scary.
The previous owners of the house left us with really ugly curtains for our dining/kitchen. My biggest complaint was that no light could ever get in. They looked like this. . .
After months & months of agonizing on what to do with it we thought we’d have a couple dozen trips to Ikea to get this idea:
What do you think??
Thanks to my mom-in-law for help sewing the fabic - it ended up looking really good and letting tons of light in (the pics were taken around 8pm)
The boy’s birthday just got over with and now I have to deal with Wudan’s. (I choose “deal” for a reason).
I didn’t think I would really do anything for Wudan’s birthday. He’s already got some awesome gifts. A 30gb Zune, 1 nerdy computer graphics book (size of a textbook), and parts & tools to fix a recently purchased Nintendo from the local thrift store.
Wudan was hoping to invite some friends over this weekend, have some sushi and hang out for his birthday celebrations.
At the beginning of the week, I told Wudan that I would really like to spend the weekend just relaxing. No friends.
Only Wudan knows this, but every once in awhile I get antisocial. It gets to the point where I don’t want to see anyone or go anywhere. On these occasions, I would complain to Wudan and we would just make like a garden and veg for the weekend. I think I get this way because I’m an only-child. If you fall into our regular hangout buddies, don’t get upset. “It’s not you, it’s me!” I’m a very social butterfly and I attribute that to being an only child too - but there’s times where I need a break.
So I told Wudan that I would really like a weekend without friends. . . .
Little did he know that I was planning a surprise party for him - totally last minute. I sent out invites on Wednesday for a party on Saturday.
Here’s are some of the conversations between friends and Wudan:
wudan07: nah she just doesn’t want to hang out
she wants to stay home striker: so, again, am I invited, or is this a no-Striker weekend? wudan07: i don’t know, Guildy thinks we can all change her mind
i think she is planning a surprise for me, personally
but then again she may not
Another Striker & Wudan: wudan07: well in a best case scenario she’s going to have a surprise party for me in the worst case scenario she’s only annoying all of our friends by telling them to piss off which is making me pretty upset about this entire thing i mean, the house is in reasonably good shape, i was planning to mow the lawns tomorrow after work and have people come over on saturday whatever this is just annoying Striker: From the conversation that I just had w/ sukie, I don’t think that’s happening, bro Plus, if she IS planning a b-day party, unless it’s not on Sat evening, I can’t go, ’cause now I’ve committed to going on a dumb date so, will you please tell her to tell me if she is planning a surprise party so I don’t freakin miss the thing wudan07: haha you’ll probably have more fun than i will Striker: screw that it’s a blind date the girl’s probably ugly as sin
Conversation with guildy: Guildy: man sukie is really not wanting to do anything that sucks! i’m trying but i can’t convince her Wudan: tell me about it striker was on the verge of tears well not quite Guildy: haha that sucks! i have to try and get her to let us come up and get the chairs sometime but i kind of don’t want to push it this weekend we have barstools it’s fine i guess Wudan: there’s that and i want to show Shinobi my totally rad graphics book, and watch ‘up’ that new pixar movie and i want to get ice cream and junk but it’s all for naught she can’t be moved so i’ve given up Guildy: i’m sorry!
Thursday night at dinner, I told him:
“Honestly, why the hell would I throw you a surprise party?!?!”
“Because that would be awesome.”
“Not for me! I would have to round up our friends and plan. . geez! Can’t you just give me one weekend where I don’t have to be social?!?!”
“Yeah. Striker is really upset. He thinks you have a big chip on your shoulders.”
“He can suck it then!” (no lie!)
What amazes me was all the friends giving Wudan crap about hanging out - not once did he bother me with any of the conversation. He took it all in and pretty much left me alone.
I will say on Friday he im’ed me that made me freak out: wudan07: i love you so much sukie80: really? sukie80: I love you too sukie80: Where did that come from? wudan07: from my heart sukie80: really? (at this point I’m like “HE KNOWS!!!”) wudan07: truly
All the lying and hurtful things I said to throw him off - was rewarded in the end:
I would like to give a BIG THANKS to those who help me pull it off:
Striker - for the constantly lying and pressuring Wudan to hang out! And help settings everything up!!! Guildy - for the pressuring to hang out and definitely help setting things up!!! Thanks for making a cake too! Shinobi - for being the Grill Master at the party!!! Carebear - for keeping things cool the night before. And help setting things up and making an awesome cake! Frik - for finding the keys to the garage to get the BBQ out! And help setting things up! Everyone who attended: for the great Surprise & the awesome side dishes!!
Went to my first aerobics class since the ankle injury, how was it? It was kind of shakey (literally) but overall good.
I was talking to Wudan about this last night.
Remember Nancy Kerrigan? Well she was a great American Olympic figure skater - won a couple of medals in early 90s. Well in 1994, she was hit in the knee with a baton by a hired thug. The injury resulted in her not being able to compete in the Olympic trials and the spot went to Michelle Kwan.
Well Nancy’s famous words at the time of the attack was, “Why me? Why anybody?”
I always thought that athletes getting injured was apart of the process. In the end you should just stop crying over it and walk it off. It doesn’t help that they’ve made their millions of millions on the sport. Use the millions and millions to get your body back.
Well my workout changed my opinion last night. I thought I could just “hop” back into action. I’m glad it wasn’t a cardio heavy workout class but some of the exercises still reminded me that I’m not 100% yet. I still have a long way to go to get my ankle back to where it was. If I didn’t have my left ankle supporting 60-75% of the weight I think I would of collapsed last night.
Do you think I’m pushing myself too hard?
Damn straight I am. . . I can’t sit on my ass. I have things to do. Feeling sorry for myself is not the answer.
BO or body odor. . . usually means the smell of bacteria growing on the body. Apparently the bacteria multiply when you sweat. . sweat is always odorless.
I was talking to guildylocks about this online yesterday - how can you not know that you smell? I mean. . if you think to yourself, “How long has it been since I showered?” or “Did I scrub my hairy parts good?” “Oh wait my body is totally and completely covered with hair - I should scrub everything good!”
Yesterday, at the post office I was waiting in line to get some $0.02 cent stamps (did you know the rate has gone up to $0.44 - if it gets to $0.50, I’m not sending a letter ever). Well there were only (2) workers helping people. One of the workers was telling the guy that she couldn’t find his package. I guess the guy had moved, and he had the post office hold his mail. Well I guess he was expecting a package and the post office didn’t have it. The lady was helping him to the best of her abilities. But he was being a big dick about the whole thing. At one point of the conversation:
“I can’t find your package sir - it’s not back there.”
“Well I’m not leaving ’til I get it”
“It’s not back there - do you want me to pull it out of thin air?”
“Well I’m not leaving ’til I get my package. I want to talk to your supervisor.”
“She’s downtown at a meeting, if you don’t move sir, I’ll have to call the police.”
“Fine call the police.”
So the worker goes to the back to grab some kind of assistance with this asshole. . . and meanwhile I’m stuck in line. And the two hairy guys that are in front of me have the WORSE BO ever!!!! I was down wind people! I even tried breathing through my mouth. Didn’t work too well. . .I swear I could taste the smell. BLEH!!!! So I stopped the line and the (2) guys moved a head. I think I had a good 3ft distance from them. . . I know the people behind me were getting annoyed with the gap but damnit, they didn’t have to deal with the funk!
I didn’t see what ended up happening with the douche-bag and his nonexistence package. . I don’t think any package is important enough to be mean to a complete stranger, especially if that stranger is doing her best to help you.
Couple updates:
*Ankle - doing well. I’m doing my balancing exercises on it to try to strength it back up. I’m going back to the gym this Saturday. I really miss working out.
*Brake Light - well I got pulled over again last weekend in Provo, Utah. Yup, another person reminding me that I need to get that fixed! Lucky for me I had the replacements in my car, told the officer that I was heading home to replace it immediately. At one point, he remarked on my messy car. “Looks like you have a work shop in the back seat.” I had aquarium light bulbs and an orange extension cord. . .
Oh wha?!? You didn’t know that I injured my ankle. . . (my facebook status should have given you a clue)
Our dear friends (now family) got married last Tuesday at the Manti, Utah. The weather forecast looked shitty but not that day:
So while the couple was going through the temple, Wudan & I were waiting in the vistor’s center. I wanted to walk out and do god knows what. . .but I missed the step, twisted, and landed on my right ankle pretty bad.
(if you notice. . . it’s swollen to the point you can’t see my ankle bone. . . )
Poor me and squirt were holding each other in the vistor’s center - trying not to cry our eyes out. I finally got up and told Wudan that we should walk around the temple grounds. Need to walk the pain off dude!!
(can you tell which one of my ankle’s is bigger than the other)
We finally got word that the ceremony was done!!!
(Aren’t they adorable!)
After the pictures were taken. . and an early dinner at Manti’s only tex-mex eatery. . we decided to head home. Wudan decided that I should sit back and rest my ankle so he drove my car home. He had this crzy look on his face the whole ride home:
The next day I went to a podiatrist - luckily nothing was broken but the twist tore 4 ligaments. I have to wear this funky leg brace for about (4) weeks.
This is what the foot looks like without the brace and the swelling had gone down:
