Weekend updates

Last weekend was St Patricks day and Sharene had the kids create little 'traps' for the leprechauns so that she could leave them little gifts. Madi did an awesome job.



Overnight Sharene left out some bags of sweets and also made a little peg leprechaun. I wish I'd taken a photo because in the morning Brax came flying into the room all excited and said they had left gifts and made a "copy" of themselves so we would know what they look like...riotous. The green milk and water was also noted!

Madi has also joined a softball team; red devillishous, so Saturday I went along and watched her play. The kids are all around 10yrs old; one or two of them look headed for softball scholarships....some very impressive ball skills.



Madi is on the right.

On another note, because telling folk individually is taking to long, on April 5 I am having surgery. Going to have a hysterectomy. No not cancer bunch of other stuff going on so the simple answer is to take I all out, including my last remaining ovary so I guess that's the end of that! Surgeon thinks he can do it laparoscopicly (sp?), making it a day surgery woohoo. Anyway would hate for you all to think I'd got all boring.




Millie at the beach.


California sunset!

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Out and about

In between work etc I've been doing some adventuring. A few weeks back we went and hung out at the Stanford Campus.very beautiful and has an awesome free art gallery.






















































Went out to dinner at a bar in Redwood City. Had a yummy Moscow Mule served in these very cool cups.

Went walking the dish with Sharene and Brax; guess why they call it the dish?















Turns out California girls glow.



















Went to the yummiest Korean Tofu House for work.

Adventuring

So I somewhat reluctantly had to concede last weekends race as a bad idea. While I have been running I knew I hadn't done the cumulative miles it would take to actually enjoy the race and not risk injury. I felt disappointed in myself but also felt it was the right decision. I ran the New Orleans marathon last year woefully under prepared - it was kind of miserable at the end and I vowed I'd never do it again. On the upside it has re-inspired me to get on a more structured training plan.
Despite not doing the run I did have a very physical weekend. Sharene and I went for a trail run and big walk Saturday and then Sunday S & I and the kids went for another run then off to the beach.




It was lovely and warm on the beach but the water was freezing!
Afterwards we gathered some rocks and painted them.




I've never painted rocks....it was fun.




Random shot of SF taken from the top of the hill near home.
Also random shot of Lotte surveying her queendom.




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Valentines Day

While long past I thought I'd share these:



Over the past few months I've doing origami with Sharene and the kids. It's been fun to do so for valentines I thought I'd create a little bouquet. It took some practice runs but I finally got it! You can't see it but I also managed to create a vase as well.
Valentines was lovely. Sharene stayed over (bringing some yummy wine with her) and the next morning we went walking at Lands End, which is one of the places I've run and posted pics if, very beautiful. As an added bonus we got to watch a pod I dolphins play - looked like there were babies in the crowd too!



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More adventures

Winters here are a mixed bag, some rain, some fog and some great sunny days!
I've been spending time at the beach with Sharene and the kids.












Sharene and the kids also spent a day in Napa with mum and I. I sent the "girls" off for a manicure and Brax and I checked out the toys at Walmart.


As part of everyone's xmas present we all went to see Wicked. I love that show so fun to go with everyone.

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Slacking

Okay I've really slack on the blog this year! Getting back into it. Had a great time with mum. We did local adventures and ended up going to Napa - wine country. Adding some pics of the Wine Train we did with Karen and Brice; great food & views.
























You get to choose from a bunch of different experiences. We chose the champagne four course meal. Other options are snacks and getting on and off the train. It was really fun and the carriages were verse tastefully decorated!
More post to come with Xmas and January adventures.

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Holeeday...

Woohoo, the working year is done! Been quite an interesting journey, given the unexpected promotion. Two weeks ago I went to the Senior Managers Milestone training. Two days of lot of very senior folk telling you what it actually means to be a SM. This followed by a discussion with my career counsellor at the Xmas party where he casually says "so Jody, we need to talk about setting you up to become a Partner"....OMG, I'm still trying to figure out how to be a SM! I can't complain I don't have lead ship support but, ummm, do I really need to think about this now????
Other things. Birthday I worked from home then spent the evening with Sharene and the kids. Madison (her daughter) made me a cake.



And they all put up happy birthday signs.






We had burritos (my choice) and just hung out. Friday I took off work so walked Sharene's labrador and then went for a 7 mile run.
I got some Xmas cheer in the house.


It's an Xmas tree bouquet!
Mum arrives tomorrow and tonight Sharene and I are off to a cocktail party at Pete & Amy's, Pete being the kiwi guy who works with Irene in Santa Cruz.

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Weekend pics

Took a couple of pics on my Sunday run.



Bay Bridge - check out how calm the water is!



Running over Golden Gate Bridge.



Looking back at San Fran from the middle of GG.



Ferry ride back home.



The shoe farm...all of then currently in use!!!! Now that's brand loyalty.
And a couple of random shots.



Sharene & I at Fort Funston on Thanksgiving.



And a blast from the past; how hard am I to spot....


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Running stuff

Ran to Sausalito today, 14.5 miles, longest run in a while! Felt goo though and weather was awesome.


Today they opened up registration for the Lake Sonoma 50 miler. I forgot and went for a run by the time I went to register there were only 23 places left!!!!! Max of 300 allowed. See I'm not the only crazy out there. It's a qualifier for the Western States 100 miler (no I am not even thinking about that) which is why it's so popular. Check out the link on the right. This is a trail run and looks beautiful. It's fully supported so no need for a crew on this one.


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Not much to say....or maybe somethings to say

First up, I didn't do the Endurance Challenge.  I felt I hadn't done the millage build up to make it enjoyable.  While I have been running a little bit not really enough for a 50k.  Some of it's been time, some of it mental exhaustion around training....either way I realized doing the race would be a bad idea and the liklihood of injury just compounds.  As it turned out the weather was terrible, big storm so the course changed - not enough millage and bad weather = potential disaster or hateful time.  I have signed up for a 50k in February and about to sign-up for another 50 miler in April.  I'm not a very good runner when I am not "training" for something and I just don't feel like I'm quite done with the 50 miler experience.  This next one is also around a lake but on a trail, during the day and with aid stations!
Bigger news still - I have a girlfriend!  This seems an odd place to "announce" this but I guess everyone else just changes their relationship status on Facebook!  This is proving to be very sweet and such a long time since I had one it all feels very new.  It's fun to meet someone new and, bigger surprise too, she has children (7 & 10).  I'm finding this surprisingly easy as they are sweet....full on but sweet.  I am just rolling with it, being open to however things roll out, time will tell.
Mum arrives on Dec 23rd so I'm really looking forward to that too.  We have a few days in San Fran then off to Reno on Boxing Day.  I'm planning so adventures (we are staying at a Casino so we can play the pokies!).  Irene's family are also there for Xmas so we might drop in and say hi.  If the weather isn't too snowy (because it will be snowing) we'll drive through to Lake Tahoe and I'll show mum where I ran.  It's very beautiful around the Lake too, so that will be fun.  Karen and Brice are planning to come through after New Year as well.  Seems like forever since I saw them. Would have been nice to have a family reunion with Janine and Kathy too but it doesn't work out for them this year.
While mum is here I am going to have her help me look into renovating by bathroom - I want something different so going to have her come with me to look at fittings etc, figure out what I might like.
Not much to share on the work front.  Seems to be another year of consolidation, finding my feet as a senior manager and......

Thanksgiving

It's been a lovely long weekend. Thanksgiving is a very sweet holiday - all good food & people, no gifts! I hung out with a friend and went beach walking at fort Funston & Half Moon Bay.








Tonight I am on dog watch....Henri & Lottie.



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Check it out....

Went hiking yesterday in this really beautiful reserve and this little dude was just hanging out:



So cool!


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Roseville

Interesting week in Roseville......Around 70 people turned up for the three days of workshops, presentations etc etc.  It's been interesting for me as I'm leading one exercise that I'm not actually an expert in, although it seems having some type of business degree can be helpful!!!!  I presented to a small group and now I am helping to facilitate some additional working sessions.  I fall in and out of feeling confident presenting to groups and really admire people who can routinely stand up in front of large crowds and present with ease.  The HP campus we were on once housed 6000 people, now most of the buildings are closed down, so it was somewhat eerie to drive around.  The office layout is cubicles but the walls were so high that you can't look over them, so often it felt like nobody was in the building.  The meeting rooms were windowless as well, adding to the sense of isolation.
I stayed in a hotel next to possibly the largest shopping mall I have ever seen.  At one point I drove in circles trying to figure out how to get back on the street.  I didn't actually go shopping but was instead looking for the supermarket.....suffice to say my sense of direction remains challenged.
It is nice to be home and I am inclined to think that I really do like working locally and not being a traveller.  Although there is always a possibility I will get staffed outside of the Valley......

LA, visitors and working

The year is flying by and I need to get back on both the running and blogging wagon!
Two weekends ago I headed to LA and had a great fun weekend with Michelle and Ruth.  Ruth was transiting through to a conference in Miami.  The three of us have developed a little tradition around meeting up and always have fun.  I arrived Friday night and Michelle and I did the annual clothing run for Jody - whew that's that done!  Ruth flew in that afternoon and we all just hung out.  Michelle is currently Faculty in residence at UCLA so we hung out on the campus and I got to experience eating the the college dining hall.....the food was very impressive.  We went to dinner that night with Michelle's girlfriend, Nina and moved on to a bar before we all conceded we were happy enough to go home.  Gone are the days of partying out late, or at least that wasn't going to happen that day.
Sunday, after walking Monkee we went off to get Michelle an i-phone, funny time was had as she's not the most literate about these things.  Ruth and I then set it all up for her, including downloading some useful Apps - her life is transformed.
Getting out of LA was a little tedious as my flight kept getting delayed, finally arrived home around 11pm (as opposed 8pm).  Still all worth it to spend time hanging with the Kiwis.
Work was incredibly busy with a team dinner on Wednesday as well.  I am still learning alot and settling into life as a senior manager - it is different and I am figuring it out one day at a time as new and different things are required/demanded!
Ruth flew in for a stopover on her way home on Friday.  Flight was late in but I'm 15mins from the airport so it was an easy hop to pick her up.  Saturday we went Lotte walking with Irene at Fort Funston (pic above) the Ruth and I walked into the Mission and ended the afternoon sitting in the sun in the Garden Bar at our local queer bar.....which I never really go to so it was a treat for me as well.  She flew out Saturday so it really was a short stopover but sweet to spend time with her and have her see where I live etc.
Monday (early) I drive to Roseville; 2hrs North East of San Fran to spend four days doing workshops with the client.  Not wildly excited about the travel but then I haven't been to Roseville.....so I'll put it in the column of "new adventure".  Does mean organizing myself so today is full of washing and household chores.
Thanksgiving is looming and Irene has invited me to Reno but I have decided to stay home.  I think I'd just like to putz around the house.  TG is such a sweet holiday here, everyone very excited and in the past I've gone to friend's houses.  This year though I feel content to just do my own thing, go for a long run and maybe buy in some nice food, watch a movie....easy.

Me & Monkee

Michelle's dog Monkee, so cute!



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