Luke Dancing

It all started with one of those greeting cards that plays music. My aunt bought Luke a card that played "the Hamster Dance." He really liked it, so we played it for him all the time. Eventually he chewed the card to pieces, so we bought another one. My dad even downloaded the song as the ringtone for his phone - we soon found out that Miley Cyrus has the same song for her phone in her movie, which is just a random side note...don't ask how this fact was discovered. Anyway, we play it for Luke all the time and he gets really excited. There's also a youtube video with a bunch of crazy hamster dancing around. I think it's a horrible seizure-inducing video, but he still gets to watch it all the time when I'm not around. He hadn't heard the song for a few days because we're on vacation, so we played the video for him yesterday and this was the result.

It looks like my mother-in-law is bouncing him around, but that's all him. Lord help me!

A TRI-ing experience

(yes, I made him a shirt that says "my mom tri's")

I decided to take up triathlons again. If you've followed my blog for a few years, you may remember that after my running phase I started to get into tri-ing. I did a couple sprint distances, then I started graduate school and then had Luke, so now I'm finally in a place where I want to start training again. As many of my mom friends can attest, it is HARD to make time for exercise. I set my alarm for 5am everyday so I can squeeze in a short workout, but I consistently hit the snooze button for 30-45 minutes before I HAVE to get in the shower. With that option out, I try to do stuff after Luke goes to sleep, but by 8pm there are dishes to be done, laundry to be folded, and toys to pick up - and let's face it, I'd be in bed by 9pm every night if I could! Justin and I were trying to take turns going to the pool, but they recently started closing it early, which makes that impossible! And we cancelled our gym membership a couple of years ago to save money. Suffice it to say, working out is hard and I need something to motivate me. I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to do a triathlon relay with my Aunt. Originally it was supposed to be Justin in the swim, Aunt Pat on the bike, and me in the run. Justin ended up being scheduled for work that day, so I agreed to do the swim and the run. I am by no means "in shape" right now, but I figured I could do both events - even if I wasn't very fast. I usually swim about 3/4 of a mile in a workout and had just done a mile+ a few days before, so I was pretty confident that I could do 1/2 mile open water swim with no problems. When I arrived at the recreation area and watched them set out the buoys, I quickly remembered that a 1/2 mile in open water looks very different than 33 laps in the swimming pool. Halfway to the first buoy I thought I might die. Or have to get pulled in by one of the kayaks. Fortunately, by the time I hit the first buoy I was over the proverbial wall and  able to push through to the finish and run through the transition. (I was so thankful I didn't have to do the bike portion this time around!) The run was good for the first two miles, not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but manageable. By the time I got through the turnaround and was heading back to the finish I was hot, tired, and my legs were chafing, so I decided to suck it up and do a little run/walk combo to finish out.

(pre-race)

Overall, we weren't last, which was my goal! My aunt pushed through and did an amazing job on the bike in her first competitive bike event! And in the end, there were several people behind us, so YAY!

(post race)

My co-workers have all decided they want to get in shape, so now everyone is training for the See Jane Tri triathlon on September 25th. Six of them are planning to form two relay teams and two of us are going to do the whole event. We're all excited and it's fun sharing stories of our training! Here's to better health and fitness for all!

Orange and Black

I can't believe it is already July! Seriously, where does the time go? We had a great alumni event a couple of weeks ago and I feel like I still haven't fully recovered. (A four day weekend helped things considerably though!) Now that the event is over, our office is focused on packing! We move to our new, temporary office next Monday, which means all of our boxes have to be packed and ready to go before we leave on Friday. Our office is filled with florescent orange moving crates like these:

Pacific Alumni Weekend 2010 Retrospective:

My family celebrating our "Tiger-ness"

Work friends

(This was around hour 13, so we were all a little over it)

But....we did get to leave around 9:30pm, which is WAY earlier than we've ever gotten to leave before! 

Several of us stayed to enjoy the alumni dance party and the fruits of our labor!

(And yes, I am SO hardcore that I make the I love you sign instead of devil horns)

Enjoying the fabulous sounds of Donnie & the Wayrads

The Alumni staff and our PAW student workers on the last day

(It always feels like the end of camp!)

Next year's alumni weekend will mark a significant reunion milestone for ME. 2011 is my 10 year COLLEGE reunion! I still can't fathom that I've been out of school for that long!

Happy Thoughts

This is the busiest week of the year at the alumni office. We have our big 3-day reunion celebration this weekend and no matter how well we prepare in advance, the last week is always intense. So, with that in mind, I thought I'd spend a few minutes reflecting on things that make me happy this morning. Here they are (in no particular order):

Starbucks Chai Tea Latte

Blowing bubbles

This color combination

The book "Knuffle Bunny" 

Swimming laps on a June evening

Oh yeah, and this guy :)

What's making you happy today?

June

Here's a recap of June so far:

We went to our cousin Johnny's high school graduation party in Watsonville where Luke met baby Audrey for the first time and the boys got to enjoy some fun time in the pool. Along with Justin's parents, we stayed the night at Seascape in Aptos as a little pre-birthday celebration and enjoyed a little bit of time on the coast.

On my actual birthday, Justin encouraged me to take the day off from work to celebrate. I've never taken my birthday off before, and found that it actually made the day really special - like a holiday! We drove over to Sausalito and met Sommer for lunch at Scomas on the water. We walked around town, got mistaken for "real" sisters in a kid's boutique, and enjoyed a couple of hours together before heading home and meeting up with my parents for dinner in Stockton.

A Sommer Perry Nunan original

I also got my new cruiser bike, took dorky pictures with balloons, and had Luke model my new birthday pillows.

I also got a couple of other decorative type things that I've been wanting for ages; and finally, FINALLY got pictures in some frames and hung on the walls. All in all, a great birthday week celebration!

Last weekend we went to our friend Bella's 2nd birthday party at an indoor kid's gym in Walnut Creek. Luke was a big fan of the ball pit and the giant ball.

"How you doin?"

Father's Day

On Saturday, all the men in our family decided to go to the horse races at the San Joaquin County Fair to celebrate Father's Day. Both dads/grandpas, Funcle Mike, Uncle Jeff, Justin and Luke had an amazing time and lost their shirts ($20) on a sure thing that ended up being not as sure as they thought. I would love to post pictures of this great day of bonding for the Curry/Perry men, however, despite having several camera phones and a regular point-and-shoot between them, NO ONE TOOK ANY PICTURES.  In other news, Luke had an unfortunate run in with a goat that may result in a fear of farm animals later in life.

While the men did their thing, the girls went shopping. Sommer and I bought fun floppy hats to prepare for our summer vacation in Newport Beach next month. We opted for un-matching hats this year and plan to trade off throughout the week. Being us, of course there is photographic evidence of the trip.

Today, on actual Father's Day, Justin and his dad spent most of the day doing construction-type projects. So sadly, no rest and relaxation for them. Luke and I, on the otherhand, took two naps - one for each of them. (A great day for us!) We finished off the day in Livermore at our favorite restaurant, Harry's Hofbrau. After I got Luke in bed and started the laundry (around 8:30pm), I went in the bedroom and found this:

Sleepy Daddy

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! :)

Luke at 6 Months

Approximately 1800 photos, 1500 diapers, and 4500 ounces of milk ago, Luke was born. These first six months have gone fast, but I've enjoyed and tried to live in every single moment of them.

How to describe Luke at six months? My boss pretty much summed it up when he asked, "is he ever not smiling or looking like he is going to eat something?" The answer:  Pretty much no. Luke is a huge flirt! When we were in Reno for Mother's Day, he had an elevator full of teenage girls completely enamored. He usually has a huge dimply grin for anyone who peeks into his carrier. It warms my heart when I see such unbridled joy coming out of my son. When he's not flirting with anyone who looks in his general direction, he usually is trying to put things in his mouth. Most of the time it's a toy, sometimes it's his feet (amplified when he is wearing shoes), and occasionally it is something inappropriate (I caught him chewing on a magazine I put in his stroller on Sunday and had to pick little bits of soggy paper out of his mouth).

And, he already enjoys being the center of attention. On his six month birthday he was invited to be observed by a class of physical therapy majors at Pacific. (A perk of mommy's job.) Three groups of students came around and studied his movements; how he acted on his back, tummy, being held in the air, reaching for toys, rolling over, etc. He ate it up. I didn't realize that babies could be such hams. It was ridiculous. He actually started to cry when the students reconvened in their larger group and stopped paying attention to him.

After his 6 month doctor's visit

Fortunately, he has finally made it on the chart in the weight department, tipping the scales at just under 15 pounds. Good enough to make the 9th percentile. Woo hoo! Height is another story, as he towers over 92% of other babies his age.  Poor little guy still takes his twice daily dosage of baby Zantac to ease the effects of acid reflux that have earned him the nicknames "the Pukester" and "the Vominator."

A Few Recent Highlights:

Last weekend we joined our friend Ancelle and Team Caden's Cruz-ers for the Walk n Rock for Kids in Sacramento. In its second year, the Walk n Rock raises money for children's charities and hosts a big name musical act as part of the fundraiser. This year was Sammy Hagar and Heart. Luke and I only attended the walk portion of the event - he's a little too young to appreciate the classic rock. We got to walk over the Tower Bridge and pose in front of the state capitol.

 A couple of weeks ago we headed over to the bay to take one last plunge in the swimming pool at Justin's alma mater. They are demolishing the pool to make way for a state-of-the-art aquatics facility and held an alumni event to say goodbye. As Justin has some great memories in that pool (and I've spent several of the last Thanksgivings there watching alumni water polo games), it was fun to go and have one last hurrah.

Luke and daddy pose in front of the record board at the pool Justin still holds a couple of relay records) 

After working on the longest blog post ever last night...my computer froze. Most of it is saved, but I have to go back in and add some things. Since I don't have the time to do that today, I'll just give you this video of my cutie pie son. For some reason this ball makes him laugh like no other.

My Worst Nightmare

It gives me the willies just thinking about all those frogs.

05-26) 09:36 PDT THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) --
Greek officials say a horde of frogs has forced the closure of a key northern highway for two hours.
Thessaloniki traffic police chief Giorgos Thanoglou says "millions" of the amphibians covered the tarmac Wednesday near the town of Langadas, some 12 miles east of Thessaloniki.
"There was a carpet of frogs," he said.
Authorities closed the highway after three car drivers skidded off the road trying to dodge the frogs. No human injuries were reported.

Thoughts

Things that are occupying my thoughts this morning:

Perry vacation to Newport Beach in July

The striped pillows I want to buy at Home Goods to kick start my bedroom redecoration (and this awesome pillow sham from Pottery Barn Kids that will say "Perry")

The cruiser bike I want for my birthday so I can ride it to work when our office moves off campus in July.

The article I need to write for the Pacific Review about alumni who have volunteered doing earthquake relief in Haiti

That I really need to paint Luke's whale peg board so I have a place to hang his towels/robe

That I really want to run the Big Sur Half Marathon in November

This guy :)

Random Thoughts on a Monday Morning

In an effort to avoid all LOST spoilers, I am forcing myself not to visit most of my regular websites. Since I have no other outlet for procrastination today, please enjoy the following list of random thoughts.

• Not logging into facebook for a day is exceptionally hard. I just logged in unintentionally without even realizing it.
• Campus is eerily quiet without the students here. The only people in the UC this morning were the old timers in for their daily "coffee club" and the lone coffeehouse worker. In related news, my chai tea latte was deliciously made and accompanied by a nice chat with the lonely barista.
• UPS tracking information is amazing! I just checked my package details and my new Old Navy swimsuits ($10 on sale! Holla!) and plaid halter sundress are out for delivery as we speak. Hooray!
• Grammar Police:  A 90+ year-old alumna sent me an email correcting our use of the term "alumni" in reference to two female "alumnae" in a recent e-mail newsletter. Not sure whether to be annoyed that she took precious moments out of her twilight years to point out this oversight (which, ahem, wasn't really an oversight - I intentionally opted for the gender-neutral use of the term) or be really impressed that at 90-something years old she knows how to use email.
• Luke is 6 months old today!!! Happy half-birthday sweet boy!!!

Now back to work!

Hello, You Are Officially Old

I'm usually a big fan of trends that skew WAY below my age bracket. Twilight? Yes please. High School Musical? I can't help myself. Jonas Brothers? Yes, even them sometimes (hangs head in shame). But there is one new tween trend that I just can't get behind...Justin Bieber. What, you might ask, is a Justin Bieber? He is the latest in a slew of flash-in-the-pan, Disney-approved teen stars singing about themes way above their maturity level. I get that some of his songs are catchy and that he has that wholesome, nice boy image that makes teenage girls swoon, but really? He looks like he's twelve.

Sorry Justin Bieber. I just don't get it. This is one "old lady" who does not have the "Bieber Fever," as they say. (And that's probably a good thing since he is nearly half my age.)

Read a pretty funny essay about the "Bieber Effect" in pop culture written by Stuff Christians Like blogger, Jon Acuff.