Past Weekend

The weekend has come and gone and despite having some crazy deadlines to meet and having to be a slave to work, I had a pretty killer weekend. The fun started pretty early on Friday evening with a rare girls’ night out and continued on through an intimate dinner with some friends on Sunday night. I must say that I was able to spend time with everyone I needed to see this weekend and had an awesome time in the process. Granted, it really does feel like I spent this entire weekend just eating…but hey, I’m definitely not complaining because the food certainly was top notch.

I spent some time with the family this weekend. On Saturday night, I hung out with my bro and broke my cousin out of college life prison for a night. We enjoyed some bonding time doing some light shopping, eating some good food, and getting a tour of her new apartment in the fog. Her dorm room is crazy nice…complete with a spacious common area, a full kitchen, and what appear to be perfectly sane roommates…can you believe that? Shesh. Yeah, you can tell I’m jealous. :-/

Anyway, I also found some time to hang out with my friends this weekend. I hit up a picnic, ate some good ‘ole bbq, hit some golf balls and played some video games. I’m definitely a little rusty with the golf swing…haha. I mean, c’mon, everyone knows that golf is definitely not my sport, but you can’t fault me for not trying. I would give props and kudos to my swing instructor, but I don’t know if he’d appreciate that…so…moving right along. As for video games, well, it was nice being able to play again…I’m always up for a nice rousing game of Mario or Rock Band. Haha.

As for this coming week, it’s going to be a busy one…although my vacation is almost upon me…and it’s close enough that I can taste it. :-)

Weather

What's up with the weather lately? This is ridiculous. First we had to deal with unseasonably cool temperatures, now we're in the middle of a freakin' heat wave...and in another couple days we'll be back to below average temperatures. What the heck, man?

Yesterday was 96 degrees in downtown San Francisco!!! Can you believe that??? 96 degrees in San Francisco!!! I know it seems weird, but it was actually nice being in the office yesterday since it was nice and cool. Who would've ever thought that being in an office would be a nice place to hide out on a hot day? I mean, sure, it would've been nice to be soaking up the rays and increasing my chances of skin cancer on a crowded beach...but, what can I say? I prefer sitting in the office and chatting online to having to face the blazing heat outside.

As for this coming week...the temperatures are going to rapidly drop...and things will return to normal. I'll be able to sleep comfortably again, not need to shower multiple times a day and be able to go outside without complaining about the suffocating heat. Haha. Yeah...can't wait for that.

Besides being extremely busy...things are going pretty well for me. ;-)

So Tired

It’s Monday morning and I'm totally ready to end my day. My alarm clock went off this morning and I had the hardest time getting out of bed. And just thinking about the week ahead is getting me tired already. To make matters worse, this past weekend wasn't nearly relaxing as I needed it to be. Granted, I had loads and loads of fun, but still...definitely not kick-back relaxing.

I wish I had it in me to post more...but I don't. It’s gonna be a long day. :-(

Congratulations

My youngest, coolest, and funniest cousin, Bradford, has not only turned 18 this week…but he’s now also a licensed driver!! I don’t know which one is more unbelievable…Bradford, the baby of the family, turning 18 and being allowed to vote (that’s trouble) or Bradford, the most rebel rousing driver I know, actually getting his driver’s license and having access to a car (double trouble). Haha.

Congratulations, Bradford. Beware world…

Pro Circuit Training

After getting my ass whooped on in my pro circuit boxing class last night…I’m definitely feeling the burn. I’m not gonna lie...I had problems this morning. Everything was a chore. Getting out of bed was uncomfortable, showering seemed to anger my sore muscles, and washing my hair and getting dressed was just downright torture. Yeah, I know, I’m complaining again. But, to be honest, I’m too sore to care.

Yesterday was my attempt at the pro circuit training class and regular boxing in general…and I must say that it’s a lot of fun. Granted, I always leave every class dripping in sweat and completely sore for a number of days afterwards…but still…it’s always a great feeling. It’s only an hour class, but it seriously feels like the longest hour of my life. We spend the first twenty minutes jumping rope and working on core muscle drill exercises (squats, sit-ups, push-ups, and other excises that make my muscles scream). We spend the next thirty minutes boxing with bags and then partners (which is pretty awesome and keeps me sweating). And then we spend the last ten minutes on just straight cardio and more crunches. Ugh…yeah, not only is it pretty exhausting, but the trainer is really good about getting in my face and yelling…haha…and I love it.

Anyway, so yesterday, my big mouth got me into some trouble. I had my boxing gloves on and just finished a good round of combinations of beating the punching bag to a pulp. I was feeling pretty good about my workout and was thinking I could take on goliath at this point. I was then partnered up with a dude, about my height, for boxing exercises and simulations…he wasn’t all that intimidating to tell you the truth (I wanted to spare with a big dude). Well, I learned a very important lesson. Looks can be, and are, very deceiving. Haha. As I was boxing with this dude, I could tell that he was taking it easy on me. I could land a couple punches on him and ducked fast enough to avoid his…I was thinking that he was being super sweet by taking it easy on me...but after I started talking trash…haha…things started to change. Although I was doing a good job of blocking and throwing punches, I took an uppercut punch to the chin and felt my head snap back. Holy crap. Haha. He made sure I was ok before landing some punches in my ribs and stomach. Ugh…

Sooo, note to self, keep the hands up to protect the face and stay light on the feet so I am ready to run. Haha. I bow down to you, little man…I bow down. :-)

Welcome

I've been having a hard time finding the time and motivation to blog these last couple of days...I know, I know, all I've been doing is complaining lately and I'm sorry for that. I'm sure you guys know that I can go on and on and on about all the stress I've been dealing with...I could explain and elaborate further for those of you who are interested...but I guess you guys are sick of hearing about that, huh? Well ok.

I need to appreciate the good and positive things that are happening so I don't get too down on the world. Sooo congratulations are in order today. Currently, my super cool cousin is in the process of moving into the dorms at SFSU...wahoo. So Carissa, if you're reading this, welcome to the City (gotta love the lovely weather)...and I can't wait 'til we start hanging out!!! :-)

Pulled Muscle

So I think I pulled a muscle.

As you know, I've been hitting the gym pretty regularly over the last couple months and, I think, I have a nice routine going for me. I do a mix of cardio and weights about four days a week and I think I've been doing a pretty good job. I do about an hour of cardio a day and spend about half an hour on weights...and hey, I'm up to benching about 50 lbs. That's not bad, right? Anyway, a couple days ago, I decided to up my sets and push myself a little harder. I was doing some shoulder presses at about 75 lbs...and was totally feeling good about it...until the next morning. 75 lbs is probably too much for me because now, I think I pulled a muscle in my shoulder. That's the only explanation for the shooting pain I get when I raise my arm above my head.

So, even though it might kill me, I'm gonna need to take a couple days off and rest my shoulder. Ugh. I hope it feels better soon because I hate messing with my workout routine.

More Posts Needed

Since June, I've been having a difficult time getting back into the swing of things and blogging twice a week. I mean, according to my archives, I only have 3 posts for the whole month of July. Shesh. I’m gonna have to be better about that because that is unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. Haha. Seriously, blogging everyday in June must’ve thrown me off.

But anyway, this past weekend I spent some family time with my super cool cousins up in Sacramento…let’s all say hi to Carissa and Bradford (hi guys). We always enjoy some much needed “kids time”…hanging out and having fun without those pesky parents hanging around…you know how that goes. Ha!

As for this week, things are going to be busy. I've had a lot to deal with lately, you know, I’ve only been back from Maui for a week...hahaha (yeah, I didn't think I was going to get any sympathy for that). But seriously, besides that, things really have been super busy. As I alluded to in my previous post, I've been barely staying afloat and having a difficult time keeping track of everything going on…but hopefully there will be relief in sight. Hopefully. But in the meantime, I have some super cool plans this weekend to pull me through the week and hey, I’m putting the finishing touches on my upcoming vacation to NYC…so wahoo for that too. :-)

Maui-Rific

Yes, I'm back from Maui...and minus getting massively sun burnt from the tropical sun and eaten alive by mosquitoes during a hike through the rain forest, I had a completely awesome time. I mean, seriously, who doesn’t enjoy a trip to Maui? And I must say, Maui is the best Hawaiian island, hands down...it's not as boring and quiet as Kauai or Kona, but also not as busy and overpopulated as Oahu...Maui is just perfect. It's almost like Maui is for the cool people who really love going to Hawaii and know where all the best kept secrets are (they’re all on Maui, btw). But anyway, moving right along...

As with any vacation I go on, I love to keep myself busy and find something super cool and exciting to see and do. Because I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit Maui almost once every other year, it can be hard to find something new and exciting to experience during each visit (yeah, I know, you are all crying me a river...hehe…whatever). Sure, I thought my family knocked that out of the park with a hike through the rain forest in search of waterfalls…but I came to the conclusion that, apparently, I’m the best tasting feast that mosquitoes have ever tasted (judging from the amount of bites I received)…so that really wasn’t as fun as I had expected it to be (beautiful, yes…fun, no).

So this year, in addition to the normal activities I always enjoy in Maui, my brother and I did get to enjoy zip-lining for the first time in Hawaii (which btw, is super cool and fun and I highly recommend it). Granted, we paid to go on the “upper rim” zip-lines, but since the weather was a tad too windy during the morning hours, we only got to do a couple zip-line runs and enjoyed a ride on a giant swing. Oh man, has anyone ever been on one of those giant swings? You can usually find those at any amusement park…it’s basically a giant swing that catapults you into the air and you swing back and forth waaay above the ground…ring any bells? Anyway, when my brother and I found out we were going on one of those ginomous monstrosities…seriously, I thought I was going to wet my pants. Not only was the weather a little on the wet and dreary side, but the swing was placed right at the edge of the cliff (meaning we were sent out to swing over the side of the mountain right over the canyon)…it definitely was the scariest thing I’ve done in awhile. But, in the end, it made the zip-lining experience feel like a walk in the park. Hehe.

But anyway, I've been back from vacation for only a couple days...yet seem to be craving my next one like you would not believe. I've had to deal with a super busy week so far, and now realize that I'm only halfway through...it's mildly depressing. I mean, it’s been a struggle to keep myself afloat these days. I’m already up to my ears in work and don’t see any relief in sight. I’ve had to hit the ground running immediately after returning and am already completely swamped. Ugh. I can’t wait for the weekend.

Well my pictures are up, so feel free to check those out. Gotta love all those flower pictures I took, huh...?