Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Went into work this morning from 8-12 to feed the seahorses and the mola mola and then headed back home to open presents.  Got to open presents out on the porch in the 65 degree sunshine with A Christmas Story playing in the background.  Got a bunch of great gifts from the fam back east and now just chillaxin till dinner later tonight.

I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas!!!

Ride #2

Went for my 2nd ride this morning out to Pebble Beach.  We ended up going 40 miles, doubling my mileage of my first ride!  It was a gorgeous morning with the sun shining, the wind blowing, and the whales just a mile or so offshore.  We went from Seaside down the bike path through Monterey, into Pacific Grove to Asilomar and all the way through 17-mile drive just past Pebble Beach, turned around and headed back to Seaside.  It was exactly 40 miles and my legs were feeling it pretty good on the hills those last 5 miles.  It was fun and a great workout and I look forward to going even further next time!!

Borrowed Wheels

I borrowed a road bike from some friends down the street, a couple that Megan met through the running group in town.  I got to try it out for the first time this past Saturday morning and outside of the 38 degree weather it was pretty fun.  We went 16 miles, hit a couple of hills, and stopped for breakfast with some friends on the way.  We will be going out again this weekend too but for at least 20-30 miles this time!

Thanks Jan for getting it all sized up for me!

Happy Holidays!

This is the first Christmas I will be spending away from my family.  It is quite depressing actually but I'm a very lucky person and have a special someone to be spending the holidays with instead.  It's been a hectic week trying to make sure that I order all of the presents in time for them to get sent to the east coast.  And the past couple of weeks have been filled with holiday parties and junk food!!!  I cannot wait to start training again after Christmas.

Here are some pics from the past couple of parties:

Revised Movie List

I'm making some necessary updates to my all-time fav Christmas movie list (ref: 2010 List) with just a few changes.  First off, after watching Elf a number of times already this season I've decided that it is more than qualified to move up a few rungs on my ladder.  I think Will Ferrell is absolutely hilarious and I could literally watch this movie every single day during the Christmas season.

"Santa, here??  I know him.  I know him!"
"Buddy, how are we gonna get the star on the top?"

This movie truly embodies the spirit of Christmas and makes you appreciate your family and loved ones that you have in your life and are lucky enough to spend the holidays with.  Elf you have now moved from #6 up to #3.  What about A Christmas Story you ask?  Well unfortunately that has moved down a couple of spots to number 4 with A Charlie Brown Christmas making its way up to #2, congrats Charlie Brown; of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest!

So the 2011 List is as follows:

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas

3. Elf

4. A Christmas Story

5. Christmas Vacation

6. It's a Wonderful Life

7. Home Alone

8. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey)

9. The Santa ClausE

10. Gremlins

One good thing is that I have watched the Polar Express, a movie that I had never seen before and I thought it was pretty good.  It would be even better in an IMAX theater but it was still a good movie.  Unfortunately I don't think any of my "Almost Made It" movies are going to move up but if any of them have a shot it's probably Rudolph since I honestly cannot remember the last time I watched Gremlins.  And I just watched Rudolph last week!

Less than 2 weeks!  Happy Holidays!

Party Season!

With the holidays among us there have already been a number of holiday parties with a handful more in the coming weeks.  This past Wednesday was my department's holiday party, held at the Heritage Harbor Conference Room which is technically a part of the aquarium but on the other side of town.  It was a pretty nice party with a lot of good food and apps and a TON of desserts.  We could only stay for a little over an hour though because the Relay for Life Kickoff event was the same night so, being on the committee, I had to attend.

Then last night we went to a friend from work's holiday cocktail party as well and had a blast!  This week we've already got 3 parties lined up; one's a running club party, then an ugly sweater party and one of Megan's friends is having one on Sunday.

Happy Holidays!!

Family Visit

My sister and her friend Kortnie came to visit me last weekend and we had a blast.  They flew in Thursday night with a box full of canolis from Mike's Pastry!  Thanks Dad for picking those up and to Betz for making sure they made it safely across the country!

Friday morning we got up and went into the city of San Fran.  We got to see a lot of touristy locals like the Painted Ladies, Union Square, China Town, North Beach, we walked up Lombard Street to Coit Tower, down the Embarcadero to Pier 39, and ended at Ghirardelli Square.  We then took a cable car back to Union Square and saw the tree all lit up and then jumped in the car and headed back to Monterey.

Saturday we went out to breakfast at my fav place the Old Monterey Cafe on Alvarado St.  From there we did the 17-mile drive and had lunch at Pebble Beach (thanks for my $26 salad Betz!) We went into Carmel after that scenic tour ended and Betz and Kort were able to do some window shopping.  Megan and I headed back to Monterey for a bit to get some stuff done and then met up with Betz a little bit later but not much else went on that night; although I did enjoy a couple of delicious pizzas from Giannis...I guess nobody else was hungry!

Sunday they came into work and I showed them around the aquarium.  They got to help me feed the octopus and Betz had a pretty close encounter with the younger female.  She will tell you she was attacked but what really happened was that as she was about to feed the octo chased after a couple of rockfish, scared them up on the side of the tank, and then proceded to grab one and eat it right there in front of us!!!  Betz's high-pitched scream outweighed my laughter and amazement.  It was a pretty incredible experience that I had never seen before.

After we were done walking around the aquarium we went to the local sushi place on Lighthouse Ave called Crystal Fish.  That way the girls got their California sushi.  But that was the last trip on the tour of Monterey and we had to head north to the airport from here.  It was a very brief trip but absolutely great to see my sister who I miss terribly!