I have a dream...

uh, actually.. I had a dream the night before last.. that I was on a 4x100 relay team running the anchor leg... yea.. must be the sprained ankle doing its thing to my subconscious...

By the way, the doc said, nothing broken and no tears. Just gotta watch the little bone spur in my ankle and see how it reacts to this most recent sprain. Yes, it was that obvious from the x-rays that I have sprained this ankle many times before. It was funny how he also said that he knows my personality type - that I need to let my ankle heal before I get back into the swing of things again. It was like he could read my mind and knew what I was thinking.

Most of the swelling has gone away. I started my rehab exercises today with the thera-band. It feels good and seems to have helped relieve the swelling - probably popped a blood clot somewhere because my foot wasn't as puffy as it was this morning when I woke up. I can put a little more weight on it, although the assisted calf raises are a bit rough on my ankle, but I definitely have improved my ankle range of motion since earlier in the week. Still gimping around a bit, but it's getting there....

gimps central.. or just me???

So after I posted that entry about the sports injuries, it was only fate that I would eventually do something really damaging to myself... At least I waited until the entire weekend was over and I had enjoyed all the different activites and the sunshine including a slight sunburn)...

Even though I won't know for sure how much damage had actually occured until I see a doctor (hopefully tomorrow), I am currently on crutches and incurring some major calluses in my armpits! I managed to sprain my ankle pretty badly this weekend at my basketball game. Both the inside and outside of my right ankle are black and blue. I don't think that I broke anything, but the ligaments (already pretty loose, I would imagine, from all the prior sprains) are even looser now, I would guess. (ok, I really wanted to say "postulate" instead of "guess" for some reason, but that just sounded weird)... I was going up for a jumper in the lane as the defense collapsed around me. When I landed, my ankle simply gave out. The funny thing was, even though I was in a lot of pain, and dripping sweat (it was the middle of the 4th quarter), I was more embarassed about being the center of attention. It seemed like forever before the pain subsided enough that I could relax a bit and stop clawing the other players who had offered me their hand to grip. When I finally was able to sit up, my teammated grabbed my arms and legs and had to carry me off the court.

Although I did manage to go to work this morning, after a while, the ankle started throbbing because all the blood had flooded to my ankle - which it is what it should do if my immune system is functioning properly. I ended up going home early and stopped by the drugstore to rent myself some crutches, hopefully, I won't have to use them for more than a few days. Then I spent the remainder of the afternoon on my living room couch, leg elevated, ice bag over my ankle, and nothing to do except for watching on TV or reading the stuff I had brought home from work. Mind you that my internet connection wasn't working correctly, so I couldn't even fry my brain with some surfing.

I finally ended up calling Comcast Tech Support a little while ago. See, my place is on two levels. The host computer that is hardwired to the cable modem and router is on the second floor. My computer, is on the first floor. I managed to get Comcast on my cell phone, then hobble around with my crutches to the stairs (which isn't exactly a gradual climb), hung on to the cell phone with my teeth without disconnecting the guy, and hopped up the stairs one at a time. Then once I got upstairs, I hopped around on my good ankle to disconnect the power on the router and modem, while trying to evade the mishmash of wires and cables behind the desk. Once that was taken care of, I hobbled back down the stairs, still with the cell phone in my teeth (and drool all over fabric phone-holder-thingamajig), and to my computer. Did I mention that I had an ice bag taped to my bad ankle the entire time?

So, now, it is around 7:45pm. I am at home, thinking about all the activites that I will miss this week: yoga class, softball practice, volleyball game, soccer game, basketball, etc etc... Hopefully it will be well enough by Sunday so I could at least get off my ass and go outside for a while, even if it is just watching from the sidelines... maybe my body is telling me something, eh?

I am not an avid reader, but....

am I part of GenMe?

read it and tell me what you think...

cherz's doodlin' wall

endless hours of mind-numbing entertainment.. just remember to clear your cache to see your doodles at work!!!

http://www.cherz.com/doodlin/

we must be running out of news

We must be running out of new things to talk about if stuff like this makes the national news...

Oh yeah, that and all the crap about Barry Bonds too. Nobody would care if he weren't chasing the home run record.

Get a life!

an epiphany

I play

• volleyball = jammed fingers & floor burns on elbows and knees...
• volleyball & basketball = jammed fingers, floor burns on elbows and knees, ankle sprains, and bruises all over...
• volleyball, basketball & softball = jammed fingers, floor burns on elbows and knees, ankle sprains, bruises all over, and raspberries from sliding...
• volleyball, basketball, softball, & soccer = ???? hmm.. could be dangerous...
• tackle football, anyone???
  

wide world of sports

Sports are really awesome, especially team sports. It brings so many people together from different backgrounds. I have met so many wonderful people from playing different sports. When you get a bunch of personalities that just gel well, it makes participation even more enjoyable.

I think that one of the best examples is my basketball team. I am amazed at the cohesiveness of this team. I don't think that I've ever been around a group of people who have so much fun together being silly. We range from age 25 to 41, tall, short, quick, strong, etc. Our backgrounds are all different, only that we all managed to end up together at this point in time.

Over the weekend, the team went out (on a non-game night) bowling and had a blast! It was also refreshing to be around each other in our everyday clothes and not be covered in sweat! We were all strangers not that long ago. Now, it doesn't even faze us to yell out "Are you wearing underwear?" to each other in the middle of a game.

I know that people come and go, but I hope that this one sticks around for a long time :-)

It's official...

I'm addicted to this game.

Damn you, Cuz!

Level 25 qqk747

145

Today is a good day. Stepped on the scale this morning and was surprised to see 145 on the reading pane. I fluctuate anywhere between 3-5 pounds in any given week. It has been a few months since I got down to this size. guess it helps when I don't work a second job anymore and have time for exercise!!!

ROCK ON!

rants and raves

I am ranting. I am raving. I am ranting and raving.

Usually, I am a pretty level-headed person. I am a little spazzy sometimes, but usually, I can keep my cool, even at the more irritating things. Well, not today. So I am going to rant and rave.

How did this all come about? To make a long story short, today was the day I was supposed to notify everyone at work about the upcoming "social" event to be held next week. You ask, "but I thought you were a (insert occupation here),".. yes, I am that too, but for this go around, I am also in charge of the latest social event at work - courtesy of my "voluntary membership" on the social committee at work.

Anyhoo, so we are putting on a spaghetti luncheon/fundraiser and need to tell everyone about it so they can come and eat donated food and socialize for a few minutes during lunch. Since we have a work policy to not "spam" everyone in the building (there are other groups besides us), we have take care to use the correct listserv address. So yes, I search my Outlook address book for the correct listserv address, check spelling, grammar, dates/times, etc.. and hit SEND. Oops, I forgot the attachment... that listserv email can't accept attachments anyway...oh, well, no biggie if people get a duplicate copy...

So I copy/paste the info into a new email, check formatting, etc...when one by one, that little new mail notification pop-up box shows up in the right-lower corner of my screen...we have Win 2003 so I can see the 1st line: "Laura, there is no attachment.." yes, yes, I know, I know.. I grumbled to myself. So I open up the email, start typing a reply to this person...new mail notification pops up again...ugh...(who is it now?).. "attachment?"...ugh.. yes, I KNOW.... ugh...grumble grumble...So now that I have three different emails open, the Outlook main screen, and the Adobe Acrobat screen that I was working on, and the copy of email from my sent mail box, .... new email notification....Message from Laura Chen re: Spaghetti Luncheon....YES, i KNOW! i SENT THAT EMAIL! ugh! I KNOW that I'm on that list.. grr!!! Damn-it! I just hit the sent button.. without the attachment.. but, hey! to the correct Outlook Group so they can actually see the attachment... if I had attached it, that is...

Okay..calm down.. your officemate already thinks you're a bit loony for talking to yourself...but dude, people C-H-I-L-L! C-H-I-L-L! ... new email notification... Message from Laura Chen re: Spaghetti Luncheon...... YES YES YES... GRRRR... (what is it with *#$&!@!!) ... new email notification... Message from so-and-so re: Spaghetti Luncheon..."What attachment?"....(ARG!) ....NEW EMAIL NOTIFICATION....MESSAGE FROM some-other-so-and-so RE: SPAGHETTI LUNCHEON............

(insert expletive here(insert expletive here)(insert expletive here)(insert expletive here)(insert expletive here)!!! (insert expletive here)(insert expletive here)!!!

copy/paste/spell check/check email address/check attachment/ SEND

ahhhh......(*sigh of relief*)........

corporate accounts payables, this is Nina speaking.... Ju-st a mo-ment..

So it seems that my work phone number is one digit off from some research institute. See, every once in a while, I would receive a phone call asking for someone that didn't work there. While that's nothing unusual, the ones where they start leaving incredibly detailed descriptions of their menopausal symptoms are...

The first phone call came about 3 or 4 months ago. Some lady had left a message on my voice mail inquiring about participating in a study on menopause. It wouldn't be such a big deal if she hadn't started to leave complete descriptions of the symptoms she had experienced - you know, "dryness", and I'll just stop at that one to save you from the graphic details. Unfortunately, she must have been calling on her cell phone, because all the crackling muffled out the contact phone number she had left. Thus, I had no way of reaching her to tell her she had the wrong number.

A couple of weeks later, the same lady calls back. This time, I was at my desk and answered the phone. Literally, the first words out of her mouth after I had said "Hello, this is Laura" were "Yes, I am calling about the menopause study..." Lucky for me, I was able to interject before she began another lengthy description of her symptoms. I felt kind of bad because she was obviously embarassed, even over the phone, but hey, I figured that she would at least know why she hadn't gotten a call back and I wouldn't get anymore strange calls.

Go figure, earlier this week, I answered my work phone as usual "Good morning, this is Laura." First words out from the caller were "Yes, I am calling about the sexual dysfunction study..."

Grease Monkey

So a few weeks ago, I discovered a leak in the trunk of my car. I wasn't quite sure where it was coming from and had to do some testing to figure it out. After tearing apart the back of my car several times (to coincide with rain showers and then only weekends where I wasn't out of town or wanted to be lazy), I finally found the source of the leak two weekends ago.

Basically, the rear lights sit over part of the bumper where there is a matchbox sized hole on both sides. I don't know why this is, but it appears to have been purposely made that way. Anyway, the interior neoprene stuff (not the exterior rubber weatherstriping) that is supposed to seal the hole between the plastic light cover and the interior of the car had partially torn away from where it was supposed to be. Thus, instead of creating a waterproof seal, dirt and muck from the puddles that I like to drive over were getting stuck in the gap, and water was seeping through into the trunk.

With a little help of the sales guy at Knecht's, I bought some neoprene weatherstripping stuff and a couple of bolts (to replace one that I had broke and one that I lost somewhere underneath the metal car body and cannot reach) and again dismantled the back end of my car on Sunday. Once again, I removed all the plastic paneling and put all the little screws and bolt and caps in a ziploc bag and fuddled around with the weatherstripping until I was happy with the fit. I even found use for the plastic model glue (that had been sitting in my desk for how ever many years since I last put a plastic model together) for some added bonding to the plastic parts. I replaced everything in its place, including the back seats that I've had to take apart, screwed and bolted the parts back together and my car almost looked normal again.

The Spring rains should help give the seal a good test. Hopefully, it won't leak anymore and I would feel a good sense of accomplishment that I fixed it all by myself. The only thing left to do is de-rust my car jack and replace it in the trunk. With a little luck, I can then tackle the fuse panel (needs a new cover) next, maybe the interior handle for popping the hood, or even the front bumper.... we'll see...

I wanted to be a PE teacher when I grow up.

Yes, that was what I wanted to be whenever someone asked me that question. At the time, I didn't know it, but I probably knew myself better back then than I do now - the PE part anyway was true. The teacher part, maybe not so much.. Well, maybe..

See, for the better part of my childhood, I didn't know sports existed, except maybe for the running track in elementary school until 3rd grade. Until I was about 10 years old, I had never so much as had a ball, raquet, or any other sport equipment of any kind. That was the year that I moved to the US. That was the year I learned about kickball, tetherball, four squares, dodge ball, and pilo polo (kind of like field hockey, but with nerf sticks and balls on blacktop). From there, I watched football and baseball on TV for the first time when I was 11, saw classmates playing basketball and handball in the school yard when I was 12, and heard about other girls playing in softball leagues and boys in pop warner football.

I wanted to try all of those things - they all sounded like so much fun! I would ask if I could play softball, or basketball, or football, anything.. anything. But it was "un-girl like" for me to participate in sports - I remember mom saying. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom - the difference between my mom and I is that we grew up in very different households and different times. It wasn't kosher for girls to play sports where she grew up.

Anyhoo, so back to why I got started thinking about this. Before my volleyball game last night, there was a girl about 10 yrs old hanging around the court waiting for her mom to finish playing. I had my vball with me and was shooting baskets with it. The girl looked kind of bored, so I invited her to shoot around with me. I helped her adjust her shooting form and encouraged her to try different things, like using her legs when she shoots. It was just a different experience for me. I've never really had an opportunity to do that before, other than with my sister when she was younger. On occasion, people would ask me if I ever coach basketball. I always thought they were crazy because I am of the opinion that coaches were athletes who started playing the sport when they were in kindergarten, and then at least consistently at the varsiy high school level and maybe some college - as opposed to me, who hardly played varsity as a high school senior and then only city leagues afterwards. I don't even consider myself as good, just average, you know?

But anyway, with all the thoughts that had been running through my mind lately about a career pursuit/change/whatever you want to call it, or at least how undecided I've been about it, something in my subconscience must have woken up and reminded me that I wanted to be a PE teacher at one point. And yes, I thought about going into sports therapy as far as my junior year in high school, but then found out that I had to take anatomy and dissect cadavers. The idea of cutting into dead people didn't sit well with me, so I had stopped thinking about it.

Maybe I ought to think about it...

distance makes the heart grow fonder...

Every once in a great while, I catch an old friend of mine online. We've known each other since high school and have managed to keep in touch throughout the years even if we do not live in the same area anymore. As we've both grown older, we have become very different in some ways. Nonetheless, whenever we have the opportunity to chat, it always surprises me that it feels like we could tell each other anything no matter what. It is REALLY COOL.

It is also kind of weird because the last time we spent time together in-person was 4 or 5 years ago. And I don't even really remember what we did. I think we went out for dinner, or something. We probably just caught each other up on what's been happening in our lives and chatted up a storm.

Sometimes I miss my friend. There were some tough times that this person has helped me through and was there for me when I could not confide to anyone else. Perhaps that is why I feel so comfortable talking my friend, even though I couldn't tell you what kind of foods my friend likes, or even what my friend's favorite color is, or what kind of car this person drives now.

I am glad that I met this person. I am glad that this person is still in my life. I am glad I have this friend.

know thyself...

So I went to open gym at a local middle school the other night. My sister had told me about it. A nearby church sponsors the freebie time and anyone could go play, regardless of affiliation. Iniitally, my sis and I were going to go together, but she became ill. I went anyway since I am always up for basketball, regardless of how horrible I may be.

Those of you who know me well, you know that I am agnostic. My immediate family are regular church goers. And by regular, I mean, at least weekly. They all say grace at dinner time and go to Bible study, etc. So yes, they are believers.. and I am not.

Anyway, one of first things that the group did was stand in a circle and prayed. Out of respect, I bowed my head and was silent for the duration. And then we played ball for the rest of the evening.

So, a few days later, I was talking to my sis and mentioned that I did not expect the prayer part, that it was kind of weird for me. She asked me why, and I didn't have a good answer for her. So I have been thinking about it and I think I've figured it out. Yes, it seems kind of weird that I didn't put the two together, but sometimes that's how my mind works, or not work, depending on how you look at it.

My answer is: I felt uncomfortable in that situation because I felt like I was going against my own beliefs. Out of respect for others (because everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs about things), I will usually bow my head and be silent during those situations. But yes, it really makes me uncomfortable. And yes, it is because I don't believe in the same things, and I am compromising my own beliefs.. I think that is why I don't like situations like that. So there it is, I said it.

I wanna go back............

It was worth getting up at the crack of dawn to be there at 7am..

Great Scots! (*wink*wink*)

Even the incoming storm did not deter us from trekking that day..

where were you?

I was watching a documentary about the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption on Discovery Channel earlier. It got me thinking about the major news and world events that has happened during my lifetime. Frankly, I don't remember the eruption at all. It probably didn't help my memory because I had lived on the other side of the world at the time and was would only turn 3 yrs old later that year. Although, since many of the people I know now had grown up in the Northwest, they all seem to remember exactly where he/she was and what he/she was doing at the time.

So it got me thinking about the major events in world history that had occured so far during my lifetime. I think I will make a list of the "I do remembers" and the "I don't remembers" and add on if I remember more.

The I don't Remembers:

• Mt. St. Helens eruption - May 18, 1980 ( I just watched the documentary, so the date is in my head)
  
• Challenger explosion - January 28, 1986 (had to look this date up - later that same year, I would have moved to the US and turned 9 yrs old)

The I do Remembers:

• Fall of the Berlin Wall (I had this piece of concrete encased in a plastic polymer for a long time. Don't know where I got it, but my recollection is that it supposedly was a piece of the Berlin Wall)
• L.A. Riots/Rodney King (my sister reminded me of this one. It was listed in the yearbook my sophomore year in high school)
• Gulf War (I was in my typing class in junior high when they made the announcement over the intercom that President Bush had made the decision to invade Bagdad at 1pm that day. Oh yea, and I always seem to remember the cartoon I saw of Saddam watching CNN and the camera showed a missile coming down at him, live. Remember the green flashing lights and the talk about patriot missiles?)
• Waco, Texas (David Koresh and the smoke coming plumes from their cult compound)
• 9/11 (My roommate knocked on my door asking me to go watch the TV broadcast. It was showing the jumbo jets plummeting into the World Trade Center. It looked so unreal, like a movie. I did end up going into work that day, but was told to go home)
• Oakland hills firestorm (I lived across the Bay. You could see the black smoke in the sky. Years later, while living in Oregon, I would hear a story from one of my friends who had lived through it. )
• Thurston High School shooting - May 1998 (Vase majority of the population would remember Columbine. I don't remember Columbine, but I do remember the Thurston shootings. I was a junior at the University of Oregon. Heard what had happened and I drove down to the school after a few days. Flowers and notes adorned the school's fence. It made me sad.)
• Tianemen Square, China (saw the student protestor run over by a military tank on TV.)
• Invasion of Panama (I only kind of remember this. Something about Noriega being a bad guy.)
• SF Earthquake - October 17, 1989 (game 4 of the World Series at Candlestick Park. Pieces of the ballpark fell on people. I was living in Sacramento at the time, but wrote something in school about it)
• Princess Diana's passing - August 1997 (Jen & I were on a roadtrip back from somewhere. We were staying in a motel room. She was sleeping and I was watching TV broadcast of the funeral.)

Ok, enough for now..

my family...

Mt. Pisgah @ Sunset

this picture was taken last December.. but I just like it!

2 degrees farhenheit

So said the ski bus guy. It was the warmest spot on the mountain that day - between Mt. Bachelor, Hoodoo, and Willamette Pass. We were headed for the warmest of the three. Bachelor was at 2 below and Hoodoo at 1 below. Maybe it's a good thing that I hadn't waxed my snowboard since my last ride.

I am not an early morning person, most of the time. But if it involves some sort of fun activity, like hiking on a sunny day, playing in an all day softball tournament, or, in this case, snowboarding, I don't have too much trouble getting my lazy self out of bed.

The hour-long ride seemed short since I didn't have to do the driving. Not much snow on the road side until about 15 minutes from the Pass. Even then, there were signs that ice had taken over the mountain, so catching an edge and falling could be quite painful. I wished that I had brought my sunglasses though as the bright sun was beaming through the bus windows and striking my eyes at odd angles. So much for catching some zzz's en route.

Stepping off the bus was like walking into a one of those giant freezers. A slight wind was blowing around what little snow had fallen that morning. Albeit, no fear - once I get going, some of the layers that I've got on are coming off anyway.

I managed to convince Cody to head for Duck Soup instead of the bunny hill to get started. The lift ride up the slope only reminded me of how awesome the outdoors can be, even in 1 degree weather. Although slightly obscured by the lift, the view of Diamond Peak and the surrounding area was magnificent! The sky was that bright blue, with a few clouds passing by here and there, and white glistening now all around. I wished that I had brought my camera. Man, it's gonna be a great boarding day!

It took a few moments for us to get going as Cody has only been boarding one other time. Man, if I was not impressed with his ability to keep plugging away at it despite all the tumbles and falls he kept on taking trying to balance himself. He even managed to accidentally tumble into a side-to-side 360! My stumbling highlights came a few short moments later, when I caught an edge while turning, went airborne, and landed about 6 feet from where I had started. From Cody's recap, it looked like I was skydiving sideways, with my feet in the air and face plant in the snow. We now call it a "downward facing dog - snowboarding style". Aside from one other tumble onto my noggin (trying to avoid an indecisive skiier), the rest of my runs were smooth and comfortable. I felt like I was gliding across the snow - a sharp contrast from my Silver Star trip a couple of weekends ago. I was even passing other boarders and skiiers with ease!

In all, it was a great day to be boarding. Even the butterscotch flavored hot chocolate drinks at the lodge weren't so bad!