Just Run

I joined the ARC Running Club end of February this year. I never thought of myself as a runner, but since I was feeling bored going to the gym, this was such a blessing for me. This group has members as young as 5yrs old to 60 yrs old, from different walks of life, and multitude of reasons why they run. Most of them have done multiple marathons; some did triathlons, others 5k’s or 10K’s, still others the iron man competitions. One member has a goal of training for ultra marathon. This group is quite special; they care about how you can achieve your goal. It’s funny because, I have a couple of them who asks me religiously how many times I ran in the week, and my constant answer is,” twice” (we meet twice a week, hahaha). I still haven’t captured the state where I can run by myself and run often. I just want to be able to lace up my running shoes without thinking about it, and just run. I’m a little apprehensive right now because my first 5K Run is in one week and I haven’t done the necessary preparations for it. I guess you’ll know what happens in a week.

Another Postcard

The last time I spoke to my friend he was heading to Germany to his friend’s wedding and will be gone for a month or so. Then postcards started arriving. The first one was from Venice, with just a short Italian sentence, which probably says in English, “Surprise Jesusa! Hello from Venice.” What can I remember about Venice? My first impression on the boat approaching the city was, “Magnificent!” I probably could have stayed there longer but the tour group I joined had to move on. But I loved every minute of it, the gondola ride, walking in front of the Basilica di San Marco, walking through the narrow streets and enjoying a cup of cappuccino in one of the cafes.

The second postcard dated 2 days later came from Firenze (Florence), the same time I was in Florence 7 years ago. This time he wrote a longer note, how he thought this was a pretty interesting city. Oh how I loved Florence! The view of the city was breathtaking. It reminded me of a lifelike museum quality painting. Miles and miles of bright splash colors of the rooftops and buildings. I remember standing there and was thinking of the landscape being the backdrop to my wedding photo.

The third postcard arrived today dated 2 days later from the second one. This one had “Helvetia” stamps. He even wrote that this one would stump me, and it did! He got this postcard in Basel, Switzerland while he saw a Vincent van Gogh – Between Earth and Heaven Exhibition. This postcard was kind of special, it’s a Renoir painting called “Young Girls at the Piano,” he even had a little p.s. on the side telling me how this one reminded him of me and one of my sisters. This postcard is big reminder to myself that this is one more place on my “list of places to go” that I still have to check off.

I am looking forward to the next postcard. I hope there’s more to come.

Travel Itch

Three months have passed since my last travel. I'm beginning to feel the itch to go somewhere. I often have this fantasy of just packing up and showing at an airport and buying a ticket to a flight anywhere before it boarded. That would be a real surprise! It could be Spain, Greece, Morocco, Thailand or Fiji. I guess I have to be at an international section of the airport, hahaha. Come to think of it, I can't find my "list of places to go." I think the last one I checked off was "Paris." On my local list, I could have checked off "Chicago," however, plans changed since one of my friends could not get away because of this little thing called "work." And to top it all, with the budget crisis in our midst, it seems like it would be such an irresponsible thing to do. Unless, I win the "lotto," then it would be a different story, right? Oh, the beauty of day dreaming, it's free! No hours wasted on deciding what to pack, where to go, long lines waiting to get searched, removing shoes and belts, throwing your water bottles that is almost full, getting seated next to a snorer, the list goes on. But wait, I still need to go somewhere, anywhere to get this "travel itch" off my back. Well, well, maybe in three months, I'm crossing my fingers.....

A Dog Day Afternoon

Ressie celebrated her 1st birthday at the Longbeach - Dog Beach Zone. No bumper to bumper traffic at the 5S Freeway, growling hungry stomachs, nor a long detour because we got lost, could stop us from getting the birthday girl to the beach for an afternoon of fun. Dogs and more dogs as far as your eyes can see. They came in so many sizes, breeds, colors, and personalities. Everyone of them seemed to be celebrating something. Some loved the water, others stayed on the beach, and the majority of the crowd were running around and were enjoying a game of tag with each other. So many times I saw Ressie stealing someone else's tennis ball, or sniffing at people resting and enjoying their snacks. Not before long it was time to say goodbye to the cool waters, dog filled stretch of beach, and to new doggie friends. Ressie slept the whole way home.