13 posts tagged “2007”

This year we decided on a land-based vacation for Christmas. We stayed at Coral Mar, a condo resort on Laguna Nichupté / The Caribbean Sea.

Saturday was a travel day so we spent Sunday unwinding at the pool and "beach." It didn't take long to get the hang of it.

On Monday we took the ferry to Isla Mujeres, a small island just off the coast. We rented a golf cart and tooled around the island all day. (Adam loved that he could drink beer while driving. Is that wrong?) We had lunch at Playa Lancheros, explored the Sea Turtle Farm and took a break at the famous Playa Norte. It was an awesome day.
Here's Adam performing a (seated) sobriety test in front of the sculpture at Playa Norte. As you can imagine, there's never a dull moment when travelling with him.

That night—Christmas Eve—I got horribly sick. Someone in the complex was having a raging party so I got to listen to blaring Christmas carols while barfing all night. I don't want to hear another Christmas song for a long, long time.

I was worried that I was ruining Adam's Christmas, but he managed to make some friends down at the palapa bar. He came back with "hilarious" stories about angry wives paying huge bar tabs. Somehow his tab got paid in the mixup. Here he is, in tears, eating a pavo sandwich, trying to tell me all about it.
I was still sick on Wednesday so Adam went scuba diving. He's SO happy when he gets to dive...
We went to our belated Christmas Dinner on Wednesday night—Frommer's Choice: Laguna Grill. I couldn't really enjoy the meal (still queasy) but the sunset was beautiful.
Thursday, we went to Xcaret, Mexico's Ecopark. We stopped in Playa del Carmen for breakfast on the way.


Surprisingly, my favorite part was the cemetery. It's the spiral-looking thing in the aerial shot above. The graves are elaborately decorated and reflect the person's life. On November 1-2 the Mexicans celebrate the deceased with Dia de los Muertos. It would be so cool to be in Mexico for that someday. I LOVE the sculptures. They're so happy and fun!
The señoritas in the horse show were amazing too. They have incredible control over the horses and they do it all side-saddle. Also, they are gorgeous.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

In January, Onyx's kidneys failed and she spent four days in the hospital. The awful vet told us that she may not make it home, and IF she did it wouldn't be for long. Well, here we are 9 1/2 months later (knock on wood) celebrating her 17th birthday—yes, seventeen. She suffers from chronic renal failure so we have to give her subcutaneous fluids every other day, but her creatinine and BUN levels are now "age appropriate" and—according to her new vet, the wonderful Dr. Shanker—she should live "a long, long time." This little girl has been with me through thick and thin and I love her to pieces.

Happy Birthday Onyx!

OK so I've been MIA. Work has been C R A Z Y and we ran away to Oahu. You know you need a vacation when you sleep 14 hours on the first night.

Adam and I are normally adventurous travelers who like to SEE and DO stuff. Not this time. We didn't have schedules for anything; not even dinner. I've spent the last week doing nothing but reading and napping...and of course making poor food choices. I read "Into the Wild" and caught up on my gossip and fitness magazines. Below are my supplies for a typical afternoon at the pool. (The Bloody Mary and jug of Screwdrivers are Adam's.) I'm refreshed and ready to do the final push into Festivus. Hullabaloo here we come!

Adam managed to squeeze in a dive and a shark cage adventure. If he ever blogs, you can see his pics.

Marley was born on June 16, 2007, and at seven weeks he entered our lives. He is an awesome dog, and a freaking genius—doing great with crate training, housebreaking (litterbox training for dogs using wood pellets) and clicker training. He has had many visitors (socialization) and has gone out on-leash to visit the neighborhood kids and the Sunday Jazzercise class in Los Gatos.

This photo was taken by Martha Hoffman (the breeder) the moment I got him...August 4th, 9am...

Day One at home with his Daddy...

He spent most of his first day eating and sleeping...

We are getting him accustomed to grooming frequently—including bathing, toothbrushing, ear cleaning, nail clipping and nose moisturizing. We set up a grooming station for his bath, but he was too tired to continue...

Here he is after his first bath...he did so well!
We love him so much. How did we live without him?

Last Saturday we had a big celebration of in honor of Adam becoming an instructor. It was the best party ever! A whole bunch of students, instructors and friends came out to toast our very own Boomer. It was really special. Here he is with his humongous cake. (Just for scale, he is sitting at a standard card table.)

Boomer is pictured on the cake with Judi Sheppard Missett (Founder/CEO) and Shanna Missett Nelson (Executive Vice President) of Jazzercise Inc.
Of course we put Adam right to work! On Independence Day we team-taught a class at Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos. (L-R: Cheryl, Catherine, Adam, Eva and Lori)
EIGHTY STUDENTS came out for the fun; it was awesome!
Here's another picture of our students dancing their hearts out. The question is, wtf is Adam doing?

I guess he's excited about being an instructor.

TODAY was SUCH an AWESOME day. This morning (5:30am), we went to IHRSA's 26th Annual International Convention & Trade Show in San Francisco to take a special "Kick It to The Core" Jazzercise class from THE Judi Sheppard Missett herself. What better way to spend a day off?! I was so excited; I can't even tell you. It was my first resistance ball class, and my first class with Judi!

We made the pilgrimage with a handful of dedicated students—back row: Tracy, Susan, Marsha, Tina, Robin, Georgia; middle row: Luann, Gail, Eva, Catherine, Jan; front row: Adam, of course.

Adam and I got to meet Judi for the first time. She's so friendly and energetic. I'm just in awe of what she's accomplished and how she motivates so many people to change their lives. She just glows with passion. I love it. Waiting, waiting, waiting...
To our surprise, Shanna came to teach as well! I got to meet her at our district meeting last year. She is just delightful. Mother and daughter welcomed everyone before the big event...
It was SUCH an incredible class—tons of core work with the tube and ball, and some cardio too. We got a sneak peek at the new routines they'll be taping in Orlando next month. There are some super fun ones! Judi made wonderful remarks at the end of class—She loves her instructors and students and is dedicated to providing us with a fun and effective workout set to fantastic, original music. She never forgets that it is all about us. OMG I love her. Seriously.

After class we introduced Adam to Shanna. She congratulated him and wished him luck at Workshop in June.

Judi and Shanna took a picture with us...
As we were leaving Moscone Center, Adam decided to break out some moves on the guys outside.
It was decided (yes, I was outvoted) that Bloody Marys were in order, so we stopped at a place in Woodside called Buck's. This place is somethin' else. The decor is crazy. There's stuff hanging from the ceiling and odd collectibles everywhere. They even had an antique San Quentin prisioner intake log, complete with photos and descriptions of the crimes. Wow. The photo didn't come out, but here's a sampling of other wacky stuff...
Luann and Adam loved their Bloody Marys because they came with "corn on the cob" instead of celery...
It was a fun and gorgeous spring day...and it's only Friday! Whoo hoo!

Last night we (instructors from South Bay Jazzercise and the Sunnyvale Jazzercise Center) did a Jazzercise performance at Hotel Sofitel for The Community Breast Health Project "Fit for Life Goes to the Tropics" fashion show and fundraiser.

Here's a snippet from the CBHP's press release:
Clothes will be modeled by breast cancer survivors, ranging in age from in their 30's to 80 years old, most of whom are CBHP clients who have benefited directly from this organization. Fit for Life retail partners are 4 Clothing, Calla, Chico’s, Brighton Collectibles, Lucy, Tommy Bahama, Talbots, and Harold’s. Jazzercise instructors add to the evening’s energy with a fitness workout for all to enjoy.

Here we are, looking all tropical and cute—Jill, Cheryl, Lori, Eva, Catherine and Nicole...

Our district manager—Nancy—came to support us...

Of course our "Sidekick" was on hand to take pictures and be our sherpa; Six women can have a lot of bags. Thanks Adam! Everyone did a great job and I'm really proud of all of us! Good job ladies, woot!

I have one word for you...WOW.

Last night I went to the Christina Aguilera "Back To Basics" concert with Anna (my niece) and her girlfriends. I have to admit, I didn't really care about the show, but a ticket fell into my lap so I thought it would be fun to hang out with the girls. Here we are, all gussied up.

The Pussycat Dolls opened—I had NO IDEA Nicole (the lead singer) has such a great voice. The other five chicks alternate singing, but I think they are basically backup dancers. Well, except for one they kept referring to as flexy. She was doing some crazy yoga-ish poses. Anyway, they are intense and the dancing was phenomenal; I kept thinking, "Wow, that's A LOT of ab work!"

Christina opened with Ain't No Other Man...