Teaser

So, last week was a tease, and I celebrated prematurely. We are back up in the 100s for the rest of the week on into the weekend. Let's hope this is the end of it!

Phoenix

So, I realized today that I may be just a bit hard on this city I am living in. I find myself throughout the year comparing this city to Anaheim, and I am always pretty critical of it. First off, it doesn't help that there is no beautiful pink castle right around the corner, but I also find myself critiquing the weather and the atmosphere. Today, for the first time in about 5 months, I appreciated this fine city.

I went for my first marathon training run since the half was out of the way, and it was fantastic. In order to avoid the heat on my Saturday morning runs over the past few months, I would have to get up at the un-Godly hour of 4:30 a.m. After seeing that the forecasted high for the day was a mere 89, I decided it was okay to sleep in a bit and wait until 6:00 for my run. Let me just tell you, it was fantastic. There was a crispness in the air that got me through the entire run. A nice breeze kept blowing as well. It was just one of those mornings where it feels great to be alive. It is so nice knowing that we have another 6-7 months of this!

After that, I took a nap, and then it was time to run errands- oil change and dress alterations. Well, I did find that I was a little over-ambitious in my breaking out the jeans- got a bit warm, so I will have to put those back in the closet for another few weeks. The oil change was pretty uneventful. Having my dress altered was another story- a lovely patron of the seamstress took it upon herself to help me out and expressed great concern after I replied to her question of what kind of undergarments I would be wearing , that I had no intentions of getting anything special. She quickly began to recommend several places that I should check out in order to purchase a girdle- that I absolutely had to be using one to keep my tummy in. She then, ever so politely, tried to teach me how to walk better. She redeemed herself a bit when she told me I didn't have to do anything to work on my legs. It turns out that she was a retired wardrobe lady for some studio out in Hollywood- still I could have done without the advice.

After that, I visited Chris at Best Buy- it ended up being a very expensive 10 minutes visit, as we made a few purchases. I had had it in my head after my visit to Disneyland that I had to have a special 50th anniversary box set that included just about every piece of music ever played in the park. I am currently listening to the entire soundtrack to the Pirates of the Caribbean- it is great- I feel like I am floating down the waters of New Orleans now! So, I suppose if I can't be in Anaheim, I can simply sit out on my porch enjoying the cool air and play my CD's! Almost as good!

Anniversary

So, yesterday was a special day for Chris and I- it was the 5 year anniversary of our first date! To commemorate the occasion, we went to our local Chile's, as that was the restaurant where we had our first date. It was a lot of fun- we both hadn't been there for a while, and it was a favorite of mine in Williamsburg!

While that was pretty exciting, the most exciting occurrence of the evening was when we walked outside of the restaurant at around 8:00, and I was actually a bit chilly in my short sleeves! This has been a long time coming. We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that is summer out here! The local meteorologist also confirmed that fall truly is coming in that this is the first week that did not have any 100 degree days predicted- Very exciting! I LOVE fall/winter out here!

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend!!

Well, I spent my weekend in my most favorite city in the world- Anaheim! I am always looking for an excuse to hang out in Disneyland, and I had a great one this weekend. Disneyland was hosting its first ever half marathon! I was lucky enough to have a friend, Sarah, who recently moved to Southern California, come stay with me at the Disneyland Hotel! We had a grand time!

On Friday, my plane touched down at about 8:40- I rushed to grab a shuttle to make it to the park for opening at 9am. I just missed it- I got there at about 9:05 and made a mad dash for Space Mountain. For those of you who are not familiar with Disneyland's newly renovated coaster- it is the best roller coaster ever! I rode it a few times, and then i figured it was time to move onto Fantasyland. I rode Peter Pan's flight and then Snow White. After that, it was, of course, time for my daily Mickey Mouse soft pretzel. While these are excellent, they do not compare to the far superior version- the Monstro Pretzel in the Magic Kingdom! I then took in the Pirates of the Caribbean. Capn Jack Sparrow now makes a few appearances in that attraction. Next up were Indiana Jones and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

After those, I headed back to the hotel to check in, pick up my race packet, and meet up with Sarah. After Sarah got in, we headed back to the park, where we did a lot of waiting in line, but not a lot of riding, so we finally settled for pretzels and fireworks! Disneyland puts on the most spectacular fireworks show I have ever seen!

Saturday was a full day starting at 9am. We got just about every ride in and had a marvelous time doing it! At the end of the evening, we carb loaded at the Pizza Port in Tomorrowland, which is the only pasta that i have ever had that compares to Maggiano's! Yumm!

Sunday was an early morning- had to be at the starting line by 4:30 am. not cool. It was a pretty long wait until the 6:00 start time. It was a pretty uneventful wait until the guy with the microphone announced that the race ambassadors had arrived. I really wasn't interested until I heard who they were- Mickey and Minnie! It was awesome! About 5 minutes later, the race began with a great show of pyrotechnics and fire balls. Seriously, where else do you have races that are initiated with a pyrotechnic show?

The race went through a few streets in Anaheim before entering California Adventure and making its way through the esplanade into Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom! It was amazing- we went through the backstage area and then entered into Tomorrowland- next turn into Fantasyland and through Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We then went through Fronteirland, Adventureland and down Main Street- it was incredible. After that, it was back to the streets of Anaheim. My favorite non Disney part was the part through the Anaheim Angels' Stadium. Their announcer was there, and he announced our names as we came through the door. We then rounded the bases before making an exit through left field. At that point, I knew I was in the home stretch- only 3 miles to go- time to kick it in high gear. I needed to make an impressive finish for Mickey, who would be waiting at the finish line. The race ended with a mile back in Disney territory, and it was a great finish. Sure enough, Mickey was there cheering me on! I ended up finishing in 318 th place out of about 9,500 runners, so I was really excited. I finished with a final pace of 7:48- my best yet! I need to stick with these Disney runs!

After that, I had to run back to the hotel and shower so that we could make our 9:00 appointment for the "A Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tour. It was great. we got to enter the park an hour before it opened. It was awe-inspiring looking down an empty Main Street thinking that just 50 years ago, Walt would have been doing this very same thing!

The tour was great. I got to play teacher's pet and answer all of the questions. We got to go into the mysterious Club 33- an exclusive restaurant that only members of the club can enter. As a result, this restaurant has remained shrouded in mystery for years. As part of the tour, we got to go into the lobby, which was nice. I was tempted to make a mad dash up the stairs when the tour guide wasn't paying attention, but I figured it wasn't worth losing my park priveleges over, so in the end, I still have not seen the dining area!

After the tour, Sarah and I spent some time riding our favorites a few more times, and then it was back to the airport.

Overall, a fantastic weekend in a fantastic place! It is exciting to think that the next time I am visiting Mickey, it will be for our wedding trip! It will be nice to be back at my Disney home base resort though. I certainly miss seeing the Contemporary and the Grand Floridian as I go through the turnstiles at the end of the night. Gosh, I miss that place...it will be good to be back!

A New Approach

So, I don't think I can handle keep doing the long posts like before. That's okay though. Shorter posts are okay too, right?

The Grape Ape is in Anaheim, running a half marathon! Remember, GA, "I wanna go fast!"

That leaves old Clyde here by his lonesome. That's pretty okay though, I need some downtime...probably time to settle in for some poker, haven't played for a while!

I went here for dinner tonight, not bad, but not marvelous either...

I am going to try to make this an everyday thing, posting on here...we'll see.

Chris's Birthday!

Well, our excitement for last week was Chris's birthday! Leading up to the big day, Chris was a bit sad- because, as we all know, life ends at 26. When the day came, Chris was pretty excited though- anytime a restaurant is involved, Chris's day inevitably is good! We went to a place called Steamers. It was really good, except they forgot to bring out Chris's birthday treat. It ended up okay though, since we were pretty stuffed from dinner. I have to admit that this is one of my favorite days of the year, as it means that I am no longer the older woman in the relationship! Very exciting!

I am preparing for the Disneyland Half Marathon next weekend. I ran my last long run leading up to it yesterday. Today, I got to do one of my favorite things- I got a new pair of running shoes! I will forever be devoted to the Saucony Hurricane 8, and they seem to always put out a new model just as I am wearing out my current pair, so I got my first pair of pink running shoes! It is about time! Next week, be sure to check back for some pictures of Mickey and me! Hopefully he shows up at the race with his pals!

Back out West, Part I

This is the first entry from the clydesdale part of the clydesdale and grape ape blog. Perhaps I should elaborate on my moniker. Last spring, I was debating whether or not to participate in Pat's Run, which benefits the Pat Tillman foundation (who starred collegiately at ASU). I was talking to the Grape Ape about it, when I noticed that there were both age AND weight classes.

As fate would have it, those participants who weighed more than 225 pounds were part of the special "Clydesdale" category, and a nickname was born. In retrospect, it could have been worse...255+ pound entrants were dubbed "Super Clydesdales."

Last night, I returned from a week-long "working vacation" back east. It was great to get to see everyone and not have to burn up a week of vacation time, but it was pure misery to follow up late night after late night with 9 hours of work the following day. I'm not so sure I'd recommend it to anyone, now that I look back.

Some highlights of my trip included stopping at old haunting grounds and getting rivered out of huge pots. Some things never change, apparently. What was even more painful was spotting my boy, Bones, and seeing the same grinning donkey busting us both in the same night. To make matters worse, Bonsey and I had the same hands preflop when we got broken up worse than a poorly-thrown high school kegger in the middle of the woods (pocket Ladies, for the record).

The weather cooperated down the shore, as well, as we were greeted to three days of non-stop rain and gale force winds.

Upon our return from the shore, Bonsey and I met up with Sir Charles and some of Bonsey's other friends, one of which treated us to a lovely rendition of Divinyls' "I Touch Myself." The kicker? It was a HE. Lovely. Amazingly enough, the crowd at the bar loved it. This guy even had his own groupies. Wild.

I also was able to ask my cousin, Michele, and her husband John to be a part of our wedding party. The ape and I are really excited to have them be a big part of our special day. We had a big dinner, followed by drinks and shooting pool the night that I asked them. In true Clydesdale fashion, I managed to leave my credit card behind at the end of the night.

On Friday, my Dad, Bonsey, and Sir Charles all got fitted for tuxes for December. I also met Bonsey's girlfriend, Janet, for the first time. After the fitting, Sir Charles, pops, and my college roommate, Jed, all went out for lunch. After lunch, we did some shopping at my typical weekend hangout, then headed back down the shore, this time for big winnings and relaxing beach time.

As fate would have it, we would experience neither. I managed to bust out just outside of the money in the sit-and-go tournament that I played in, while Jed about broke even playing blackjack. Jed would later hit for about a hundo on a slot machine at another casino. Incidentally, they are putting one of my favorite restaurants from the city in Caesar's next year. Fun!

Part II of my blog will fill out the rest of my trip. I would finish it now, but I am learning that to post all of these cool hyperlinks requires a lot of internet searching, and I am tried from the time zone difference.

Please leave comments, as the ape and I would love to hear from you!

*****
Playing on iTunes as I finish this entry: "Is This It," by The Strokes