Still running

On January 8th, 2011, California's 16th Assembly District held elections for the CA Democratic Party delegates. In 2008, they set the record for voter turnout for the state with over 350 showing up. This year, they ran out of their 500 ballots and had to race out to print more. There were over 621 voters, another CA delegate election record for sure.

Although I did not win, I am still running. My 1/2 marathon training is in full gear and I will say that it is much easier to run long distances when running shorter distances throughout the week.

This past Saturday, I ran 7 miles. This is a big deal for me, the woman with bad knees, ridiculous feet and more excuses to not run than anyone I know. I did it AND was not crazy sore the next day. I am inspired once again and am running more regularly through the week, usually REALLY early in the morning with a small posse of other women.

The other "new" thing is that I am running without headphones and music. It seems more restful for me, less frantic. And, I can carry on a conversation with my running mates....once I catch my breathe. Oh, and the other...other...new thing is that I am trying out one of those fancy Garmin watches. So I like it but....I am still trying to figure out what all the buttons do and I am a bit envious of those with the sleek and fashionable Nike Sportsband (whatever you do, don't call it a watch).Oh! I almost forgot to mention, that after running the 7 miles, I entered a raffle at the local running store, Transports, and won a brand new pair of New Balance shoes. Sadly, the shoes are not working out for me but it was very exciting all the same.

Running and Running

So within one week, I signed up to run as delegate to the Democratic Party in the CA State Assembly for AD16 (which is most of Oakland, Piedmont and Alameda) and...for my first 1/2 Marathon in March, 2011.

I am very excited about both. They both seemed impossible before jumping on board and now they both seem possible. I will start with the running. I have bad knees, I am not the athletic one in my family, I am too busy, I hate getting up so early, its uncomfortable. And yet...when I run, it feels good during the second 1/2 of the run and afterward I feel even better and proud of myself. And now I have cute running outfits as well (By cute I don't mean cheesy fluffy girly-not exactly) that glow in the dark, keep me warm and don't look so frumpy. Just because you feel like crap doesn't mean you have to look that way.

The second "running..." is for CA State delegate for the Democratic Party. Apparently the 16th AD is the most active of all 80 districts in the state, so competition is a bit high. I am excited to report that I got chosen to be on the Progressive Slate so we can run as a team supporting each other. The elections are January 8th and there is little time to get people to show up to vote. There are a few hurdles to overcome. Still pretty exciting....

Disneyland

It all worked out. We worried, but in the end, we went to Disneyland, had a great time and avoided any further health hazards. No computer. No Ipad. An Iphone that had a fleeting battery life. Nice. We had two days straight of silly and tiring good fun. We arrived at the park at 8am and lasted well into the evening. The weather wasn't great but we bundled up in warm rain gear and went for it.We ran into a bunch of school mates of both kids...two families that we knew would be there and two families we ran into just by chance. Crazy. I even ran into a guy I just had a meeting with on the previous Saturday. Do you know how many people there are at Disneyland and California Adventure? Yes, tens of thousands daily.


A really fun family trip. So even though we met up with a few people we knew, we peeled off within the first few hours and continued our theme park experience on our own.

Disneyland was crowded. Even the rain didn't scare enough people off. Still worth it to see Small World, and some of the other classic rides. California Adventure was REALLY fun on the second day. I think there were less people overall, more space, and better food choices. We found an awesome ride with only a 5 minute wait so we did it twice. It was a water ride so we got pretty wet BUT it was fantastic-the kids got really giggly, we all got giggly and energized. Of course I ended up with motion sickness, but that's par for the course.



Although we didn't get to do all the cool big kid rides, we had a really nice time just following where the kids wanted to go. Aiden got to interact with a talking trash can, and Max and I got to see fireworks and Fantasmic WAY after his bedtime. A special treat for sure.

The Happiest Place On Earth!

The last time our family had the stomach flu was 4 yrs ago, on our trip to Disney World. I was on a work trip in Orlando with Aiden and BZ's Mom (who was taking care of Aiden during the day). Aiden was in a sling, not quite 1 years old, Max and BZ joined us after a stop in Texas, where they caught a terrible flu virus. Not the best way to experience Disney.

Two days ago, the flu came back. It was sudden. Aiden and Max were playing a little rough, Max's head smashed Aiden's....I heard screams-bloody nose. No big deal until three hours later when Aiden started throwing up, repeatedly. I thought it could be a concussion. At 11pm when he kept getting sick, I drove him to the ER. Apparently, his knock in the head was just coincidentally lined up with the stomach flu.

By 2am the doctor stopped the vomiting with a Chemotherapy drug (great). Of course he couldn't stop the OTHER stomach flu symptoms which has lead to about 300 loads of laundry. Aiden slept all last night until 2pm today. I think he's on the mend...

So here's the thing. We leave for their first visit to Disneyland Sunday morning. I am a bit concerned that one of the rest of us might come down with similar symptoms. This would be bad. It's bad enough that it will be raining during their first visit to Disneyland but hurling would make it impossible. Why the Disney-vomit connection?
The best laid plans...

Catch up

OK. So that last post was probably weird since I haven't posted anything for a while. Getting to see my holiday card in advance when you may not even be getting one (I have been known to not get them in the mail at all) might be obnoxious.

So I thought I'd follow up briefly with a catch up post.

Halloween was fun. Max made the cutest little Harry Potter, he'd been planning all year. His friend Izzy was so excited to have her hair died red to become Ginny Weasley (Harry's friend's sister).

Aiden turned 5 yrs old. So now he's no longer the 4 yr old in Kindergarten. He loves it most of the time except in the morning when he's got to go to school. We had a crazy exhausting party with too many 5 yr olds and just enough balloons to get in trouble. Everyone got a Captain Underpants book at the end to ensure potty humor in all of their homes as well as ours.


I've been running more regularly and have decided to run a 1/2 Marathon at the end of March. I know....probably not the best idea for my knees but I sure like a huge goal.
So there you go. Oh and maybe next post I can rant about our new TV. Its really big and it gives me motion sickness. No kidding. Apparently, we now only need one remote for everything. Weird. I never knew how to use all the other remotes anyway. Did I mention I barely watch TV more than once a week? I'll have to have the kids show me how it works...after I take Dramamine.

2010 Schultz-Lewis holiday card

I ordered our holiday cards. This is the earliest ever for me. But there was this great "deal." I love to save money as I spend it. Ask BZ. So as I ordered the cards, I found three deals and for some crazy reason, they allowed me to take advantage of 20% off, $10 off and free shipping. Crazy. And, I love the card.

Joy Love Story Holiday

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View the entire collection of cards.

C.O.R.E.

Done. I finished my CORE (Communities of Oakland Respond to Emergencies) training. Yesterday was the final hands-on training with the Firefighters at their Oakland Training Center. Amazing. We got to practice what we've been learning over the past month: disaster first aid, search and rescue, putting out fires, "cribbing," lifts...and then we got to go through a post-earthquake simulation exercise.
There were about 8 volunteers playing victims of the disaster, made up in some pretty gross bloody-type makeup. I happened to get assigned to the First Aid tent and was to perform triage and first aid as best I could on those that got brought in. The guy pictured was all bandaged up rocking in a corner for most of the time.

Its hard to explain how cool it is to be training by the city to help in an emergency. These firefighters were amazing, fun, funny, super smart....and so generous with their time.
During the classroom training, there was a whole lot of information shared and most of it was stressful. Learning about how to take care of the most number of people rather than one individual. Leaving people for dead if they aren't breathing within a few tries. Learning that in a major earthquake, there will be dead people and that we will probably see them. Dealing with so much pain and destruction...but also, learning how to organize with neighbors in advance so that for most situations, you are pretty prepared.

The hands-on training felt pretty empowering. I was pretty good at putting out fires and search and rescue. Not sure how it would play out in real life though. I still have lots of reviewing to do. And although I don't have an extra minute, I find this all very energizing. I can't wait for graduation on November 17th. We each get a bright green CORE hardhat, vest and name tag to make it official. Yes, completely geeky, but I can't wait.