Ending With a Splash

Final day of spring break, and the sun decided to finally show!  We broke into the 70s, which for Seattlites is nearly a heat wave.  It was the perfect day to debut the new water table.  The kids were soaked from head to toe, and loved it.  Talk about keeping the kids busy for hours!. . .

Spring Break! Let's Get Crazy!

. . . or not.  Since the family did the big trip in February during mid-winter break, I have no plans for this break.  I guess that's the beauty of it.  The last couple of days have been full of helping Ardon get healthy again,  (The flu hit him over a week ago, and he's still feeling icky.  That is one nasty bug.) so we've been chillin' at home playing laptops, drinking tea, and eating soup.  I actually don't mind chillin' and taking it easy.  It feels pretty damn good.

Poor guy has gone through almost 3 full sized tissue boxes this week.

Old School vs. New School

(Student walks into math class wearing an orange cassette tape graphic t-shirt.)

Me:  Nice shirt.  I used to have an orange cassette tape, and it played a whole bunch of Sesame Street songs.

(As I'm saying this, the assistant principal walks in.)

Student:  Really, Miss Picardal. . . Sesame Street?  Come on!

Me:   Hey, I was like 5 and it was the 80s!

Assistant Principal:  I use to listen to cassette tapes on my Walkman when I'd go running.

Me:  Nice!  I used to have a black one.

Student:  What's a Walkman?

Other students:  A Walkman?  Yeah, what is that?

(Assistant Principal and I look at each other in disbelief.)

Kids, THIS is a Walkman and it was AWESOME.

I'm With THE DJ

For the past month, Ardon has been hard at work practicing for the DMC (DJ Mixing Championship).  He hasn't battled or competed since 2005, so he was a little hesitant.  He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.  All I know is that every year, whenever DMC time comes around, he would always say, "Man, I should enter. . ."  This year, he finally did. 

So, the last month has been quite busy for him.  Between work and practicing, he and I have been squeezing in time together whenever we can.  But all that hard work paid off.  There were 12 competitors all together.  The competition consisted of 2 rounds.  In the first round, all 12 DJs did a 2 minute routine, and the judges narrowed it down to the top 6 who would move onto the final round.  I heard that Ardon was in the top seed going into the final round, and won the final round favored by all the judges. That's word on the street.  I like to think that it's a fact.

It was really amazing to experience this with him.  In all the years we have been dating, I have never seen him compete, so this was something new for me.  After his performance in the final round, we stood in the crowd totally anxious as the host announced the results.  When he said, "In first place.  .  . WAYSTYLES!"  The crowd went crazy, all his friends mobbed him, and I was overwhelmed with excitement for him.  Apparently I wasn't the only one totally happy for him because his friends got a little choked up for him too.  Everyone there was so supportive of him, even his friends he was competing against.  He has always worked really hard in music, and now I think he feels a little more validated as a DJ.  Many of his DJ friends have said that nobody works as hard as he does, and now it has really paid off.

I don't think I realized how big of a deal this competition is.  Now that he has won in Seattle, we are going to NYC in August for the DMC national competition.  This gives us (You like how I say "us?") a chance to go to the DMC World Championships in London, which would be in September.  Ardon says this is like the Olympics for DJs.  I guess it's a pretty big deal.  I'm proud to say that I'm with the DJ! 

Ardon "cutting it up" with a winning routine.

The DMC Seattle winner saying his thank yous.  He even gave me a shout out for "putting up with him for the last month."  Stnading with him is DJ Tre, his good friend and runner up.  They both did so well.

The Champ and all his goodies.  He got a bunch of DJ gear.  He's still waiting for some to be sent to him.

Photos by US DMC

Smooth-ie Operator

I've been on a smoothie kick lately.  Back in February, we had a Valentine's Day celebration at school.  Instead of celebrating with cupcakes and cookies, we asked that families bring healthy food and we called it Heart Healthy Day.  One of the things that parents volunteered to to was to make smoothies for the kids.  Three moms came in with blenders and frozen fruit, fresh fruit, and some veggies, and they each made different smoothies, but all of them were so tasty and good for you.  It got me thinking, "Dude, why don't I make smoothies at home?!"

So, I've been blending away ever since.  My fave is to mix some tropical fruit with berries and spinach.  Then as I started to train for the half, I stumbled upon this book on my Kindle called Smoothies for Runners.  I decided to buy it, since it was only $3.  It gives great recipes for pre and post run smoothies.  The author also gives good insight into why the certain smoothie ingredients are good for the before and after of working out.  He gives the breakdown on each fruit, veggie, powder, and seed he mentions.  Here are my key take-aways:

1. In the blender, you should put ingredients in a certain order to get the smoothest consistency.  Liquid on the bottom, fruit in the middle, ice on top.
2. Fruits and chia seeds pre-run.
3. Protein smoothies post-run.

But really, how can you go wrong with putting a lot of delicious fruits and veggies together?  Whether or not you're training or working out, it's a yummy and healthy way to get good nutrients into your body.

Bobbin' for Spring

I went back to my hair doctor Sarah B at Vain downtown.  My hair started to grow out a little bit, making me look like a suburban soccer mom in a way, so I decided to switch up the hair just a little bit.  Nothing too drastic, but enough to give me a little umph.  My hair was at its longest during the summer, and I've been going a little shorter and shorter ever since.  Sarah B noticed and pointed that out to me.  I've discovered that I'm just a medium length type of girl.  I've got so much hair that when it's longer, it's just too much to manage, but I also want to be able to throw my hair into a ponytail, especially when I run.  I'm thinking that maybe this will be the shortest I will go for now.  I'm not ready for the big chop quite yet.

The inspiration:  Nicole Richie.  The bangs, the length, it's fresh.

The results:  Maybe the only bathroom mirror picture I will ever take in my life.  I didn't know whether or not to smile.  It was such an awkward 30 seconds taking this pic.  Anyway, I am definitely no Nicole Richie, but I like to think I put my own spin on the 'do.   This is the hair wash-n-go style.

Turbo Kick

Every Mondays and Wednesdays G and I have been taking a class at 24 Hour Fitness called Turbo Kick.  It's a pretty intense kick boxing class, and oh so much fun!  We jab, uppercut, kick, and way more.  Each time I leave, I'm sore for the next 2 days (which means I'm either really really out of shape, or it's a really good class.)  It seems like there's a pretty loyal following because I see the same people over and over again, and the instructor knows a lot of them by name.  We've only gone 3 times so far, but we love it.  It's turbo kickin' our asses.

This is one of the moves we do.  We "Sumo squat" and jump like 8 times in a row in one round... and we do like 3 or 4 rounds. It hurts so good!