Bock bock bock...

It is not everyday that I dress up like a chicken and run through the streets of LA. Contrary to the look on this guys face, the city quite enjoyed our costumes!



GUR is basically a 1 day amazing race. There are approx. 20 events nationwide each year. 500 teams are given 12 clues to solve that take them all over the city of their event. You have to run or take public transportation everywhere (no taxis, cars, skates etc.) My brother and I have never done anthing like this together. In fact, we hardly do anything together, but when I heard about GUR in L.A., I knew he would be the right partner. He is an O&M specialist that works all over downtown. In a nutshell, he teaches blind children how to navigate L.A. on public transportation. Despite us being on opposite ends of the physical fitness spectrum, I knew that he would be a great teammate.

So I give you team "Spring Chickens"

The stories are probably much better told in person so come by with a bottle of wine and you'll get all the good details! Basically...IT WAS AWESOME! We covered Pershing Square, Mc Arthur Park, Olvera St and Hollywood. We probably covered 4-5 miles on foot and the rest on bus and subway. My goal was to come in the top 250. We don't know our place yet but when we came in they said only about 100 teams had checked in. So now we are hoping to be in the top 150! We'll know tomorrow! Most of our stops required digital pictures to prove we were there. Here are some highlights.


We danced with the Aztecs



We talked this guy selling Lakers Jerseys on the train into putting one on so we could take a picture holding up the answer to one of our clues. By "talked into" I mean we paid him 5 bucks.
Missing from this photo are the masty girls who were mad at us for swooping in on him while they were trying to flirt him into a picture. Ha Ha! Suckers!


We took a self defense class





We saw Rocky and Bullwinkle, met a tall man, and hung out with some stars





Not pictured are the boot camp obsticle course, a few monuments and the great big hill we ran up! But here we are in front of El Pollo Loco! Couldn't resist.


There were some other fun costumes, Octomom, one eyed onehorned flying purple people eaters, Miss Congeniality, Curious George with the Man in the Yellow Hat, and Power Rangers to name a few. Here we are with the contest winners (14 year old Chinese Gymnastics Gold Medal Winners) They deserved it...they wore leotards and did cartwheels. But people loved us too! For an hour before and all throughout the race people were stopping us to take pictures with is! We were like celebrities! So fun!



So we looked a little crazy when we were alone on the route, but in Hollywood we fit right in. There's a lot of crazies there. Spiderman even gave us directions...and he wasn't part of the race! We were right in the middle of the Anti-War protest. It was quite nutty! People are being interviewed by TV cameras and two chickens go running by. Nice.

We ran on one granola bar and pure adrenelin all day. It is just like you see on Amazing race, the bus doors open and you take off running. We bocked at every team we passed and anybody that bocked at us from their cars! Children were laughing, people were staring...it was a BLAST! Jon and I are doing the San Diego race in October to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. I think he is a bit nervous after all the stories I told him last night but I am a really nice partner. I didn't yell at my brother once (even when he was walking and I wanted to run! Arg!) We just ran when he could (and when it was crucial!) It will be a new experience for me and Jon. He has never seen me in race mode and we have never done anything physical like this together. I am really excited about it!


One last pic, for Thing Templetons

It's Wacky Wednesday!

The Leprechaun Visit

The Leprechauns were good to us this year. They recognized that this mommy is in the middle of finals week and daddy did not need any more work to do for her around the house. So this year they left treats on the table for the kids (a book monogrammed in gold glitter for each of the kid, green flowers and a box of lucky charms) Then they snuck into the kids rooms are rearranged things a bit. The night stands, bedding and clothing from the kids dressers were swapped. They also moved the laundry baskets, jackets, robes and a few other items that are significant in each room. Dylan woke up snuggling an American Girl and Megan woke up with a green comforter on. They thought this was so funny! I knew it was Leprechaun success when at 5:15 am Dylan stood by my bedside and declared "Mom! When I get through with those Leprechauns they are going to be dead meat!"  

It's that time again...

The signs are posted on the potty's



The nails are painted green and white





Tonight the Leprechauns come

Brain Overdrive

These are the thoughts that plaque me in the middle of the night. I really need help.

I love the smell of pancakes

I cannot sleep with underwear on. Or socks. Even if my feet are freezing, I kick off my socks. They are annoying! At any time, you can lift up the covers at the foot of my bed and see a nice collection of socks.

I hate seeing whiskers in the sink. It gives me the willies.

I read magazines backwards. No idea why.

My house swallows clip boards. And scissors. I think I have bought 3,000 pairs of kids scissors in the past 8 years. I can find one.

I hate when you register for a website and then a box pops up that says “your password must be between 6-47 characters, contain letters and numbers, is case sensitive and will self destruct in 12.2 years” Why can’t you tell me that right there where I am expected to pick the password! In that case I would have chosen my old standby: YouRanobnoXious4headedAlienwebSite on my first try.

My husband cannot say “you’re da bomb” without saying “dot com” after it. It’s not so cute after a while.

I hate getting out of the shower. Hate it! Sometimes I actually delay getting into the shower as long as possible so that I do not have get to the dreaded moment when I have to get out.

I saw this on a church this week “Body piercing saved lives”. Love it!

I do not like to use the handicapped stalls in the public bathrooms. I just don’t want to be THAT person who held up the stall while someone in a wheel chair waited outside the door. Although some might argue they should wait in line like the rest of us poor souls, I just don’t like doing it. So the dilemma comes when I am in line and it opens up. Do I step aside as if you say to the person behind me “I will not take the handicap stall but if YOU want to be the jerk that does, be my guest”? Truth be told, when my kids were younger and I drove a stroller the size of a pony, I used that sucker every time I had the chance. I would even park in there for a while just to get some quiet time at Disneyland. What’s a mom to do?

What’s up with Target? They are out of everything right now! They did not have my lipstick, pushpins, dog food, “vitamins” OR rice cakes. So I bought exactly nail polish. On another note, message to Target employees: when someone is looking at laxatives, don’t ask them if they need help finding anything. They don’t want to discuss this with you. The same goes for hemorrhoid cream, condoms and tampons. Some things are private!

Deep Thoughts With Disco Mommy

A little bit from my brain this morning.

Megan’s hernia hasn’t closed, going for a consult with the surgeon :0( We already know that this will mean putting her to sleep for the procedure. I am not comfortable with that idea. I might ditch the appointment and go to Disneyland instead! She will love me more for that!

Baseball is not Dylan’s strong sport but he sure knows how to hustle. And he is loving every minute of it. I am not happy about him sitting in tar on opening day in the $27 pants we were forced to buy (apparently the $9 from Sports Chalet are not good enough for Seaview). If you don't recognize him at the game, he is the one who looks like he had diarrhea and mom forgot to wash his pants. Yep, that's my son!

Spring break starts for me in 11 days. That’s when I start operation purge. This house is bursting at the seams. I might even rent a dumpster!

I like the name Darcy. Can someone I know please name their daughter this?

My husband is awesome! I am so proud to be his wife!

Megan is sick which means I need someone to bring her some movies from Blockbuster…otherwise I will be stuck listening to Sponge Bob for the next 24 hours. Someone have mercy on me!

It also means the kids missed the last day in the old Treehouse at FCC since Jon is working. Both are really bummed about this. I am sure they will forget all about it when they see the new one next week! (Update: I am surrounded by amazing friends and want to thank Deena for taking Dylan with her family to FCC this morning. You are awesome!)

It also means I miss my softball game and Dylan’s basketball awards & party. Bummer for both of us. My grandma will take Dylan so he will have someone there to watch him win his award. He is gunning for most Christlike but will probably get most improved or most enthusiastic or something like that! Again, loves the sport but not really his strength.

On the plus side of the fever, I will have plenty of time stuck at home today to work on some school projects. Only 3 left to go for the quarter! (Update...2 left for the quarter! At this rate I might even get my taxes done in time! Whoa, slow down Gina, let's not get to optimistic!)

I got a new wardrobe this week. For free. Clothing swap parties rock! I want to plan one for this summer. Ladies, save everything you don't want! You WILL come to this! You can't afford not to!

Why do I waste my time playing bejewled? I do not have that kind of time to waste. But when the brain freezes, I go there to clear things up so I can continue working.

There is a strange phenonemon I experience every time the time changes. I walk around all day in a foggy state, questioning every clock I see. Time feels a bit surreal to me. And I am always hungry. Maybe I am just trying to justify that I am eating breakfast again at 9:30 because my body thinks it's 8:30 and I ate my last breakfast at 5:30 when my body thought it was 4:30 which is basically a middle of the night snack. And I am always tired. Granted my daughter had me up at 5:30 (meaning 4:30 to my brain) but I am still tired all day when the clocks change. No matter what time I go to bed or get up or think it is or think it's not. I just want to sleep. Boy do I wish is were raining and both kids were sick (Did I just say that?). Then we could all sleep all day. But now it's time to get back to work. Or is it time? I don't know. I don't really believe what the clock is telling me anyway.

Other than that…I got nothin’.