happy birthday kevin!!!!! (a little late!!!)

we had yet another great weekend here.
saturday, kelly, my college roommate and longtime friend, came in to town around 10:30 am. we chatted and laughed and ate lunch at rancho's (yummy mexican, of course), walked on the beach, chatted and laughed some more, made tacos for dinner, and she ended up staying the night (even though her company has paid for a hotel!). so sunday morning we got up and kel decided to skip her first session so we went to sunset cliffs with our starbucks (decaf mocha-mmm). she decided she had to attend the rest of the events at the conference, which was fine, because matt and i went to puerto nuevo (mexico) with our friends.

it ended up being a perfect beautiful day in a small mexican town. there was fun music and dancing and it was right on the ocean. we ended up eating on the balcony of a littte restaurant while we looked at the ocean. and OH MY WORD--one of the best meals of my life! 2 spiny lobsters (fairly small, but i could still only eat one of them), tortillas, beans, rice, guacamole/salsa, and chips and a margarita (all for only $14-yes! i love mexico!). unlike matt, i felt fine-and so full--the rest of the night. then again, i don't have irritable bowels like he does... :) we bought a bottle of wine from a mexican vineyard and arrived home around 6pm.

this evening kelly is going to come over around 5:30, when her seminars are over, and we'll eat some dinner together. i haven't decided whether i'm going to make something or whether we will go out to eat. decisions, decisions.

how is it october 18th already? this is what i want to know! this saturday i'll be heading up to san jose and mary and i will be participating in the muddy buddy race (http://www.muddybuddy.com) on sunday. needless to say, i haven't been working out very much since the triathlon that took place only 2 weeks ago! oh well, we're not doing it to win. surely, you can all agree that it looks so fun (except for maybe dad edwards, who is not into crawling in mud pits!).

random notes:
-i'm happy for all of you astros fans (especially for my husband, because it does so make my life a little bit more pleasant when they win)!
-right now i'm reading "jane eyre", which i never read in high school. i'm actually pretty into it!
-it rained today for the first time in 6 months, confirmed on the news, of course, which considers the weather a the top story when a rare event like this happens. the roads were a complete mess, apparently. which makes me very thankful that i only had to drive 1/2 mile to work. it never did really come down here--just a few sprinkles. but matt got it further north. the end of that boring subject.
-i just received a nice letter from my grammy--thanks grammy, i know i've owed you one for a long time!!!
-i have made a pumpkin shaped candy jar and a cute little vase and a really ugly big vase in ceramics so far. i hope that they get fired in the kiln at some point this week so i can glaze them. i hope they don't blow up (which could happen if you don't make it the right way. which is probably likely to happen to me heehee!:)

welp, i'm out!

we had our little shindig last night. the andys came down around 3:00 pm and we were able to chill with them for a few hours before our other friends began arriving. i laughed so hard that i was down on the ground several times. when i first met matt and joel 10 years ago, they used to make me laugh so hard i would instantly go down (bladder protection, of course). i know i was young and out of control then, but every once in awhile matt will still get me. but when the three of those boys get together (the andys, matt), it's over for me! anyhoo, when we planned this party, we originally intended to go to oktoberfest, a festival that is across the street from us. but we were all having so much fun just chatting and laughing and hanging out at our house that we never made it over there!

today i got up early and went for a bike and run, in preparation for our muddy buddy. (oh mare--remember how my bike was making those wierd noises during the triath? well, yesterday i took it out for the first time since the race and when i was riding, it broke. it started rattling and swaying and wouldn't even pedal. i had to walk it home--thankfully, i was only a mile away. when i got home, i messed with it a little bit and figured out that the clamp that keeps the rear wheel on was loose--when i lifted the frame, it came straight off of the hanging tire--yikes! thank God that didn't happen during the triath--that would have stunk! anyhow, i think i have it all fixed up now...). then the boys woke up and me and astevens made egg tortillas for breakfast and we headed up to encinitas for a surf session. my first time on my new board! and although the water was rough, it was a smooth ride on my new boardie!!! i was exhausted and weak, and the waves were really strong (i had a couple of runs of pounding sand with my head before i said, "enough!"). we grabbed a pizza with the guys in encinitas and they hit the road and i bought new flipflops to replace my broken ones. yay! (10 points to whoever correctly identifies the number of run-on sentences in this blog entry!).

i'm happy to hear about other readers' plans for life.
a couple others on my list include:

-go snowboarding (hopefully at thanksgiving!)
-get better at surfing
-go to seattle, tanzania, hawaii again, bali, ireland, australia
-ride a century (100 km or mile) bike race (after completing some lesser ones-20/50 miles)--mare? are you in?
-be social director/hospitality coordinator for justin's production company :)

dad, can you do orienteering in teams? if so, we should get a family thing going--it sounds so fun. maybe you wouldn't want me on your team, though. i don't have the best sense of direction. i can read a map, though!

matt and i had a fun date last night.
we went to starbucks for coffee and sat in big, cushy chairs while we updated our list of "things i want to do in my lifetime".

it was fun to check off all the things that i have done that i set out to do as well.
for example:
-marry the perfect man for me
-move to california
-run a half marathon
-complete a triathlon
-take a ceramics class (i'm currently doing this--did you know that? expect some EXCELLENT christmas gifts! heehee...)
-and a thousand other things...

some things on my new list include:
-complete an adventure race
-learn how to play guitar
-see U2/beastie boys/travoltas in concert
-take a photography class
-get a dog
-take a bike tour (ireland? california?)
-go to some national parks (west and northwest US)
-and lots more that you're probably not interested in..

but i am interested in you, dear reader, and what you have on your list. so let's hear it!

mare, were you joking about the duffel bag and bo sleeping in it? if so, very funny. if not, even more funny! :)

i really must be going, though. my one job today is to get my clothes moved back into my closet in the guest room. they've been taking over matt's closet since early august, since we've had nonstop visitors. ahhh, my own space again! actually, my other job is to get some new flip flops, since my favorite ones broke the other day--so sad!!! :(
so have a good one, everybody!

wait--the fad i participated in (in the 80s) that i am probably most embarrassed of is my mall bangs. you know, the wave of sprayed solid hair sticking 3 inches (at least) off my forehead. this was in addition to a perm (and occasionally i would pull back one side with a plastic clip!) i too, had stirrup pants, which i wore with socks OVER the pants (coordinating with the shirt, of course) and black flats.--that's for you, bobby queen!

whew! made it through another week. i'm finally feeling better, but still not back to normal.
ah, the weekend. i think we're having a little get-together with some friends and the andys will come down from LA tomorrow.
what? more people visiting?
i made a deal with matt that he has to do all the cleaning and prep for this visit and party, because it was my understanding that we would have no more guests until thanksgiving. except that i also got an email from kelly (ramsey) spivey saying that they moved out to san jose and that she has a conference in san diego next weekend. how can we say no? we haven't seen her for 2 years!!! i'm so excited to be able to spend some real time with her!

by the way, here are some links to funny pictures of mary and i after our swim portion of the triath:
mary:
http://www.finishlinemobilephoto.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?action=viewphotos&size=fullsize&pagenum=26&id=417546&eventid=3584
me:
http://www.finishlinemobilephoto.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?action=viewphotos&size=fullsize&pagenum=24&id=417544&eventid=3584
there are also some running and biking ones, but i don't have the energy to cut and paste those deals. i look delirious in both-not to mention my shorts look like they're falling off! mary looks pretty good! there are no pictures of us together (even though we were next to each other the whole time!) and no pictures of us crossing the finish line--bummer, i wanted that one. oh well, we have the memories!

i'm going to try to get some pictures developed for our guestbook tonight--wish me luck! i've been trying to work on this project (for) FOREVER!!!!
and i think matt and i have a date at a fun coffeeshop that has white hot chocolate---SO GOOD, even though i'm not normally a white chocolate fan...

welp, i must be going, i hear matt is home.
have a great weekend everyone!

p.s. i hope acid-washed jeans don't come back!

p.s. they just posted our triath times: 1:32:17--yay! (and that is including the transition times)!

i am a triathlete! and so is mary!
yes!
so crazy to be able to say that!

so here's the story: mare came into town on friday evening and we picked up some wahoo's and enjoyed some conversation. matt and i went to bed early (i don't know why matt conked out! i was still sick-i had an excuse. and by the way, i lost my voice on thursday and it is replaced with a ridiculously hoarse and breathy voice with a ton of pitch breaks. so annoying to talk with and annoying for other people to listen to! it's a little better today, but still annoying).

saturday, mare and i went to the pre-race expo and we went to pick up our numbers and hear a triathlon guru (named "gurujan") talk about details of the triathlon. after what seemed like forever, we finally came home (he had a ton of good things to say, but it dragged on and i was fighting a fever. thankfully, he was at least funny and quirky. and bald. i don't know why that last quality seems important, but it just completes the picture of guru, i think). mare and i both took naps when we got home and sleepily woke up in time to go drop our bikes off at the transition area and go over the course.

mare and i made a yummy carb-loaded meal of spaghetti, bread and cheese, and salad. then we practiced our funny transitions (see her blog for extra details and procedures) while matt made fun of our alien swim-cap heads. "when you see me in this swim cap, you're going to wish you never married me," i said to matt. "you're right," he said when he saw me. HA! unfortunately, the fever i had been battling all day got the best of me. (doesn't God love me? why is He letting this happen to me NOW, of all times?----who else has had these irrational thoughts when you are sick? yet i've never wrestled with God over anything more than i have with disease and illness on this earth. but that's a way longer conversation-i digress...)

then, i got a nice call from my dear friend, heidi, calling to encourage me and give me tips to get better (calcium-for body aches, and a lemon bath, which supposedly draws toxins and infections out of your body through your skin. weird.) matt, mary, and i made a run to jamba juice to get smoothies with immune boosters in them and i came home and took the silly lemon bath and went to bed.

today: mare and i woke up at 5:00 am, full of adrenaline, and me feeling better (lemon bath? the Lord? both? i don't know). when we arrived at the transition area to set up our gear for the race, boy, were we glad we had gone to hear the guru! we had time to process and visualize and rehearse in our heads and were calm and ready to go in the morning. other people were asking out of control unprepared questions (when does my age group race? where do i put my bike?, etc.) and we were so glad to eliminate at least that portion of anxiousness from our day.

THE SWIM: we got halfway into our wetsuits and walked the 1/2 mile to the swim start and watched the pros and elites gracefully gliding through the water. then all the other men raced and mare and i were in the first female wave start. there were 15 wave starts, (1600 people competing total) and mary and i were in the 9th wave start.

anyhoo, as the time came closer to our wave, we got in the freezing cold water and were trying to practice swimming. not easy while hyperventilating from shock :). we were giggling and freaking out and chatting with the other girls in our age group (24-29). i started to feel really nervous and anxious. i heard a girl near me say, "ok, let's pray," to her two friends and i said all out of control, "oh, can we pray with you?" of course we could, they said. and we all held hands and prayed together. i felt better after that. i was telling matt about it after the race and he said, "i know. i saw you. i took a picture of you guys." that made me so happy!

so we got in line with all the other white and green swim caps and treaded water for 5 minutes until the siren signaled our start. we waited a few seconds (again, good advice from mr. guru) and then took off. instantly, i was on top of 5 girls, kicking and flapping! and during the first couple of stroke-breaths, i took in a large mouthful of saltwater. even though we were in a protected bay, the tide was coming in and there were still waves. waves which flung into the mouth. i lost mary and then switched back and forth from front crawl to backstroke when i couldn't breathe (i'm telling you people, it was hard to coordinate the breathing with the freezing cold and adrenaline and saltwater--matt has a hilarious video of this! as i watched, i thought, "hmm. my form looks pretty good." and then you see me stop and start coughing out of control-very funny!). we swam from one point along the shore to another point along the shore, with lifeguards on surfboards and jetskis monitoring us and yelling encouragement. after what seemed like a million years, i finally reached the end and ran to the transition area (maybe 100 yards away?).

TRANSITION #1: mr. guru told us that while swimming, the blood from our brains would be actually trying to get oxygen to our legs and arms, thereby rendering our thinking. i flung off my goggles, swim cap, wetsuit, and then put on my clothes and shoes. my brain apparently forgot how to tie shoes and my fingers were all slow and deliberate, and i was laughing deliriously. mare ran up and started her transition while matt took pictures and i drank some water. "it tastes so sweet [after ingesting saltwater]!" i deliriously shouted to mary, as she deliriously took it from me. ahhhhh, sweet, sweet nectar... matt took some good pictures of the goofballs, and we were off and running with our bikes. we hopped on our bikes once we were out of the transition area and past a chalk line that said, "BIKE MOUNT LINE".

THE BIKE: mare and i went sailing away on our bikes, feeling strong and happy to be out of the water. we were supposed to keep 2 bike lengths of a distance between us (single-file, that is), but we snuck sometimes (when the path was wide or when there weren't many people behind us) and rode together. people commented on our matching shirts-yay! perfect red under armour shirts, for those of you who don't know! one thing about the biking was that people on road bikes were much faster and went flying around us. and we were in our highest gears and couldn't pedal any faster. we circled around this island and then cut through sea world's parking lot. a lady passed us on a turn and then flipped head-first over a curb at the next turn. i screamed-because it looked horrible-- and mare and i slowed way down and yelled, "are you okay?" she looked dazed but said she was alright, so we kept on going. then the end was in sight. we dismounted and ran on our noodle legs toward our bike rack. i heard a crash and turned around to see a wreck of 4 bikes at the dismount line we had just passed.

TRANSITION #2: still running on noodle legs, we ran our bikes back to the rack and i was all confused when i saw that someone had put their bike on top of mine and mare's spot. it only took a few seconds for me to problem solve, though, and we threw our helmets down, grabbed an energy gel and a water and were off and running!

THE RUN: man, we had been dreading this leg of the race when we had talked about it in preparation, but it turned out to be the best leg of the race for both of us. yay! mare said it best, "it feels good to have normal, natural body movement again". this time, WE actually were the ones doing most of the passing and just got into a great flow and rhythm. we passed mile marker #1 and both felt pretty good. we kept on running and looking for mile marker #2 but never saw it. mare remembered that when we reached the top of the bridge we would have less than 1/2 mile left and all of the sudden we were at the base of it. mare led us up the bridge in the passing lane and we probably passed 30-40 people on that deal--YES! when we reached the bottom we could see the tents and the crowds of people up ahead. another few minutes and we saw matt, with his camera and backpack chair in tow. people were yelling and screaming and these guys were telling us to "pick up the pace, last 100 yards!!!" so we did!

THE FINISH: we picked it up, and did a 100 yard stride into the finish line, which we crossed together. the guy who was yelling people's names into the microphone at the finish line yelled in his funny announcer voice, "what's this? i'm seeing double! it's tracey and mary edwards!" we started laughing deliriously again and tried to give each other high fives but missed and laughed even harder and dizzily tried not to fall down as we walked down the chute and gave people our numbers and timing chips. matt was waiting for us there. ahhhh, bliss and success and adrenaline and thank you Lord!

after free food and jamba juice smoothies and lip balm and other free wierd stuff, we came home. mary and i jumped in the hot tub and relived all the fun moments of the race as we soaked our muscles.

now mare and matt are out surfing it up in encinitas with joel and the andys. matt made me (and i decided, too...) stay home because i really am not well. so i'm here resting and feeling like it is 7 at night because this day seems so long! when they get home we will all get into the steaming hot jacuzzi with maybe a drink.

all in all, fantastic day! we'll definitely do another triathlon again someday--it was so much fun and it went by so fast. and maybe the muddy buddy race at the end of the month--see mary's blog for a link!

welp, i'm out.

"i beat my body and make it my slave..."
-I corinthians 9:27a

happy birthday hannah baby!!!!!

we had a great visit with mom and dad edwards this past week. we went to santa monica, saw the padres play, checked out matt's office, hiked a little at torrey pines, made flavored martinis, went shopping everywhere, and ate, ate, ate!!! mom and dad spoiled us with so many great meals that i think we're each 5 pounds heavier! they also surprised me with an early birthday present last night--a trip to OB surf shops to get my very own board!!!! yes!!! it is a very cool, 7' 4" board, aqua-blue with a couple of white stripes. it's all waxed up and i'm ready to get on it!!!!!

unfortunately, last night i started to feel unnaturally tired and woke up at 3am with symptoms of a sinus infection. noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! i finally dozed off again around 5am and slept restlessly until 7:30am. normally, i would have sucked it up and gone into work feeling bad, but we have been training for so long for this triathlon, and i HAVE to be healthy by sunday (and sinus infections can go on forever...). so i called off, went to the chiropractor (who is a straight shooter, which i like, but funnily became all fatherly when he saw how awful i was feeling!), and have been resting and loading up on vitamins, water and soup all day long. my fever finally broke around 4pm, and i've been feeling a little bit better this evening. i pray that my body recovers overnight. i hate when sickness interferes with my life. but this little thing does not even BEGIN to compare with what justin deals with on a daily basis.

welp, i'm headed off to watch scrubs and then enter into a healing sleep.
goodnight!

we just returned from a fantastic show tonight--franz ferdinand was so energetic and fun, i would have paid the $ to see them alone. secret machines were excellent, deathcab was a little boring, which was a disappointment, because i love them. but they were the second band to play and maybe the sound wasn't quite right--they were really cool and humble guys, though. muse was surprisingly entertaining (a tiny bit goth-style with the electronica and odd bass distortion) and very rockin. i probably still won't get their cd, but if anyone loves them, they give a great live show. we left before the yeah yeah yeahs came on, because i hate the atmosphere they bring to a place. so we left on a perfect franz ferdinand-happy-60's ish set-beatles-esque positioning on stage-fun-energy-filled note!!!!

and i agree with dad edwards: it seems we are running a free bed and breakfast! :) we were expecting astevens (and maybe mccann again) for this weekend, but as matt mentioned, they ended up bringing 2 friends we didn't know. they were fine, but it takes energy to entertain and make conversation with people you don't know. i would have rather just had the andys and been able to just chill. we went surfing up in encinitas today. or shall i say, we went to battle the ridiculous undercurrent in encinitas today. i tried to get out past the whitewater, but after fighting for 15 minutes of the strongest ripcurrent i have ever been in, i gave up and just watched the boys as only 1 out of the 4 caught a single wave. darn.

all of the sudden, it feels like fall. this time last week, we were roasting and sweating all day and keeping all the windows and doors open through the night. tonight i had to close everything up-AND WEAR SOCKS!!!-(which is disturbing, since it has been several months since i've had to do that--aside from exercising, of course) because it was actually pretty chilly. i just hope the weather stays nice for the next 2 weeks worth of visitors (mom and dad edwards this weds, mary next friday). plus, it would be nice not to have to wear a wetsuit for a little bit longer, at least.

welp, monday is here again.
i have a busy week ahead of me.
have a good one, everybody!

i practiced my swim to bike transition this morning as i completed 2/3 of a triathlon (mare, it took me about 1 hour 10 minutes with dryoff and driving home-just 1/2 mile-- to get my bike). but hilariously i hopped out of the ymca pool and flung on my shoes and clothes over my wet bathing suit. i wish i could have videotaped that awkwardness, i'm sure the lifeguard was like, "what is she doing?". only 2 weeks until our race! i MUST practice an open water swim before this deal goes down. there are some moms at my school who swim the la jolla cove every saturday, so i will have to do it next saturday morning... mare, did you end up getting us shorts for the triath?

we met joel and elisha and andy mccann up in orange county to see lassie foundation on thursday night. lassie was supposed to play second, at 10:00, which was late as it was. then when we got there the guy at the door told us they had been moved to playing last, like at 11:30. we obviously ended up staying much later than planned but had a fun time with those three.

and tomorrow night we get to see franz ferdinand, secret machines, deathcab, yeah yeah yeahs and someone else. why can't i retain that information? either way, i'm pumped!!! and then the pixies and the thrills on tuesday! then mom and dad edwards come in town on thursday-yay!

justin, i pray for you always.

how we race
all our lives
erased
-secret machines

wow justin...awesome blog.

ahhh... last night matt went to drop jeb and jay off at the airport and i instantly washed the 3 sets of guest sheets and a bunch of towels (you may think i'm efficient, but we've got quite a little bed and breakfast going here-we have to be ready!). so then i went to pilates. when i came home and matt was back and we were just sitting at the computer, listening to the new thrills album and enjoying actually spending some time with each other. it was so nice. five minutes later, our cell phone rings. by the time matt gets upstairs, we have missed the call. but the caller is leaving a message, so he listens to it in a minute. it is jay, saying that all flights have been cancelled out of san diego and they can't get a flight until tomorrow. they're coming back. (sigh)

soooooooooooooooo, i miss my husband!!! i can't wait to see him tonight!

other excitement involved joel coming down from LA on monday to surf with the guys, with plans to return back home that evening. however, things did not go as planned. first of all, poor guy took a wrong turn and what was supposed to be a 2-hour drive turned into a 5-hour drive in LA's rush hour traffic. then, when he finally did arrive, he had been in the water no more than 30 minutes when he took a surfboard to the head and had to go to the emergency room for 9 stitches. needless to say, he decided to crash at our place and mccann stayed another night, too. we had such a good time catching up with those guys!

some good concerts coming up: lassie foundation, the thrills/mars volta, the pixies, and finally eisley and snow patrol.

so baby let's split tonight
i've got a tank full of gas to light
yeah we could drive for miles and miles....
-the thrills

i had my first day of seeing kids all day--it went great!
i think i'm finally getting into the flow of things now that i'm starting my third year with san diego city schools.

i had a great, relaxing weekend. on saturday, i spent all day and evening with my friend claudia and had a great time. on sunday i read a book, got stuff done for work, made some yummy food that matt wouldn't eat if he were here (ceviche, salmon), and spent the morning hiking torrey pines and praying and changing and being renewed!

some quick personal notes:
i think ryan wins the prize for hugest blog slacker....
michelle, i do hope you videotape hannah's first cake experience! i, too, hope she takes a face-first dive into that thing!!!!
mare, i like that OTR song, too. of all their albums, though, that one has been the most difficult for me to get into (maybe too country for me?)
edwards family- yay! i'm glad you were able to visit with heidi--i can imagine her excitement and it makes me laugh.

jeb and jay are still here. andy mccann came down here last night and will stay through this evening (and will maybe come back next weekend with astevens).
they're all out surfing right now. soooooo tempting for me to tag along on that one, but they're sharing boards as it is, and i really needed to take a bike ride anyways. maybe matt and i will hit the surf on weds or thurs after work when we finally get some alone time! :)

welp, at the risk of being made fun of by matt, i have to go to a fitball class. (it's pilates with a big exercise ball. matt misheard me the first time i said it and he thought i said, "football" and thinks it is hilarious. but who cares about that? i'm getting shtrong!!!!
byebye!

more visitors here now...
jeb and jay came into town on weds and leave tues night.
matt went to LA with them tonight to visit our friend andy mccann. they'll go to vegas for a night tomorrow.
so i'm reading books and getting together with some girlfriends this weekend. yay!
and trying to do some cram training for the triathlon.
yes, mare, i can relate to the slacking, but when i looked at my training schedule on sunday and realized that we only had one month left to train, i actually got into gear! i swam twice this week (yes, twice!), biked and ran 3 times each. even today, when i was exhausted after work. my friend sabrina was supposed to run with me but couldn't. therefore, i decided to be lazy. but as i was leaving she said, "are you running today?" and i said, "i'm so tired and it's so humid." and she said, "yeah, but you know that if you do run, you'll feel so much better." so i walked all the way down to my car and was putting my things in my trunk when i made a deal with myself: just go back up to school, put on your running clothes and shoes, and you can at least take a walk. so i did that, and by the time i walked down the hill to the ocean, walking seemed like it was going to take too long and suddenly i felt like running--hooray! sorry if this is boring but if anyone else is a runner, you can appreciate the psychology of running that just took place there!
needless to say, i need to be hardcore training for these next 3 weeks. mare, you'll be fine. you're a natural athlete--you could never train at all and still outperform half of the people in that triath!

this weekend i will also try to catch up on my guestbook. my friend amanda henry made me a cool guestbook out of a regular journal that she decorated with colorful grograin ribbon and beach-type decorations. so i've been recording visitors names and dates and throwing in a few pictures as well.

oh yeah--we saw "napoleon dynamite" the other day and i loved it. very funny and quirky. and i don't care if "anybody" could have made it. "anybody" didn't. those two guys did. and they did a hilarious job. i keep thinking of different things and laughing at inappropriate moments throughout my day. and the music was great and used at just the right places. i will for sure be going to see that again! teri sayre, if you still read this blog, you and mike would love it--go see it!

p.s. anyone who had ridiculous encounter with our phone, please know that i just purchased a new one and you should be able to get through/not get cut off/be able to leave a message, etc. so now you can sleep nights knowing that. and matt and i will be able to make calls without wanting to throw the phone across the room :)

happy birthday mom good!!!!

happy birthday dad edwards!!!

september already, people?!!!!
yes, it's true. it's september.
summer is over and school has begun...
more on that later, though.

ryan, michelle, and hannah left us around noon today. it was fun to wake up every morning and see a happy, warm, baldy baby sitting in my living room. i'll miss that peanut!!! we all had such a good time together, aside from ryan spraining his ankle on their 2nd day here--i can't believe how huge and swollen that thing still was even today! poor guy! he was such a tramp about it. yes, i said tramp. apparently, it is what michelle accidentally called hannah, when she couldn't decide whether to say "trooper" or "champ". ha! anyhoo, highlights included: surfing in encinitas, a campfire on the beach, a visit to the corvette diner, playing catan (michelle won once and matt won for his very first time ever--he is now the reigning lord of catan!), taking drinks and the baby monitor out to the hot tub after hannah went to bed, and, of course, THE PRICE IS RIGHT!!!!

yes! after our 3rd attempt to get into the studio audience, michelle and i finally did it!!! what a great feeling! we arrived in hollywood at midnight and there were already about 20 people in line, so we camped out with them. michelle had brought a portable dvd player and we watched the movie "lucky seven" (which just so happens to be the name of our favorite price is right game--which we were convinced one of us was going to play when we were called to "come on down") and made friends with our neighbors. we managed to get about an hour of sleep that night, amidst the people who were loudly talking all night and the traffic that drove by constantly. also, at some point in the night someone spotted a rat in the bushes behind us and my dreams were filled with rats pulling on my hair and climbing on me. all night michelle and i speculated who was going to get chosen. i thought she was and she thought i was--ha! we just knew our bright orange shirts (that said "pick me bob--my middle name is plinko" and "pick me bob-my dog has been neutered") were the ticket to get us up on stage....

we were finally allowed through the gates and into the first waiting area at 6:30 am. and we didn't feel like sitting down right away (or cramming with everyone else on the same bench), and apparently this was a problem, because people began to panic and freak out and ask us what we were doing!!! the girls who camped out next to us decided to try to make us follow the rules for the next 7 hours. this involved telling us where to sit every time we got back from going to the bathroom, to get something to eat, etc. it became highly annoying. i'm not even kidding when i say that people went into panic mode, too. i can't explain the wierdness of these people, but they were ultra concerned about whether michelle and i were following "rules". it may have been more annoying to us than normal because of the early hour and lack of sleep, i'm thinking. we did also have fun conversations with the people on the other side of us, who were from florida and were former teachers.

and then, ahhhhhhhh....... the moment we had been waiting for (after 2 years of trying to get on the show and 20-some years of dying to meet bob barker)...... we were inside the price is right studio!!!! it was so exciting!!!! it was smaller than i expected it to be, and very colorful and 60s-ish. michelle and i had seats in the second row!!!!! yes!!!! bob barker came out and started talking with the audience and making jokes--that guy is funny and actually a very nice man. some lady had made him a needlepoint hot air balloon and he sweetly said, "this is perfect for this place!" i think maybe because it was rainbow colored and so is the studio. and he was sharp and quick with witty comments. i was impressed, needless to say--the man is 80 years old!!!

then the taping started and we were screaming our heads off and applauding like it was our job! the contestants were called: and not us. so sad. but guess who did get on? one of the girls who made us follow rules for the previous 7 hours. what are the chances? and what were the chances of her making the first correct bid and winning a kayak, which i wanted? and what were the chances of her getting to play "lucky seven", our game? and what were the chances of her winning a new car? chances would be slim, you might say. but you would be wrong, because that is exactly what happened. needless to say, michelle and i were sore losers on that one. but it turned out that out of the 325 people in the studio, 4 of the 8 contestants picked were the first 20 in line with us. so it was really fun to cheer for those people because they were our brand new friends!!!

then it was time for the showcase showdown--ha! it feels funny to actually type those two words on my blog!!!! we knew the lady (billie) who was in the showcase showdown, and there was the obligatory military guy up there as well. i was determined to get on tv, and more importantly, on the price is right STAGE!!!! so i said to michelle, "no matter who wins, we're running up on stage to celebrate with them!!!" michelle (after being hounded by rule-followers all day long) was not so sure about this plan. however, i was determined. and when billie won, her whole group of red-shirted people ran on stage. when the last person ran by our row, i started pushing michelle out into the aisle. "i'm not going first,you go first," she yelled and then pushed me in front of her. i was laughing gleefully as i ran up the steps to the stage when i got apprehended by a bouncer, who clotheslined me at leg level. "you're not with that group," he said. i continued to laugh as michelle continued to push me (up the stairs, she thought) onto the man. he wouldn't budge, so i gave up. i kept laughing deliriously as i jumped off the steps and we went back to our seats. darn. but it was really fun trying!

so we finally made it to the price is right. the only rub was that we weren't called to come on down, but there's always next year (come on ryan, i can see you rolling your eyes from here!!!!!).

so there are the highlights of that surreal day!
i'm going now. i'm hungry.

oh yeah. school started last tuesday. :(
i get kids this tuesday. :)

last night i saw matt carrying a baby car seat and it was wierd, in a funny and good way.
those things always look heavy and uncomfortable to carry around, don't they?

justin, matt and i are praying for you. i was laughing so hard at your young person's railcard photo.

mom edwards, i meant to thank you for the fun batik quilt that you sent with mary--i love how bright and cheerful it is!

yay--we're going to have so much fun this thanksgiving. mary found us a great cabin in lake arrowhead for sitting around the fire, drinking hot chocolate (and smoothies and grasshoppers and mudslides and vanilla coffee), reading, refelecting, and my favorite, playing cards and board games loudly!!!
(speaking of which, i know i have a loud voice, especially when i am excited or having fun, or just being emo, but i just had a funny encounter with a lady whose voice became progressively quieter as we were talking. when she got down to a loudish whisper, i realized she was sending me a message that my own voice was much to loud. i tried to quiet it down, but it felt so unnatural, i couldn't do it! what can i say? i'm irish. we've got big mouths!)

we went to see "garden state" tonight, with the lead guy from scrubs. it was rushmore-like and very good. sort of a serious tone, but with well placed humor and fun random details. plus, great characters, especially the police officer. i was impressed to learn that the scrubs guy wrote the script and directed it. in addition to that, it had a fantastic soundtrack: the shins (three times), postal service, art garfunkel, and some acoustic stuff that sounded a lot like denison witmer).

i went in to school today to drop off some prizes and books that i've been accumulating this summer and met my new principal. instantly i picked up that she's a rule-follower. uh oh. looks like i'm going to have to suck it up or it could be a difficult year for moi. at least i have a little while to prepare for a new mindset. i've been flying sort of under the radar for the past two years, which is when i do my best work. but this lady seems like she likes to have her hands in everything, which could potentially create a situation that is not quite ideal for me. oh well--who moved my cheese??? :)

welp, that's it for now, and proabably for awhile. ry, michelle and hannah come tomorrow and i start school on august 31st.
have a good one, everybody!

i think this is probably my last day of sleeping in (9:30-yay!), since i want to get my body ready for getting up early for school.
today is a day of recovery--it's been a full weekend, with not much rest.

yesterday we had our friend desiree's amazing race and it was so much fun!!!
mare asked me to blog about it, so here are some details...
some of the places we went that had meaning to her were her vet's office (she has a dog and has had some funny experiences there. the people who work there are funny, too. when i went in to ask them if they would give her a clue when she showed up, they asked if they could make her complete a task before they gave it to her. like what, you may wonder? scooping poop!-ha!). then we sent her to belmont park, a mini-amusement park in pacific beach, where she had to ride the roller coaster and take a picture of herself at the top! then we made her go to wahoo's and complete a detour. a detour is where a team must choose between one of two tasks. and at wahoo's, it was EAT or BE EATEN. team members had to either order their favorite meal, eat it, and enjoy it thoroughly; OR find a nearby werewolf to eat them. guess what everyone chose... yum! after that we all were groggy and fat and full, but des had to complete a customized crossword puzzle to get her next clue, which led her to her favorite candy shop in downtown san diego, the sweet factory. she then assembled a tribal council of gummi bears, which we all devoured, even though we were complaining (not two minutes before) about how full we were! i got kicked out for videotaping inside the store--yeah, i'm opening my own candy shop soon, i was just going there for ideas! the next clue led her to her former place of employment, SCANTRON. there, we had previously placed 3 pictures of herself in a guy's cubicle (he liked her in a "more than friends" way, and she did not return the feelings). she had to remove the pictures from his cubicle, and get a snack from the fridge (coke and cheese) before getting her final clue. we ended up in ocean beach, where we all collapsed! the prize was not one million dollars, unfortunately, but it was some money towards a plane ticket back to san diego someday.

matt has free tickets to the padres game today, and they look like they might be pretty good seats, so we're going to check it out! and maybe not for the whole game, though--it's so nice out today. i pray that this weather stays for ryan and michelle's visit. (my poor parents--it was partly cloudy nearly every day they were here! they actually didn't seem to mind, though).

I'm getting excited for big bear at thanksgiving! thank you mary, for doing all that research!

well, i must take a bike ride before matt and i get going.
farewell!

thanks, mom and dad edwards, for the fun round teapot set! now i need to make (and serve!) some tea!
matt and i went to another free concert with our friends last night. this band is called "flock of 80s", and they play all 80s music. we saw them at octoberfest here last year and they were so fantastic! so they were playing in pacific beach last night so of course we couldn't miss it. most of the time we were the only ones on the dance floor--but it was so much fun! lots of the cure, modern english, a-ha, U2, men without hats---really good 80s music.

i helped our friend desiree move all of her stuff into a uhaul today. she hardly had anything--it literally took 4 of us 10 minutes to load up the van. i remember when matt and i moved out here we fit all of our belongings into an 8 (length)x5 (width)x10 (height) foot space. and i was impressed with that!!! but now that we live in a bigger place, of course we have filled it with things! we couldn't pull that off again!

so, this weekend will be very fun but a little bit sad, since des is moving. we have plans for friday night and all day saturday. saturday, we have a day filled with her favorite things. her favorite tv show is "amazing race", so i've created a fun scavenger hunt (amazing race-style) all around san diego, where she has to complete different tasks to get clues to the next place. all the places have meaning for her so it should be a fun way of getting in some memories without getting too emo!

in the meantime, i'm looking forward to seeing ryan, michelle, and hannah banana in exactly one week from today!!! yay!
welp folks, i'm outta here!