We're Here!!!

(Kitty) We made it! We're "back home" in Sydney! The plane ride was so much fun that it seemed too short! LOL! There were so many movies we still wanted to see! John's co-worker Greg picked us up at the airport, his eyebrows raised in shock at how much we'd brought with us!

Friday we spent a good portion of the day at John's work. I got to tag along and meet people and see people we haven't seen for a few years, so I very much enjoyed it. That evening we caught up with our fabulous friends Mel and Andrew and met baby Sarah - who's hardly a baby anymore! We had dinner together, tried to catch up on "everything" but John and I were nodding off early in the evening and Mel drove us back to the corporate apartment we're in. We were both in bed and dead asleep by 8:30.

Saturday was a fun day. We woke up after an incredibly restful night's sleep and started walking all around. We saw a LOT of our old favorite spots, ate at Chish and Fips on Coogee Beach - our favorite fish and chips shop - and met up with Mel and Andrew again to go see some apartments. Mel was a huge help, and we closed in on figuring out what we do and don't want. Then we joined up with Andrew and Sarah playing in the park, and talked and soaked up the warm winter sun. (It's been mostly sunny with highs in the 60s, overnight in the 40s, and looks like another week of the same coming up!)

Saturday night we again had dinner with Mel and Andrew and Sarah, but we were even more tired. Or just STILL tired. Mel laughed at me falling asleep a dozen times during "Finding Nemo" and took us home at about 8pm. We promptly fell asleep and slept all night again.

Sunday we went to church at our old church, Randwick Presbyterian, and saw a BUNCH of old friends! Even made some new ones. It was a great morning. We bought some groceries (we're staying in a corporate apartment for a month, so it has a kitchen) and lugged them home, partially on the bus, partially walking about a half mile. We had the most relaxing lunch of fried chicken from Chicken George (another favorite), read our books for an hour, then took the bus downtown - it's called the CBD, or Central Business District. We wandered around some more of our favorite shops till our feet were killing us, then looked for a bus home.

And looked...

And looked...

And couldn't find one! We are staying in an area we're unfamiliar with, so we're also unfamiliar with the bus lines going to and from that area. We finally decided to take a bus back to Randwick since that's where we used to live and we know how to get there, then take a bus from there to where we're now staying. Thankfully, we recognized a street about halfway to Randwick, Anzac Parade and the Fox Studios where John used to work, and John remembered how to get to our apartment from there. Unfortunately, it was by WALKING MORE!

We were so sore and tired when we got home we couldn't think of anything we wanted more than to soak our sore feet. John filled the tub with icy water and we put our feet in - yelling and laughing the whole time! We heated up some soup for dinner to warm up, then decided to read some more... while it lasted. John fell asleep just before 7pm, so I nudged him to go brush his teeth and get ready for bed. While he did, I started nodding off, too! So by 7:15pm, we were both sound asleep again. And stayed that way until nearly 5am!

That brings you up to date to today. Got ready for work, I walked John over so I could use the Internet and look for apartments, and no one was here! Turns out they come in at 9am, not 8am! But all day everyone has been WONDERFUL to us. I've been looking online for apartments while John gets back in the groove. Several of his co-workers have given us all kinds of advice, which makes the whole thing easier.

I'll write again when I can and let you know how the apartment hunt goes. There is a "perfect" place that we're trying to get in to see on Tuesday or Wednesday, and another nice place we'll probably see Tuesday. When the apartment hunt is over, my next task is to apply to university!! Hurray!!

Hope you're all well!!! We'll post pictures when we can. We have lots of them for you!!
Love, Kitty & John :)

Almost There!

(Kitty) It's amazing how much work it is to move to another country. There are phone calls, problem solving, emails, brainstorming, phone calls, crisis management, more emails, and then a few more phone calls.

It's Monday night and we're staying up waiting to get confirmation that we have tickets to fly out on Wednesday night. (We're staying up because Monday night here is Tuesday afternoon in Sydney.)

While there is still several big things that need to be completed (getting the tickets, getting the motorcycles prepped for storage, figuring out how to get us and all of our stuff to the airport and then getting our car to a friend who will sell it for us, packing the last few things and weighing the suitcases for the last time), the bulk of it all is done.

And thank goodness for that... because my brain is almost totally fried!

We'll write again when we can find an Internet cafe in Sydney! Love to you all!

Traveling All Around

(Kitty) We've been traveling all around Michigan for the last month, with a couple quick trips to Ohio and Chicago. It's been a GREAT time - saying goodbye to people, seeing our favorite old haunts, and experiencing the wonderful Michigan weather - from lows in the 40s and raining to highs in the 90s with high humidity. Good thing we packed a little of every kind of clothing!

We've seen almost all of our family - which is awesome - and a lot of our friends and sights we wanted to see. It's been an adventure - sometimes not a good one, but mostly good - to be sleeping in a different bed/hotel what felt like every night. We had a wonderful motel on Mackinac Island! What a blessing it was to be able to fall asleep in the dark and quiet of an island that doesn't allow cars. We rode bikes all one day, trying to dodge the occasional piles of horse manure on the roads. And we walked a lot, sometimes in the rain. It was pretty wonderful.

The whole trip has been pretty wonderful, even though we're tired. There are still several things that need to be done in Los Angeles before we leave for Sydney, but God has blessed us with so much that it's pretty easy to believe everything else is going to turn out just fine. :)

AVATAR: The Game

Well folks, for all the time I've not been writing on the blog, I've been working on a movie. The movie, as many of you have already heard, is James Cameron's AVATAR. While I can't show you anything about the movie, this article shows you images from the game that will give you an idea of what is in the movie.

>>>>SPOILER ALERT<<<<
If you guys don't want to see anything about the movie, I would stay away from the article :)

>News of the game and screenshots<

Amazing Grace!

(Kitty) Our trip to the Bay Area was wonderful! I'm not sure how it could have gotten any better unless we stayed longer. The drive was long (about 7 hours) but not awful. We got to spend three days with Myk and Annie and Grace, and then we finally got to surprise Annie on the last day - when Jill and Dwight arrived for the day! (Jill and I are co-godmothers, and Dwight and John are co-godfathers.)

We all walked to the park to play and hang out for a while, had a barbecue on Myk's new grill, played some Guitar Hero, and thoroughly enjoyed catching up with each other. (We all used to be in the same Bible study and something happened there - we just became family.)

And our little Grace amazed us all with her incredible talents! She only just turned 13 months old and she says so many words so clearly that you can actually communicate with her! She knows some of her letters, lots of shapes/pictures of animals and bugs, and she dances to the theme music for "The Sopranos." (Yes, that last one is disturbing. LOL!)

Here she is:


And here are all of us together:

For the Love of Grace

(Kitty) So excited! Tomorrow morning we leave for the San Francisco Bay Area to visit our awesome friends Myk & Annie and our beautiful goddaughter, Grace! I can't wait. It's going to be a blast.

Things are going well with the moving - the movers have our stuff and have been paid, so it really will be in Sydney in a few months. LOL! We now are needing to sell our car, visit a ton of people, and try to relax despite the busy schedule. Altogether, God is very good!! :)

P.S. Anyone know of someone in the LA area who wants to buy a 2005 Dodge Neon?

Writing Retreats Rock!

(Kitty) My four-day writing retreat is over halfway done and I am soooo happy and relaxed! Ahhhh...

Going to see if we can get the DVD player connected to the TV here so we can all watch AUSTRALIA together. Woo-hooo!!

BIGGEST LOSER

(Kitty) We had the most delicious meal yesterday - big meaty sandwiches, micro-brewed beer, and later a brownie for dessert. Mmm...

Then we weighed ourselves this morning as we do every Monday. Eek!

So today we decided to have a weight loss competition! We are both going to try to lose 22 pounds by July 2, a little more than 2 pounds per week. Eek! The person who loses the most weight gets $50 to spend however they want. If the runner-up reaches at least 75% of their goal, they get $20.

I don't care that much about the money, it's the competition that is making this fun! All I can say is - the game is on!!

P.S. Vote for ME!!

37 Days and Trying Not to Count

(Kitty) Only 37 days till we'll be moving out of our apartment. EEK! Sooooo much to do. So I guess I'll get back to it.

Wish us luck!!! :)

Busy or Boring?

(Kitty) I have a reminder message that pops up twice a week reminding me to post here. Yet it's been five weeks without a post. Granted, we are SO BUSY getting ready to move. But maybe we just lead boring enough lives that I can't think of anything you'd be interested in knowing.

In fact, I don't know if anyone reads this at all! :) Most of our friends seem to have gravitated to Facebook and I've been caught up in that pull.

I don't know, but in my mind I still can't think of what you would find interesting to read. So I thought I'd post that thought here and let you know. Tell me if I'm wrong!

I Love Surprises!

(Kitty) Thursday John sent me an instant message asking if I wanted to pick him up for lunch on Friday. It's been weeks, maybe months, since he was able to leave during his lunch so I was happy to change my plans.

Friday morning we woke up early (as usual) and watched an episode of TV. I was watching the clock when it was about time for John to get ready for work - when he turned to me and said, "What if I told you I don't have to go to work today?"

I shrieked and starting kissing him dozens of times! LOL! What a GREAT day we had! And it ended with John's company treating the employees (and spouses!) to a night at the movies seeing WATCHMEN.

The day was so relaxing, such a great change from our normal life, that we both slept so great for the first time in weeks. Ahhhh... Thank you, God! :)

My Book Progress

(Kitty) Hi guys! I just found this awesome little graphic on the Writertopia site! Here is my current book progress for my brand new book. I'll try to keep this updated so that I can get encouragement and/or a kick in the pants from my friends! LOL!

An Update

These are some of the things Kitty has been doing lately:

• Spent 12 hours driving to San Diego, meeting with a Harlequin romance editor, getting encouragement, and driving home last Saturday
  
• Spent 4 1/2 months putting off sending my hero book to an author I'd won a critique from in October
  
• Spent 15 minutes writing an email and sending the book to the author yesterday
  
• Spent undocumented hours getting tax information together, drove it to accountant today
• Spent undocumented hours getting information for Australian immigration, not done yet
• Spent 5 hours Wednesday with writer friends brainstorming on our books and eating chocolate - the books are all the better for it
• Spent 5 minutes today trying to think of something funnier to write here

These are some of the things John has been doing lately besides working 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week:

• 
  

Writing Opportunity

(Kitty) Tomorrow, Saturday, I am driving to Escondido to the Romance Writers of America San Diego chapter's monthly meeting. Mary Theresa Hussey, an Executive Editor at Harlequin/Silhouette Books, will be giving her feedback on what an editor sees when they read the first couple pages someone sends them.

The great part is that everyone attending the meeting has the opportunity to send in their first two pages for her to look at. So tomorrow maybe I'll hear something great about my work... like, "Hey, I like this, send us more!" LOL!!

Hey, a girl can hope...

Good People

(Kitty) Driving John to work this morning through the morning rain, suddenly our conversation was cut short when the car in front of us hit a pedestrian!

John jumped out immediately to help the woman, while I turned on our hazard lights and reached for my phone. I noticed the driver was already out and on the phone, so I started praying for God to be with us and help the woman. I remembered we had a thick beach blanket in the trunk, so I grabbed it and wrapped it around her. Another pedestrian had already stopped and was holding the woman's head in her lap so she wasn't lying on the cold wet pavement. Another pedestrian helped find the husband's number in the woman's Blackberry. Yet another stranger stopped with a medical kit and started examining the woman while we waited for the ambulance.

I looked around and noticed the woman's belongings were scattered around the sidewalk so I gathered them up, turned her umbrella inside right, and moved to hold it over people. John was holding another umbrella, and another woman stopped and held her umbrella. When the EMTs showed up soon after, they saw a rainbow of people colors and umbrella colors working together to help protect a stranger.

When we were back in the car and on our way to John's work, all I could think about was how awesome God made people. Given the need, more of them are likely to step up and help, than not. And that is a really wonderful thing!

Fun Times

(Kitty) Some days just make me laugh more than others. Today I was washing the dishes and a commercial was playing on TV. I was thinking, funny, that guy sounds like my friend Haynes Brook. Just as the commercial ended, I looked and - hey, that looks like Haynes! The second best part about having DirecTV is being able to rewind live TV - so I did. And it was Haynes!

Same thing happened during the Super Bowl. Our friend Richard Clarke Larsen from church was on the (Nextel?) commercial - "if Roadies ran airports." Richard is the pilot if you ever see it. Very funny! And then we started talking with Cristine Rose at church who is in Heroes, so I enjoyed the funny Heroes commercial that played during the Super Bowl, too.

Seeing people you know on TV is one of the fun things about living in LA. :)

We Did It!

(Kitty) Two days later, and we're still pretty darn tired but on Sunday, February 1, 2009, John and I ran our first Half Marathon! Yea!!! We ran the Surf City (Half) Marathon in Huntington Beach, CA. It was a beautiful day, cold and foggy in the early morning (much more comfortable for running!) and then clearing up with a light breeze later in the morning.

There were something like 15,000+ runners between the full marathon, the half marathon, and the 5K Fun Run! John was sick with the flu for three days before the race, so he was sweet enough to choose to run with me for the first 9.5 miles. But his knees were hurting from running "so slow" and I told him to go stretch his legs. :) John finished in 2 hours, 58 minutes, and I finished in 3 hours, 9 minutes. Slow, but John was getting over being sick and had been working so much overtime he had hardly any training in the last several weeks. For me, though, that was my best long-run time! I was VERY happy! And this is the longest run we've ever done, longer than any of our training (which topped out at 11 miles a couple of times).

Still tired, still craving meat (protein rebuilds the muscles), but I'm already getting excited for the next race - the Pasadena Half Marathon on March 22! Woo-hooo!!!

A Little Earthquake

(Kitty) We had a little earthquake last night. Pretty cool. Apparently the epicenter was only 1-2 miles from our home, so here it felt HUGE but it was only a 3-point-something on the Richter scale. Like our friend Ray said - it felt like a huge dump truck fell from the sky into our yard!

I LOVE WRITING!!

(Kitty) I am on a writing retreat this week with my friend Shonna, and I AM GETTING SO MUCH DONE!! I am sooo happy!!! I have a fun idea, a solid outline, and pretty soon I'll be seeing the snowball effect of pages piling up! Wooo-hoooo!!!

I hope you're having a great week doing something that gives you joy, too! :)

Finally of Age?

(Kitty) Can't help it, gotta say it - today is the 21st anniversary of the day John and I met! I know, mostly only girls care about this sort of thing, but still, I think it's pretty cool. :) John says he thinks it's weird that I think he's better than ever. But secretly, I think he loves it! ;)

Ignore This Story!

(Kitty) When you're looking at your calendar and monitoring the airfare from the United States to Sydney, and trying to decide when you're going to come visit us, don't go looking for stories like this. You just don't want to know. Come visit us anyway. Really, it's safe. (Maybe consider life insurance and be sure to say your prayers first, but... come visit us anyway.)

Click here if you just can't help yourself. But don't say I didn't warn you!

It's a Small World

(Kitty) Below is a message I got from my friend Juli in November that I've been meaning to share with you. Juli and her husband Alan and their three sons are missionaries in Russia. The stories they tell are always so interesting, but this one I found interesting because I have a lot of friends who have deaf friends and/or are interested in sign language.

No matter how big or small our family or community or the world, it seems bigger when you feel alone, and smaller when you find ways to communicate and make friends. I hope you are finding yourself in a small world today. :)


ANOTHER GLIMPSE FROM RUSSIA

Both of the translators did a nice job at the church service this morning. At the church we are attending now everything is translated, but the only language spoken is Russian. Can you guess what the translation is for? Yes, roughly half of the people attending are either deaf or hearing impaired. So everything that is spoken is translated into sign and everything signed is also translated into spoken Russian.

Today two young ladies stood in front of the congregation and signed a duet. Their feet moved slightly to a soundless beat and the joy on their faces reflected a music that no one could hear. A translator read the words into the microphone, but the nonverbal communication seemed much more poetic.

One of the most remarkable things about attending a "deaf church" is the warmth. Eye-to-eye people greet one another. A quick handmotion indicates gladness that you are there. Cheek-to-cheek women embrace. Men and women shake hands. And everywhere you look conversations are bursting out of people's hands. Those who don't speak sign are in the minority. I find myself gesturing and using animated facial expressions to communicate. Several of the deaf people can also read lips, but sometimes I wonder if my accent gets in the way. Still, we communicate.

In Russia, to be deaf is to be practically unemployable. Yet many of the people in the congregation have found work in some form or other. I can only imagine the struggles they have faced. Sunday mornings with them I see their joy. They don't come to the service just because it is Sunday morning. They come because they love God and want to worship Him. They are hungry for the sermons, singing, and prayer times.

At first, our boys weren't too sure about all the hand language. They swung their hands and arms around a bit, especially during singing. But now they are beginning to pick up some of the signs. Eric and Darin are attending Sunday school, which seems to be almost exclusively hearing kids although many know sign because their parents are deaf.

Last summer we met several of the deaf believers at camp. The church operates the camp on Lake Baikal where we held English and Family camps in July. The friendly smiles we saw everyday on the wooded paths, in the open air cafeteria and around the camp fire are there to welcome us on Sundays at the church service.

Perhaps you are wondering why we are attending here? It is where we fit for now. We continue to work with College students through Compass and desire that many of these students will come to know the joy that our deaf "Family", as well as our hearing "Family" has come to know.

Tried Something New

(Kitty) John went to work early this morning and I didn't want to run in the dark alone, so I decided to do work until the afternoon and run then. I've never run in the afternoon, but because it's winter I thought it might be nice to run down the beach around sunset (which is pretty much late afternoon! LOL!) It was a beautiful 5-mile run! But there are two reasons I probably won't run in the afternoon very often. One, Santa Monica Beach and Venice Beach where I was running had too many people in the late afternoon. Seemed I was always dodging around someone. Two, by the time I got home and took a shower it was nearly 6pm, and I was ravenous so I made dinner and watched an hour of taped TV while I ate. (The Mentalist, I love that show!) Now I'm so totally absolutely tired, I don't have the energy to do much of anything else! LOL!!

Sunday morning, I'm supposed to run 10 miles! Woo-hooo!! (Standing during the singing at church is going to tap me out energy-wise after that! LOL!) John has to work the weekend again, so he'll run whatever he has time for before work. Three weeks till the first race!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

(Kitty) Today was a long-run day, so I decided to run 8 miles. That's the most I've run since the Pasadena Marathon was canceled on November 16. What made me so happy about my run today (just me, John was sick) was that I felt sooo good that I ran the whole way. Usually John and I do the Galloway Method - run for 3 minutes, walk for 1 minute - when we do our long runs. But it was so much cooler than it's been since my last long run in early November that I just didn't want to stop. I actually ran the entire 8 miles non-stop except for red lights on the mile to the beach and the mile home. It was absolutely awesome! I practically can't wait till next week - 10 miles on Saturday! Woo-hoo!!

I know a lot of people are thinking about New Year's resolutions right now. Let me just remind you - less than 9 months ago I couldn't run to the end of the block. Make a big resolution and keep working on it, slow and steady. You'll make it!! :)

Happy New Year!

(Kitty) What are you going to do? We're going to lie around all day watching TV and movies on DVD, eating and drinking too much, and generally being incredibly lazy. Then we're going to get up Friday morning and run again.

Because we have to.

Because that half marathon is only a month away!!! Eeek!!! LOL!!

Finally on Facebook and Twitter!

(Kitty) After a campaign by many of my friends to mock me until I finally joined - I am officially on Facebook and Twitter now! It's been more fun even on just the first day than I expected! But I can see that I was right about perhaps not getting enough work done with Facebook up! LOL!

Holiday Humor

Playing with your food or Merry Christmas?

Would love to see what this guy would do with the rest of the Christmas dinner!

Back In the Running

(Kitty) After three weeks of moping around a bit and giving in to being "too tired to run" in the morning (probably from going to bed after midnight for days on end just because we could!) -

WE ARE OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR A NEW HALF MARATHON!!

We're running the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach, on Sunday, February 1 (SuperBowl Sunday). Woo-hooo! (I think.) It's kind of hard to get our excitement up again. Part of me is wondering what kind of cataclysmic event is going to happen to cancel this marathon! But... I'm sure we'll actually get to run it. And as our friend Dwight (who you may remember is trying to run a marathon, but also got cancelled out of the Pasadena one) said, "At least this one we know we can finish! It's on a flat beach, not hills!"

So John and I finally started running again on Saturday (with only 8 weeks to train before the race!). The good news is that I pushed myself and did a good time for the 1-mile and 3-mile marks. (I'm not going to tell you we only ran 3 miles. But hey! It's been three weeks since we ran at all!) Then today I did an even better 1-mile time, but missed a stoplight and was slower than my Saturday 3-mile time by 23 seconds.

The bad news is my heart feels like it's going to explode all over the inside of my chest! LOL! As John put it today, "When you're at the store today, will you pick me up a men's large stamina?"

LOL!! So - we'll keep you updated!! PLEASE leave some comments here and cheer us on!!

Did You See What We Saw?

John and Doug and I saw the awesome evening light show Sunday night, but we didn't realize at the time that it was an 'event.' It was just beautiful! I kept watching it even as we drove back into LA. Here are two cool pictures from http://www.news.com.au/ if you haven't seen them already.

Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon appeared so bright and so close together Sunday night that they appeared as a smiley face in the sky in the Southern Hemisphere (Melbourne, Australia, below),


and a frowning face in the Northern Hemisphere (Manhattan, New York, below).
Now I have the words and music from "Little Drummer Boy" in my head. Pretty appropriate. :)

Marathon? What Marathon?

Yes boys and girls, after SIX MONTHS of training and, I'd rather not say how many dollars, the Pasadena marathon was CANCELLED due to the smoke caused by the wildfires!
This heading was on Yahoo front page:
"Wildfires cause unhealthy air throughout Los Angeles"
Unhealthy Air? In L.A.? Isn't unhealthy air kind of an oxymoron when discussing air quality on the finer Los Angeles area? Oh well, they are now rushing to figure out when to re-schedule the event before 8,000 angry joggers/bicyclists storm the Pasadena council chambers to demand their money back. I'm sure it will all work out, but it was a real let down after Kitty and I worked pretty hard to get to that level . We'll keep everyone updated!

Of all the world changing events that have happened, I choose to post this...

24

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

On a side note: Barack Obama made history as the first African American to become President of the United States, and tonight is Guy Fawkes Night in England.

Vote or Don't Vote on November 4th!

Well, I know at least 5 friends look at our site, so I did my part.

What about you?

WASSSUP 2008

A lot has happened in 8 years. This ad is from the same director as the original. He went out and grabbed the same guys to shoot this spot. I hope you guys enjoy it.

We've SEEN This Spider!

When we lived in Australia, we took a trip up to The Great Barrier Reef when our friends Darrin and Stephanie came to visit us. After we went snorkeling, we spent a day in the rainforest on a tourist's tour - very cool. But one of the things all four of us will remember till our dying day is the HUGE Golden Orb Weaver spider we saw in the forest!

The spider itself was as big as John's hand with his fingers extended, and the web was about 4 feet by 5 feet or so, about 4 feet from the path we were walking. It was fascinating and not a little terrifying to see such a ginormous spider!

Then yesterday I saw this story on an Australian news site. This Golden Orb Weaver spider caught a BIRD in its web and is eating it!!! Now THAT is the kind of thing I'm trying not to think about as we get ready to move back! LOL!!

Comin' Round the Back Stretch

(Kitty) Only four weeks to go! Less, since this is Tuesday already! Four weeks left to try to get in better and better shape to make our 13.1 mile run! Woo-hoo! We're excited, but more than a little nervous. I haven't actually run 13 miles yet due to "life" interrupting our running schedule. John probably ran 13 the day I ran 11, but yesterday during our 4 mile run his knee started hurting. It's probably nothing, but all these little setbacks make us nervous about the final outcome.

Still, everything I've read says that running has as much to do with your mind as your body. John and I have "decided" we ARE going to finish the race, hills and all. (Eek! Did you hear us whimper when I said "hills?") We ARE going to finish. We ARE going to finish. We ARE...

BROTHERS BIKE RACE

I have been working some long hours lately, but thought I would post some pictures of my brother (since I don't have much of a life right now.) Here he is in a bike race where he placed 16th place out of 40 riders. Nice work bro.

Running Off Kilter

(Kitty) Some days are just harder to get through than others. John worked 13 hours on Saturday and was just too flipping exhausted to run Sunday morning. Then Monday morning he woke up sick and was in bed most of the day. Tuesday morning, today, he felt better and we did our 30-min brisk walk. Thank goodness! I think my body is actually [gasp] getting used to exercise! I felt much better after our walk today.

So - barring sickness or unforeseen disaster - we should be running again tomorrow, 6 miles down the beach and back. I think I'm actually looking forward to it! :)

Back in the Saddle - Not Quite in the Groove

(Kitty) So today we ran 6 miles, twice what we did two days ago. Yea! We've never taken water or energy gels with us for a 6 mile run. John can run it in an hour without me, and I run it in about 85 minutes. We figure it's not that long a time to wait for food and water.

BUT now that I'm learning more about how this all works, and how my body in particular works, I'm taking "food" and water for anything over 4 miles, because it takes me 51-54 minutes to run 4 miles, and I've found increased energy if I eat an energy gel at about an hour into the run. So today I filled up my four water bottles, strapped on my water belt, put some stuff in my belt that looks and tastes like gummy bears, and off we went.

Because I want to start working harder during the short runs to increase my strength and endurance, I tried to run a little faster today - and I did! I also ran uphill instead of my usual shuffling jog. Of course, at the top of the hills I had to walk for a minute to get my heart rate down! But even with all the extra walking I did in between bursts of speed, I still hit the 4 and 6 mile marks at one of my best times! I'm exhausted but happy!

John, of course, did awesome as always! Dwight and I pretend to hate him because he's such a natural athlete. He's going to do so well at the Half Marathon! By the way, if you want to see more about what we'll be doing, just visit the Pasadena Marathon web site. We'll update you again next week!

10 Days Without Running = EEK!

(Kitty) Due to a series of scheduling conflicts, followed by 5 days of vacation where running shoes were packed but never worn, it has been 10 days since our last run. It's kind of funny and sad - our last run was 11 miles! Today we made it 3! LOL!! Now we really only were scheduled for 4 miles today, and we could have made it 4, but... John decided that me passing out from lack of oxygen would be a bad thing. LOL!! He suggested we stop at 3 and walk the last mile home because he knew if he kept going, I would, too. He's right! {grin}

But this week - with only 5 weeks till the big race - we are going to follow another runner's training schedule. We'll still be running 2 short runs and 1 really long run, but on 3 more days we'll be walking for 40 minutes and doing strength training. Oh, and trying to eat properly. :)

We'll let you know how it goes! If you have any advice, feel free to let us know! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!!!

Take a minute to join me today in wishing John a very happy birthday! Send him an email or an ecard or post a message here! And if you're friends with his twin brother, David - send him a message too! Happy birthday, Dave!

Happy birthday John! I love you!!

Umm...It's Barely October

(Kitty) Okay, today is October 1st, but two days ago while it was still very much September, I looked across the grocery store parking lot to see "Scott's Christmas Trees" setting up!! What?! Trust me, if anyone is a long-term planner, it's me. But come on, guys!

Sunshine and Rain

(Kitty) I love it when this happens - I looked out the window this afternoon and saw it begin to rain. But there was sunshine all over the yard! It lasted about 10 minutes. Don't know how it works - angle of the sun, angle of the rain, don't know. But it was totally cool!

It made me forget for a moment that I had just had the car washed about 20 minutes before the rain. Ugh... :)

Double Digits!

(Kitty) We broke the double-digit barrier! We ran 10.4 miles on Sunday! Hurray!!!! The schedule called for 10, which seemed huge. But John said, hey, wanna run to that street I accidentally ran to a couple months ago? I thought, heck, if we're going to push ourselves to do this, then fine, let's push ourselves. And we DID it!!!

We were feeling pretty good, feeling like it was an easy run for the first 6 miles. The next couple were a little harder, I was looking forward to those 1-minute breaks every 3 minutes. And the last two - well, I just keep thinking that I could do it - and we did it!!

Of course, we were exhausted at church Sunday and collapsed into idleness for the rest of the day! LOL! Sunday night and Monday night I kept waking up having to stretch because my muscles were tight. I thought it would be over by today, but this morning we had to run 4 more miles and I couldn't do it!! It took me 3 miles just to get loose enough to not feel like I wanted to limp. But I couldn't make it another mile. And I didn't want to push myself and pull or tear something. So I made it to about 3.5 miles, then we walked the last half mile home. John could have made it, but... LOL!! Oh well!

Gotta keep stretching and trying to help the muscles relax even as they get stronger because - this next weekend we have to run 11 miles!! EEK!! LOL!!

For Friends to Contact Us

(Kitty) It occurs to me occasionally that some of you may have fallen out of touch with us and are following us through the blog with no way to email us. I hate putting our email address on the Internet, but you can reach me at kittysotheremail at yahoo dot com. Then I can give you our "real" email addresses. :) However, I beg you not to send junk mail to our real emails! LOL!

The Good, the Bad, and the Bloody

(Kitty) I joked with my sister Bonnie yesterday about the chances of me falling down during the race. In front of thousands of people. And news crews.

Then today - I did it! I fell. Again.

The good news is that I ran two miles today in a new record time - 24 minutes and 15 seconds. The bad news is that includes the falling, the brushing off the dirt, the walking for a block to loosen up again, and then back to running. The bloody news isn't too bad - only one knee got scraped, the other avoided most of the fall altogether. The heels of my hands hurt the worst even though I didn't break the skin. They probably took 70% or more of my weight when I hit the sidewalk.

Oh, did I mention that this is the EXACT same part of the sidewalk where I fell the first time? Sigh... Oh well. I just really need to watch that spot now. The sidewalks are not flat around here. Too many tree roots pushing up the cement at weird angles. I was all zoned into my run and didn't pick up my feet enough to miss the hiccups in the cement. The beach walk is so much better for zoning into your run. But if I'm at the beach, that means I'm running way more than 2 miles! For today, I'm tired, so I'll take the shorter run and the scraped knee. LOL!

How Does This Work??

(Kitty) So John and I did a fairly great job of running our 9 miles on Sunday. We got some good rest Sunday afternoon and Monday, and we woke up bright and early to run 4 miles on Tuesday. How in the world can we feel so freakin' TIRED?! It took me 55 minutes, and it usually only takes 52-53. Once I even got it down to 51 minutes for 4 miles. We even ate well Monday night, drank lots of water Monday, and no alcohol since Sunday night. Tuesday night I fell into bed exhausted at 9:30.

Whatever it is, I hope it's normal. Saturday it's up into the double digits! TEN MILES!! Wish us luck!!

9 Miles!

(Kitty) There is still a big part of me that can't believe what John and I are doing! Sunday we ran 9 MILES!!!! That is so amazing! I mean, John looked great - I saw him do some wind sprints a couple times, his form never lagged, and he ran more than 9 miles because he ran ahead, then circled back to me, then ran ahead, etc. But at about mile 8, I was thinking about how exhausted I was, and I remembered running down that same stretch back in March and April and thinking, "There is no way I can run for 2 minutes straight!" Yet on Sunday, we ran for 2 hours and 5 minutes!

During most of the run, I would think of things that made me happy, or future happy events like finishing the Half Marathon, or I would focus on enjoying the upbeat music I put on my "Running" playlist on my iPod. I've been learning that I keep going better when I'm feeling good, feeling happy. I ran most of my 8 miles a couple weeks ago listening to a writing lecture where the speakers were hilarious! So this week I tried to keep that upbeat mindset alive. I repeated "The joy of the Lord is my strength" when I felt tired. And at about mile 6, I started telling myself this is not a race, but a challenge. The run was just one more way to prove myself.

I kept telling myself that all the way to the end - and I did it! I ran the whole 9 miles! I'm still nervous about running the Half Marathon in November, depending on the day somewhere between butterflies nervous and throw up nervous, but as of Sunday I was absolutely positive I could do it! (For anyone who has run a marathon, John suggested we use the Galloway method - 3 minutes running, then 1 minute walking, then 3 running, etc. the whole time. "Everyone" swears by it, and we've found it very effective.)

If you've got something challenging happening in your life, keep telling yourself you can do it. I don't know why it works, but it does! :)

MOVING BACK TO SYDNEY!
MOVING BACK TO SYDNEY!
MOVING BACK TO SYDNEY!

Well ladies and gentlemen, it is official. I recently signed the papers and the plans are in the works to move back to Sydney, Australia in July of 2009. I have been asked to come back as a Lead Motion Editor for HAPPY FEET 2! I have been in talks with Doctor D Studios in Sydney for a month or so, talking and haggling over contracts and pay scale. I recently put my signature to the final contract and it is final. The studio is going to be in one of two places (they are still trying to decide where to set up shop,) so we are not sure WHERE in Sydney we will be moving too. We have thoughts of moving close to the University of Sydney so Kitty can get Masters in Creative Writing! We also have plans on getting a TWO bedroom apartment so ANYONE who wants to come out and visit will have a place to stay! We want to give everyone as much incentive as possible to come and see us (as if visiting Sydney, Australia wouldn't be reason enough!)

God has blessed us so much in these last couple of months, it's hard to believe it's actually happening. Thank you so much for the people who were praying for us as while I was in talks with the studio.

Should've Gone to McDonald's

(Kitty) How can I be 40 years old and be such a terrible cook?! There are things I can do really well (like my Almost Better Than Sex Brownies - John's name for them!), and there are things I can do passably well (my meatloaf's pretty good). But as far as coming up with an idea and then saying, hey that sounds great, let's do it - no good.

Today I thought I'd stop by McDonald's on the way to the bank so I could eat in the car and get back to work quicker. Then I thought - that's not good for you and my friend Janet just told me she lost 100 pounds and I could make myself an awesome hamburger exactly how I'd like it. I'll just stop by the store, whip up a lunch and be back at work with a full stomach of healthy food.

Not so much.

I don't know where I went wrong. I put a bunch of things that I really like - shredded cheddar cheese, cut up mushrooms - and some things that seemed like a good idea - salt, pepper, garlic salt, Italian seasoning - in a bowl and squished it into the hamburger, then fried it up. I'd bought a bag of frozen french fries because I thought it'd be healthier than McDonald's fries. When I got the whole thing on my plate - couldn't have cut up avocados 'cause they'd already gone bad - I started eating and... Well, I couldn't wait to get to the end. Not because it was good. 'Cause I wanted lunch to be over. I don't know what I'm going to do with that bag of frozen french fries. I used to love them but I guess I don't anymore.

Sigh...

Next time I'm going to McDonald's anyway. Meanwhile, I'm munching on chocolate covered almonds to get the taste of lunch out of my mouth.

Routines For Writers

(Kitty) I was shocked to discover while trying to think of what to blog here today that I haven't told you about my new professional blog! My two critique partners, Stephanie Shackelford and Shonna Slayton, and I created a web site for writers to help them try to find routines that increase their productivity and creativity. We've been planning this for months and launched the blog last Monday, on September 1!

If you have a minute, stop by, see what we're up to, leave a comment. We're excited to share what we've learned over the years, and we want to encourage others to share what they've learned there, too. As my friend Kathleen says, no one has to die to make room for one more success! So drop on by and see if we can't pursue success together!

Welcome to the World!

(Kitty) I am so pleased to tell you that I am a great-aunt again, and John is again a great-uncle! My sister Bonnie's son Bruce welcomed his second son into the world on Thursday, September 4, 2008 - Riely Scott.

Welcome, Riely!

Made My Goal!

(Kitty) When I returned from the RWA National Conference a month ago, I told myself I'd take no longer than September 1st to send out the requested proposals. I made it!! Woo-hoo!! Now it's just a matter of time to hear back. And of course, now I start sending out queries to other agents and editors. And I finish that last polish on the book.

Ah, life is good. I'm in my happy place. :)

Joy and the Marine Layer

(Kitty) Thank God for joy and the marine layer! We had to run 8 miles today - BY OURSELVES because John is visiting his family in Michigan for the weekend. Normally we don't do well by ourselves. Nor we do sleep well by ourselves after 18+ years together. So when I finally dragged myself out of bed this morning at 7am, having not slept well and with a sore neck from a dream that was a cross between Burn Notice and Law & Order (I get tense in my dreams!), I had to tell myself how very much I really wanted to run. :)

But I remembered something wonderful from my Thursday run. I had done some really great work on my book on Wednesday and was still so excited about it that I was thinking about it when I was running Thursday morning. Every time my thoughts drifted to my book and I got excited, I ran faster! And when I started getting tired near the end and started thinking about my book, I still slowed down a little but not a lot. I ran really well, in fact!

So today when I woke up and finally got going, I listened to some writing lectures I have on my iPod instead of music. The first lecture was by Susan Elizabeth Philips and Jayne Ann Krentz. They are hilarious! Listening to them and laughing while I ran kept me going for the entire hour of the lecture. The next lecture wasn't as funny, but it kept me thinking about writing instead of looking at my watch and wondering how much longer I had to run.

Plus, we had a really heavy marine layer this morning (and Thursday, too, which was great!) so I didn't have to run with the sun in my eyes. If you're not familiar, the marine layer is the fog/clouds that settle over the ocean near the beach during the night and don't burn off till the sun comes up. Or in today's case, not until after 11am when I was already home! I still put on a little sunscreen, but I was so glad not to have to run for two hours in the blazing sun! (Yes, it took me 1 hour and 55 minutes to run 8 miles (averaging 14.5 minutes per mile) but I'm just so darned pleased that I did it! And I probably could have run 9 if I'd had to! Thirteen miles, here I come!)

Today - back to finishing my book proposal for the editor and agent who requested to see it at the conference I was just at. I'm so excited! Hope you all have just as happy a weekend!

Back in the Running

(Kitty) So after our 10K race last Sunday, my feet and legs were simply killing me. We decided to take Monday off, then Tuesday, and by Wednesday we wondered if I had the wrong shoes and they were the reason for my aching feet and legs. I went in to the running shoe store where we bought the shoes and spoke to the manager about whether perhaps I'd been sold the wrong shoes.

The guy was awesome! He sat down with me and asked a lot of questions and showed me some stretches and gave me a lot of great advice. I did the stretches for the rest of the week, then today John and I started up again. It went great! Well, after 10 days of no running, I was gasping for breath! LOL! But other than that, it went great, no pain. Yay!

So now that we're getting into higher mileage runs, our schedule is changing a little. We can't run more than 8 miles and get home in time for John to get ready for work on time. So instead of running Monday, Wednesday, Friday, we'll run Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Here's hoping we make some great progress! Less than 12 weeks until the big race!!

A Taste of Heaven

(Kitty) Today our church (Bel Air Presbyterian) closed our doors for the morning services and went down to Faithful Central Bible Church (which meets at The Forum, where they used to have sporting events, and still is used as a music venue - it's huge!). Pacific Crossroads Church also joined us, and we were a crowd of thousands!

The service was wonderful! The choirs of Bel Air and Faithful Central sang together and they dressed in all these bright colors - the combined choir looked like a huge spotted rainbow! And because the combined congregation was so diverse in terms of every definable way to group people, all I could think of was - this is how heaven is going to look! I loved it!

For a variety of reasons, I've felt a lot of internal stress in so many areas of my life lately that I ended up at church today and found my spirit being filled and revived and refreshed without fully realizing until then how much I needed it. God is so good at providing what you need even before you recognize that you need it. Through the sermons and the music, He encouraged me, reminded me of all the good things He's done for me in the past, reminded me of His promises of good things in the future, and helped me to relax and enjoy the moment that I'm living in right now.

I can't wait to get to heaven and see how it is way better even than what I experienced today. But in the meantime, I'm glad God is also a step ahead of me, arranging for me to be encouraged right when I need it. He says in Isaiah, "Before they call, I will answer," and I've found it to be so true.

10K Results - Pretty Good!

(Kitty) The weather was perfect and the bike path through the wetlands along the beach was gorgeous, all 6.2 miles/10 kilometers of it. Yea!!

On the one hand, nearly everyone ran faster than we did! Dwight and I came in last in our age/gender class (5th of 5 and 9th of 9, respectively), and John came in 13/15 in his class. On the other hand, we all did quite well - as good or better as our practice times. John ran in 57 minutes 54 seconds - amazing!! Dwight came in at 1 hour 11 minutes 30 seconds. And I came in at 1 hour 22 minutes 30 seconds. Plus we're all proud of the fact that while a few people used the run/walk method (I won't try to explain it, but it's a method that's supposed to make you faster by not running the whole time. I don't like it for this short a run.), we all ran the whole distance.

Oh, and did I mention I came in third from last in the entire race??!! LOL!! And that's because two people took a wrong turn on the path and got lost! LOL!!! There were only 131 people in the race, though, so when I come in nearly last in the Pasadena Half Marathon in November there will be hundreds of people faster than me. And just maybe I'll be faster than someone! LOL!

Dwight, John and Kitty a few minutes before the race started.

John, Kitty and Dwight after the race - long enough after for us to look a lot better than when we first crossed the finish line!

Dwight, Kitty's friend Teri, Kitty and John at a great little restaurant on the pier for a hearty lunch afterward.

Visitors and Races and Good News

(Kitty) So my friend from college, Teri Glirbas, is visiting for the weekend. We spent just about the whole day yesterday wandering around Hollywood seeing the sights, taking pictures, and buying souvenirs. I found a keychain with Betty Boop on a motorcycle that I bought to put my motorcycle keys on. Today we're going to the Farmer's Market and The Grove, then Venice Beach, then Santa Monica Pier and Third Street Promenade. LOTS of walking, and hopefully lots of fun.

Then tomorrow Teri is coming with me and John and Dwight to our 10K race in Santa Barbara.
Our training program had us slowing down significantly this week to be fresh for the race. But John and I are still feeling the slower, ache-y effects of our new shoes, so we're not expecting any record performances. Still, it should be a lot of fun.

We've been having a lot of adventures lately, but that means we've been too busy to get the pictures off the camera and post about everything here. Hopefully next week we will have the time to do that. Meanwhile, the big news about my Romance Writers of America National Conference is that an agent and an editor that I am really interested in both want to see the first three chapters of my book. Woo-hooo!! Due to [insert long story here] I am polishing it up, making a few changes to improve it, then I'll send it out before the end of the month.

We'll talk again next week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

New Shoes - OW!

(Kitty) We knew we needed to get new shoes sometime soon before our next race (a 10K on August 17), so we finally made a point of going to a good running store this week. The one our friends go to was closed so we decided to try the one near us that we knew nothing about. When the guy (Josh? I'll call him that, I can't remember) looked at our shoes he shook his head and said they had no support. I'd noticed that my hips were aching nearly every run, but I hadn't realized how closely related that is to poor shoes.

Apparently, it's very related. We've run in our new shoes for two days now. Both of us noticed our legs ached from the get-go on the first day. Today, the second day, John's legs were stiff, but feeling better as they got used to the new shoes. I on the other hand was run-limping! John and I finally decided that he would continue with our 6-mile run, and I would turn around at the 2-mile mark, giving me 4 miles. If I could make it home.

Now Josh says I'm essentially flat-footed, so he sold me "motion control" shoes. Highly supportive shoes that not only support your instep (keeping your knees and hips in line) but keep your foot from moving around much at all. On the one hand, I'm really pleased. Like I said, knees and hips are happy campers. And I don't feel like I'm about to twist my ankle at every bump in the sidewalk. On the other hand, holy guacamole, my muscles hurt! By the middle of the third mile I'd decided to try to just "zone" out into the run. I kept my mind thinking about the horizon (as I've read is helpful) and I focused on trying to be completely relaxed.

Must have helped. By the beginning of mile 4 and all the way home (I did manage to run 4 miles) I found myself relaxing a bit as I ran and feeling better, not run-limping anymore. Then I walked up and down the block several times waiting for John to get home. By then my legs were doing about as well as could be expected. I'll tell you though, I can feel every muscle in my shins and half the ones in my calves and thighs. I'm guessing I'm now re-training my muscles to support my body correctly. It's a guess, but I'm going with it because it'll keep me running instead of quitting. John, of course, must be naturally athletic because he's breaking in his new shoes with far less problem.

We've got about 10 days till our race, and my friend Teri will be visiting from Minnesota and watching. I'm hoping the shoes and I make peace and learn how to be a team. I really don't want to embarrass myself by running like a turtle! LOL! But at least I'm not quitting. Only 14 weeks till the big Half Marathon! Woo-hooo!!

Running a LITTLE longer then I planned...

(John) Well, according to our training schedule that Kitty and I have been following, today was the day I was suppose to run 8 miles (ugh.) Kitty have been running down to the beach from our place, then down the beach walk to Venice. Well, since started running that route I have noticed that the beach walk path also goes the other way (toward Malibu.) Today I decided to see how far I could go down the walkway for my run. According to a sight called MapMyRun.com, I could go down to the end of the pedestrian walkway and turn around and run back and that would be around 8 miles!
Cool, I thought, this will be easy.

*Sigh* famous last words

I ran down the beach as planned and turned right at the beach to run the other route. The route was easy and pretty nice. I thought "Great, just follow this until it ends, then I turn around!"
Well, I guess the bike path AND the walkway both intertwine at several place, often becoming one path. Yea, well I followed WHAT I THOUGHT was the walkway and continued to run....and run....and run.... . After a while I was like "Man, this 8 miles is longer then I thought it would be!"
A little while longer the revelation came to me: I bet I messed up and I'm following the wrong path. I saw a major intersection coming up and decided that I'd run up it, turn around and head back home. The intersection was called Temescal Canyon Road. So, I turned around and ran back. By the time I got home I realized I was running late for work! I jumped on the computer and checked to see where I had gone wrong and how far I went. According to a rough estimate I ran 10.2 - 10.5 MILES!
OK, it is now time to get my Nike+ system calibrated and running so this does not happen again.

Running Along the Beach - Ahhhh!

(Kitty) Today I didn't have to get up early to run in order to beat the heat. After all, I'm in the coldest summer in the country if rumors are to be believed. Today's high (July 29th, keep in mind!) was 59 degrees! So I finally got around to getting my running shoes on at about 9:30, maybe 10am. It was AWESOME! Pretty cold even with a sweatshirt because of the wind coming off the ocean, but it was beautiful running on the path along the beach. John and I run along a beach path in Santa Monica, too, but the terrain and beauty are different here in San Francisco. It was a beautiful 6 miles!

Going to San Francisco

(Kitty) I've been too busy to post lately because I'm on my way to San Francisco in a few hours. I'm getting pretty excited about it. Not only will I get to spend time with friends, but the reason for the trip is to attend the Romance Writers of America National Conference. I've been to a lot of conferences before but not this one. Over 2000 writers will be there, plus agents, editors, and more! It's going to be very exciting, a lot of fun, and seriously exhausting!

What's more, I've told myself that hills or not, I AM going to keep up my running while I'm there. Eek! I hope I can make it without John - we run so much better when we run together.

I'll be gone for ten days, so unless John has time to post - or I have time to post from the conference - we'll talk to you again in about two weeks. Hope you're all having a GREAT summer!!

7 Miles!

(Kitty) I can hardly believe it but we did it! We ran SEVEN MILES today. I was so tired the last half mile. All I could think of was, "I have to walk home if I stop running, so I might as well just keep running and I'll get home quicker." LOL! Then the next several hours I was soooo hungry! LOL!

The thing is, John is a much better athlete than I'll ever be. He runs ahead for a while, then turns around and comes back to me, then runs ahead again. So I figure he runs maybe a mile or more longer than I do! We started running almost four months ago today. The first day I could hardly run more than a block, and today I ran 7 miles! And that made our week's total 21 miles! Wow! Kinda says what you can do when you put your mind to it!

Riding My Bike

(Kitty) - So my first ride was with John last Sunday, but I had to go out on my own at some point. So Friday I decided to take my bike to the library and the credit union. I made it without any problems - and I wasn't even scared! I could hardly believe it! By the time I got back, I checked the mileage - I rode 6 miles by myself!

Today, we went out before church again (the idea being there are fewer cars on the road for me to deal with) and this time I rode all around Santa Monica - 16 miles! I was a little nervous sometimes when I had to ride on a 4-lane street and switch lanes. John is still rolling his eyes that I'm not up to the speed limit all the time, but it's getting better! And today - only my third ride on my bike! - I got up to 40 mph!! Woo-hooo!! And I didn't even feel like I was going to go flying off!

I still like 2-lane streets better right now - no worries about people trying to pass me or hit me when they change lanes, but I'm really going to have to make sure I'm "up to speed"! And in LA, being up to speed means going 10 miles over the speed limit! LOL! I'll keep you updated!

From Waiting to Riding

(Kitty) Here is the pictorial tour of me getting my very first motorcycle! I bought a 2008 Yamaha V Star 250. It used to be called the Yamaha Virago 250 from 2007 and before. It is the smallest version of John's bike, a V Star Classic 650. I am soooooo happy!!!!!


My first view of my new bike! The guys are filling the tires and checking all the - whatever it is they check! The one I sat on in the showroom was sold before I came back, so this one came from the warehouse. I am one of the only people to even sit on my bike!!



And in fact - here is a picture of me the very first time I got to sit on it. I'm waiting for the guys to take it out on it's test drive before they hand over the keys.



John thought I was so silly, but I was just so excited!!! I couldn't help myself - I had to hug my new bike! LOL!!


The side view of Kitty's new motorcycle. The paint job is called Black Cherry - and it's beautiful! John named his first car, so I decided not to feel silly naming my first bike. Due to American slang uses of the word "cherry" I decided not to use that as part of the name. But my middle name is Rose, and the color is a shade of red, so I named her Rosie! The funny thing is that we had a horse named Rosie, one of the first I ever rode. Hmm...wonder if there is some hidden meaning in there... LOL!!



This is Billy, handing me the keys to my new bike! I think he thought I was a little silly for taking a picture of every little thing - including him - but he was a good sport about it. He said he loves to ride, and he understands the excitement of buying a new bike. :)




John, on the other hand, teasingly made a point of letting me know how embarrassing it was for him to have to ride my little bike home for me. When he got home, he told me I'd succeeded in fully emasculating him - he'd pulled up to a stoplight and looked over and there was a beautiful blonde at the wheel of a BMW. She just looked at him and looked away. John said he wanted to yell, "No, no, this isn't mine! I have a real motorcycle at home! Really!" LOL!!



Getting ready for my very first ride on my new bike! I'm taking off the lock on the front wheel. My friend Milissa, who also rides, told me a long time ago - if you have long hair and you ride, be sure to braid it back or you'll never be able to get the tangles out. Thus - me in a braid.



Gearing up for my first ride - helmet, gloves, nylon mesh jacket (it's like air conditioning when you're riding and the wind is whipping through, much cooler than leather), jeans, Kevlar boots. I jokingly asked my friend Janice who used to be a police officer if my boots are bulletproof. You know, 'cause they're Kevlar. :)



You can't tell, but I'm grinning like a kid in a candy store!!



Pulling out into the alley - my first ride! I'm pretty sure the butterflies in my stomach were more excitement than fear.



My first run down the alley behind our apartment! I did it!

I drove up and down the alley a few times, then asked John if he wanted to take his bike and follow me out onto the street. It was Sunday morning and hardly anyone was out yet, so I wasn't too nervous. Better to get out there and see how I felt when no cars were around! So John followed me as I made a few loops around the couple of residential streets we live near. Then I took it on a couple bigger streets. Basically, I kept making ever-widening circles around our apartment! LOL!

John was my guarding my back so I wasn't afraid of any cars getting too close. And I only stalled once! But I also only made it up to the speed limit twice!! LOL!! And the speed limit was 30 on one street, and 35 on the other! (Come to think of it, I think it was 45 on the second one - which means I was going way too slow!) The first time I got up to 30, I thought I was going to blow off the back of my bike!

Eventually I looked at my watch and realized we needed to get back and shower for church. But I was so excited about my first ride. And even more so when I looked at the odometer and realized my first ride was 10 MILES!!! Woo-hooooo!!!

Best Times Ever!

(Kitty) What did we do on 4th of July? We got up at 5:30 and drove down to Redondo Beach (about half an hour away with no traffic) and ran a 5K race with our friends Dwight and Jill. It was ridiculously hot while we were running, then about an hour after we were done, "normal" weather returned with a nice breeze. Ah well.

The point is we ran in some heat and John and I still beat our best times! John ran the race in 27 minutes 50 seconds, coming in 91st out of 134 in his category. I ran it in 39 minutes 14 seconds (shaving off more than 5 minutes!), 93 out of 141 in my category.

Next stop - the Santa Barbara 10K in August!

New Haircut

As some of you know, I was going to try and grow my hair long again. I got a pretty good start on it, then we started running. Well, I found it a hassle more and more so I got it cut short again. Now the summer is fast approaching, I'm really glad for the short hair!

Motorcycle awareness ads

I found these on-line the other day and thought I would post them with the news that Kitty just bought her own motorcycle! Her bike is kinda a smaller version of my Yamaha 650 (her's is only a 250.) As soon as she gets back into town, we're picking it up from the Yamaha dealer and she starts riding! We'll be posing pictures of it soon!