Browse Category: goodies

a not-so-dull-after-all day

I woke up this morning thinking it would be a rather dull, laundry-filled day. Well, instead, I had a semi-eventful day.

Woke up this morning and had a nice 3-mile jog with the husband and doggie. There was a mist of light sprinkles throughout the run and lots of ducks and birds in the river to keep me occupied. Then we went to the mall and actually found the Garmin Forerunner 205. It just came out and Garmin has been having some production issues so it’s been really hard to find. But we were the lucky consumers who happened to go to Sport Chalet on the day they get a shipment of ONE 205. Awesome. It’s a nifty little thing with improvements from the older version I’ve had for a while. I’m thinking of taking it with me to Summit tomorrow. I always wondered how far and how fast I can go down the mountain on skis. Haha. Don’t worry, Mommy, I’ll be careful.

This afternoon, Jes and I went to Supercuts and I finally did what I’ve been contemplating all month. I cut my hair. It’s not your average trim though! I cut 10 inches off. Whew! I also donated it to Locks of Love, which is a non-profit that makes wigs for children going through cancer treatments. For my donation, Supercuts gave me the haircut for FREE! Great program…a little kid gets a new hairdo and I save 15 bucks. Woo hoo!

By the way, UCLA made it to the NCAA Championships. I’m SO winning my tourney. It’s too bad there’s no money in play.

by the numbers

I learned about Su Doku back in May when I went to Borders and found a bunch of different puzzle books on display. It’s an interesting logic game that I was curious about but didn’t get around to trying. When I was in Florida, I bought my first book of puzzles. I tried it on the plane ride home and seems to be a very effective way to pass time. With a couple puzzles under my belt, I’ve come up with a couple tips for beginners:
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1) Try out web-based puzzles to see if you like it. Go to: http://www.websudoku.com for free ones.

2) If you’re ready to buy a book, find one that has the puzzles printed on good quality white paper…avoid the stinky newspaper pages.
3) Use a good mechanical pencil and eraser. I recommend a Zebra-brand pencil and a Pentel click eraser.
4) You’ll probably want to try it on your own at first. It’s hard to do a puzzle with another person…we each have a different way of solving logic puzzles so it can get confusing when there’s another brain involved.
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If you like crossword or word find puzzles, you might enjoy this. I’ll be bringing my book with me to Thailand for sure. Along with my iPod, GameBoy, and laptop, it’ll be kinda nice to have something low-tech too.

Let’s go shopping!

Since Marie is spending Christmas in New York this year, I thought I’d drop off their presents early. Well, it mostly because I got Cole a really cool toy and I was excited to play with it myself. Now that he’s able to sit up on his own, this is a really fun way to work on his motor skills too (haha – I’m still thinking like a therapist). Anyway, it’s pretty neat with lots of lights and music. The dinosaur even says “Rowr” when the ball falls through his mouth. Very cute.
Last night, I hung out with Marie and Cole again (second night in a row). This time we went on our usual shopping trip. This time it was to my favorite store, Target. This trip was fun since it was the first time Cole was able to sit in the shopping cart seat like a big boy. He was so excited and seemed to have a pretty good time. He’s up higher and isn’t strapped in as tightly as he usually is in a stoller. I think the best part was that Marie was able to shop around without having to worry about him too much and we didn’t need to push a shopping cart AND stroller. We even met this strange man who apparently LOVES children and spent a good five minutes making Cole laugh by making faces and funny sounds. It was rather awkward for me and Marie but Cole seemed to get a kick out of his antics.

yes!

My birthday came early this year cuz I’ve got my toy! Jesse bought me the D70s today and I got to play around with it this afternoon. I snapped around the house, snapped the dog (more than just a few times), took it to the dog park for some action shots, and played with the settings. The shutter speed is awesome, it feels solid, and the wide angle gives my digital photos a new look. I can’t wait to take it to Thailand!

slow down, clip out, brake, foot down

I went to SuperGo with Jes today to get him a new helmet and ended up getting a pair of cycling shoes for myself. At first, I was pretty scared to try them out on my bike because they’re the kind where your feet are clipped into the pedals. I’ve heard lots of stories of people out on the road unable to clip out in time and fall sideways into the sidewalk. But Jes taught me what to do and had me try it out back and forth in our driveway. To my surprise (not to mention Jes’ too), I didn’t fall and he didn’t have to catch me either. It’s actually pretty cool “being one with the bike” when you’re pedalling. It’s just going to take some concentration and practice to get in and out without looking like a total newbie. Hopefully, when I try them out on the open road (with real speeding cars around) I’ll be ok. Wish me luck!