Disneyland Neverland 5K Fun Run

I spent the weekend at Disneyland.  Actually, considering I hadn't been there since June, it was great to be back.  (I wasn't counting Downtown Disney when I said that because, well, it just doesn't count.)

The reason I went down was for the Neverland 5K Family Fun Run, which kicked off their new Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend.  But part of the entry fee was a Twilight ticket.  And it had to be used that weekend.

I was doing the race with my new friend Chris and a high school friend of his.  But I got down there in time to have lunch with Shirley and Doug, fans of Sue Ann Jaffarian's that I had met when I did the 5K at Disneyland 3 and a half years ago.  They were in town for the race as well, although they planned to walk it.

From there, we met up with a friend of Chris' and the three of us hit the park.  We had some changes to the line up over the next few hours, but we closed the park down.  Wasn't too hard since it closed at 8.

The race started in front of the castle at 10:30PM.  We were among the first group to go, although it was still hard to really run for a while since there were so many of us.  I had my camera with me, but once we did get running, I didn't want to stop for pictures.

The wound us through the back stage areas pretty extensively, which would have been cool to look at more, but I was really focused on running at that point.  (I seem to remember saying the same thing last time I raced there.)  But I was glad I was focused on racing.  Chris really pushed me pace wise, and he said we were doing an under 9 minute pace at one point.  That's very cool for me.  We weren't officially timed, but we finished in just over half an hour, so my under 30 minute 5K still eludes me.  For now.

Since Shirley has an annual pass, she didn't need her twilight ticket, so I went back the next day and hit California Adventure.  I was supposed to be meet up with someone, but due to technological failure (his phone battery died), I never heard from him.  But that was okay because I had a great time setting my own agenda and hitting the parts of the park I wanted to hit when I wanted to hit them.  I did Little Mermaid twice back to back for example.  Thanks to the single rider lines and Fast Pass, I was able to hit just about everything I wanted to do, although I still would have enjoyed more time in the animation pavilion.  The park closed at 9, but I stayed until almost 10 because their second showing of World of Color was after the rest of the park closed.  Then I wandered through the World of Disney store before heading home, so I still managed to get home close to midnight.  It was a long couple of days, and I was beat by the time I got back.  I went to bed pretty soon after I got home and managed to stay in bed long enough to miss church Sunday.  But it was a great weekend.

Chuck Versus the Finale Thoughts

Saturday, I watched the final two hours of Chuck ever.  And I cried through much of it.  Part of it was because of the extreme emotions of the characters on the screen.  But part of it is because I was saying goodbye to these characters.  I love them - yes, even the Buy More crew.  I will have to revisit my Blu-Rays often because I will really miss them.  This has been my favorite series on TV for 5 years.  There have been moments that I didn't care for, but overall it was a fun ride.

But the finale wasn't everything I had hoped for, which is highly ironic.  This is the fifth finale they've done for the show since they never knew if they'd be getting more episodes.  This time, they knew it was the end.  And it showed (more and spoilers below the jump).

Weekly TV Recap for January 28th

So, I debated about posting this or waiting until I had time to watch the finale of Chuck.  And then I decided I was going to give that a post all its own, so here is the recap for the week through Thursday night.

Once Upon a Time - That's better.  I loved the focus on Snow/Mary Margaret and James/David.  Now that I'm over their "affair" since they were really married and Storybrooke is not real, I'm definitely rooting for them.  I'm curious how their fairytale romance worked out.  How did Snow remember James?  How did James get out of the marriage?  And in our world, who is the stranger who came to town?

Castle - If I hadn't knows that was Sara from White Collar as the reality star celeb, I never would have guessed.  Really impresses me that she can play two such different characters.  Again, I wish they'd have a killer we've actually suspected before the end just to throw us off.  But I loved the stuff with the dog, especially the light hearted fight between Castle and Beckett over how to take care of him.  Very fun.

White Collar - Watching Peter try to decide what to do with Neal is interesting.  I do wonder how much Neal means what he says and how much is the lying like he taught the kid at the school.  Speaking of which, Neal and Mozzie as matchmakers was pretty funny.  But speaking of Sara up in the last post, I wonder if they are bringing her back or her breaking up with Peter was her swan song from the show.

Royal Pains - As happy as I was that they didn't resolve the Hank/Divya thing right away, I'm glad they worked it out this week.  I'd hate to see that drag on too long.  Evan freaking out about freaking out was pretty funny.  And I'm wondering just how long they are going to keep this golfer around.  I think this is the longest run we've had with someone not related to Boris.  Speaking of whom, I'd love an update from him soon.

Big Bang Theory - That was a pretty great episode all the way around.  Raj and his phone got really funny, especially when they brought Barry into the episode.  The final scene was hilarious.  Then there was Penny and Leonard.  I wonder just how far they are going to go with them being back together.  The bug reports were fun.  I was expecting the gun to go off unexpectedly, but I wasn't expecting anyone to get hit.  Finally, fun with flags was fun in the part we saw.  Certainly wouldn't have wanted to watch an entire episode, however.

So, What's Happening?

That's a very good question.  To be honest, not much.  I wish I could say something exciting was happening.  Heck, it would give me something to post about.  But I just don't have anything big to talk about.

I am back over at The Disney Blog again doing recaps for Once Upon a Time and Castle.

I made my goal.  I ran six miles last night.  I wanted to do that before the end of the month.  Now, if I can keep that up for the next couple of months, I will have a decent base for building toward Tough Mudder and the Half Marathon.

And I'm still looking for someone to run Tough Mudder with me.  Anyone?

One of my co-workers retired and today was her last day.

Other than that, it's been a very quiet week.

The weekend was difficult.  I took some news I got on Friday harder than I really should, and that depressed me.  Then Sunday playing ultimate I felt like I was on the outside of the group because some people are doing things without me.  I thought I would be included in both of them, but obviously not.  It's never a good feeling to not be included.

However, Sunday night the core group was all back together for geek night.  It was so great to hang out with everyone again.  It made my weekend end on a happy note.

And right now?  I'm taking tomorrow off for the race, and I can hardly concentrate on anything.  Is it time to go grab dinner yet?

Word Association for January 25h

Looks like today is the day to do word association.  It's right there in the title of this blog post.

1. Rivals :: Romance
2. Automatically :: Correct
3. Bathroom :: Humor
4. Jerk :: Not nice
5. Preference :: Choice
6. Parenting :: Kids
7. Helmet :: Bike
8. Wave :: Hello
9. Judo :: Mat
10. Flat tire :: Jack

What's on My Nightstand - January 2012

I can't remember the last time I participated on What's on My Nightstand as hosted by 5 Minutes for Books.  I'm not sure exactly why I stopped; it just dropped off my radar.  So let's fix that, starting this month.

What am I currently reading?  Mr. Monk on Patrol by Lee Goldberg.  Set after the TV series ends, the book finds Monk and Natalie visiting Disher and Sharona in New Jersey trying to hold solve a string of robberies.  It's a hoot, but I figured it would be.

Next up will be Stay at Home Dead by Jeffrey Allen.  It's a cozy starring a stay at home dad.  Since it's rare to find cozies written by men or with men as the main character, I do try to support those when I can.  I've been hearing great things about it, so I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

Weekly TV Recap for January 21st

Once Upon a Time - You know, I wasn't that impressed with this episode, probably because it felt like filler.  Maybe that's why I was most interested in the fairytale story, it really played with the familiar story and turned it on its ear.  I loved how they changed why Hansel and Gretel were in the forest and made the Evil Queen even more evil.  That was interesting.  But those last few minutes?  Who is that stranger and what is he doing in town?  I can't wait to find out next week.

Castle - And a much more serious one.  The case itself was good and I loved how they solved it.  But I'm left wondering who is the guy who called Castle?  What is his stake in all this?  It seems he wants Beckett alive for some greater purpose instead of just trying to save his own hide.  I'm intrigued, but as I write this I'm also a little worried that the conspiracy part of the show might be too great and ruin what is essentially a fun show.  Honestly, I'll keep watching anyway because I find the show fun week in and week out.

White Collar - I've always said this show was well acted but WOW!  Tim DeKay's performance tonight was outstanding.  His obvious concern, so close to losing it for most of the hour, always right under the surface.  I hope the Emmys were watching because I doubt you'll find a better performance anything.  The rest of the episode?  Very well done.  Didn't see the twist coming about Neal potentially being free so soon.  Does that mean by the end of the season?  I wonder how they will play the fall out from this secret coming out now.  And where is Sarah in all this?  So many great places to go from here, and I can't wait to see it.

Royal Pains - Again, they didn't wrap up things all in one episode but are planning to carry the storylines out over several.  I'm glad to see that even if I like resolution.  However, I do feel like something happened with Paige's dad that must have been cut.  I really would like to know what it was.  And I really wasn't a fan of the divorce party, I mean it was a clever joke on weddings, but since it's so serious, that isn't something that should be joked about.

Wipeout - All I have to say is after they were the only ones to finish round three, it would have been wrong for the Winter Brothers not to get all the money.  I'm so glad they won.

The Big Bang Theory - I saw some articles talking about the "twist" to this episode, so I was expecting it to all be hypothesis, as the title suggests.  Still, it was fun, although I may never play Catan the same way again.  I'm curious where they go with it next week or if they ignore it.  Oh, and I know there were supposed to be all kinds of references to the pilot, but I didn't catch any of them, probably because I have only seen it once or twice and that's been over a year now.

Chuck - I liked this one better than last week's episode, although that cliffhanger makes me wonder why I am running a race next Friday night instead of staying home to watch Chuck.  I mean really, what was I thinking?  And you know what my favorite part was?  Jeff and Lester, the guys I used to hate.  The scene where they saved the day was absolutely hysterical.  I hope I like how they end things next week.  I really, truly do.

You are What You Bowl

That's been my taunt to those I am bowling with on Wednesday nights as they go for a turkey.  Of course, I then congradulate them if they get it.  Well guess what?

I bowled my first turkey on Wednesday night.

I'm sure it was at least partially mental.  I would get two strikes in a row and then miss horribly when going for the third.  But this time, I walked up there and bowled it.  I was extactic.  Even more so when I managed to take first in that game by less than 10 points at the end.

It was a good night overall with my high being 171 in the fourth game.  Yes, that's the game where I bowled the turkey.  My average for the night was 131, so as you can see, I had a couple games where I barely made 100.  I haven't been quite as on as I was last year, but I'm still having fun and beating everyone overall at the end of the night, so I'm happy with that.

Oh yeah, and I bowled a turkey finally!!!!

Signing up for Two Races in Two Days

Well, I've made two of my races for 2012 official in the last two days.  Yesterday, I signed up for the Neverland 5K at Disneyland in a week and a half.  Today, I signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon in September.  And my pocketbook hates me.

Neither of these races is cheap, especially the 5K.  It does include a "Twilight Ticket" to Disneyland (good after 4PM), so that's half the price, but still, it's going to be a big shock to the system when the credit card bill comes.

But those are races off my schedule and days that should be pretty fun.  I'll be seeing some friends at both races, and running the half with two friends.  Okay, so "with" probably isn't quite true since I'm assuming we'll go our own pace, but that's pretty awesome.

Yep, I'm using the rest of my Christmas money on these races.  So thanks to my uncle and aunt for them.

Now, to be trained for the half.  I plan to be six miles once a week between now and the end of March and start increasing my miles after that with my goal of Tough Mudder's 10 miles in July and then the half in September.  It seems doable.  Hopefully I'm still thinking that during the summer.  After all, I'll have to work my runs around ultimate Frisbee.

Word Association for Jan 17th

Here's this week's word association.

1. Red tape :: Complications
2. Crush :: Puppy love
3. Magical :: Romantic
4. Sticky :: Situation
5. Tile :: Bathroom
6. Doubt :: Worry
7. Inconsistent :: Behavior
8. Kiss :: Wedding
9. Inspiration :: Struck
10. Thanks :: You're Welcome

Weekly TV Recap for January 14th

Once Upon a Time - It was so good to have this show back.  I've really missed it.  I thought I'd be intrigued to find out Rumplestilskin's back story, but actually I was less intrigued after the first flashback.  I wasn't to know what was going on in Storybrooke.  But at least they've given him one.  So, who is the editor of the paper really?  And the Storybrooke Daily Mirror?  How perfect is that.  I had the episode pegged until Mr. Gold walked in at the end and said he'd planned the entire thing.  Interesting twist.  And I'm wondering if he's going to be friend or foe in the end.

Castle - Very fun episode.  I expected Ryan's reaction to Jenny's secret.  He did look so happy at the wedding (and how cool is it that Jenny is Ryan's wife in real life?)  Plus they actually had groomsmen and bridesmaids that weren't part of the regular cast.  Novel idea.  As for the murder, again it wound up no where near what I was expecting, but it was a very fun ride.  Some week, however, I'd love for them to have the killer be someone we've seen for more than two minutes.  That would be a twist I wouldn't see coming at this point.

Wipeout - True confession time, I semi-watched the episode and didn't blog about it right away, so my thoughts will be short.  Wonder Woman has always been my favorite superhero, so I was rooting for her briefly.  She made it further than I thought she would.

The Big Bang Theory - Both storylines were so funny.  Yes, I love Shamy, so I enjoyed that one more, but I do like Bernadette, so I enjoyed that story as well.  But the best scene?  Sheldon and Leonard talking while Sheldon was walking through the video game.  So many classic lines, although my favorite was Leonard turning down the virtual drink because he was going to play Grand Theft Auto later.

Chuck - I've got to confess I didn't particularly care for this episode.  The sub-plot of Morgan and Alex cheating when they were broken up wasn't that great.  And they cheated with Jeff and Lester just to drag that out another episode, although those moments were my favorite.  Yes, it did introduce the last big bad, but that's about all I can say for it.  Yes, I laughed some, but overall it was very disappointing.

Nikita - This show, on the other hand, was awesome!  So many plots moving forward.  Wait, I think I said that last week.  Well, it's true again this week.  How the writers can draw so many things together and make it so intriguing week after week just amazes me.  I did not like the cliffhanger, and I hate even more that I have to wait three weeks to see how it comes out.  But it gives me something to look forward to on Fridays once Chuck is over.

New TV on DVD Reviews:

Royal Pains - Season 3 Volume 1

Running in 2012

Once I got caught up on Christmas and New Years, I was going to blog about what I wanted to do in 2012 running wise.  And I almost forgot until Steve did that today.  (And can I say how happy I am that I'm not the only one just now doing this?)

I've been saying for at least a month that I was going to run a race in every month of 2012.  But as the year is starting, I'm thinking I will revise that to 12 races in 2012 spread out as much as possible.  No, these won't all be mud runs.

Why the change?  Because it is surprisingly hard to find races in my area.  The first one I have found is in March.  I'd be willing to travel, but when most of the races start at 8AM and are an hour away from me plus you need to arrive early and I hate getting up in the morning....  Yes, it's a bunch of excuses, but I'm using them.  Of course, my 2011 goal was 6 mud runs, and I did 9 plus three regular runs, so I think I'm safe here as long as I keep my eyes open and my schedule works out.

I do know of four races I am for sure doing in 2012, and I'm signed up for three of them.  Not surpringly, they are mud runs, which will probably be the majority of my runs this year since that's what I enjoy the most.

Up first is Irvine Lake Mud Run on 3/31.  This was the first mud run I ever did back in 2010, and I didn't race it at all in 2011, so I'm looking forward to getting back there.

Then on 6/9, I'm doing Camp Pendleton for the third year in a row.

As you can see from the side bar (I really need to get the other races added over there), I am signed up for Tough Mudder again.  This time, they'll be here in July (February, too, but I'm not stupid).  Hopefully, this means the weather will cooperate and I'll actually get to do it.  I wasn't going to sign up again, but I want to do a Tough Mudder once.  (Prices are too high to try for it every year.)

And the race I haven't signed up for yet?  That's the Disneyland half marathon.  Yes, you read that right.  I'm signing up for a half marathon after swearing I'd never do that.  Why?  Well, it's two months after Tough Mudder and only 3 miles longer, so it seems like if I were ever going to do it, now would be the year.  Plus my new friend Chris runs it every year, so I would definitely have someone else there, and he's really been encouraging me to do it.  Of course, he still hasn't signed up for a mud run like I want him to do....

It's looking like I'm doing a 5K at Disneyland in a couple of weeks (which is very expensive, but darn it I want to do it).  There are some other races I am thinking about, that would bring my total to 7 without trying that hard.  I'm sure I can get the other 5 in without too much trouble.

Other goals?  Well, I'd still like to get my sub hour 10K, and if I wind up doing a bunch of 5K's, a sub 30 5K would be nice.  Right now, I'm right about 11 minute miles, so I'll have to work toward that.  That means I need to do some runs that aren't mud runs since the obstacles really mess with your time, or at least they do mine.

And for the immediate future, I'd like to run six miles once by the end of the month and then make that distance weekly in February and March before building up to longer distances for Tough Mudder and the Half Marathon.  It would be nice slow training and hopefully make me a stronger runner, so I hope I actually do it.

Word Association for 1/11

Time for this week's word association.

1. Compute :: Calculate
2. Irristable :: Chocolate
3. Unacceptable :: Loss
4. Joy :: Happy
5. Noisy :: Crowd
6. Paid in full :: Bill
7. Desire :: Want
8. One word :: Happy
9. Huge :: Big
10. Motorcycle :: Horse

So I was just reading on a message board a poll on whether you'd ride a motorcycle or a horse.  And then there's this.

New Year's

Yes, I know.  It's the 10th, and I'm finally blogging about New Year's.

My friend Jenn was in town for the long weekend and staying with Angelique.  Since they are both zoo people, we spent one day at the LA Zoo.  I'll admit I'm not that thrilled with zoos, but it was a fun day until we were ready to leave, or so I thought.  I wanted to hit the road and try to beat the traffic, but they kept stopping to take lots and lots of pictures.  But in the end, I beat the worst of the traffic, so it turned out okay.  What was really funny was we ran into three families I know while at the zoo.

Saturday, New Year's Eve, I got up early and came to the college for a 5K put on by the cross country and baseball teams.  I finished in 33 minutes, so I need to work hard to get my 10 minute mile pace back.

The rest of the day was a laze around the condo day.  I wrote some reviews and I played some Wii.  I got a couple new games for Christmas, plus I've been playing through Lego Star Wars. 

That night, I stayed up until midnight not to ring in the new year (I was tired enough to go to sleep at 10) but to register for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run.  Yep, I'm doing it the third year in a row.  Signed up for the second Saturday again, too.  Planning on doing it with Luke again, and he's got a couple friends talked into doing it with us.

I was up early the morning of the 1st to head down to Disneyland.  Unfortunately, not the parks, but Jenn, Angelique, and I went to brunch at the Grand Californian.  It was expensive, but so much fun, and their carmel French toast is so delicious.

The rest of the day was spent hanging around Angelique's.  We did venture out late in the day to figure out what we were doing for the next day.

See, the whole reason Jenn came out was to do the Rose Parade, which was on the 2nd this year.  Every year, I saw I'm going to go.  Well, this year I did.  It was an experience.  We had tickets for seats, which really helped.  It was very crowded with people everywhere.  We took the MetroLink in, which was a great idea with how bad traffic was going both ways.  In many ways, it was surreal since I know that part of Pasadena pretty well.  Seeing it without cars but this many people just didn't seem right.  And many shops that weren't planning to be opened boarded their windows up so they wouldn't be valdalized, which was sad.  And all the garbage afterward was also sad.

Am I glad I did it?  Absolutely.  Next year?  I think I'll enjoy it from home.  It was fun and worth doing, but I don't see a need to do it every year.

I'll say this, we couldn't have asked for nicer weather.  Since we were walking all day, I didn't want to bring my backpack.  So I just wore jeans, a shirt, and a sweatshirt.  I had the sweatshirt off by 9AM and honestly could have been wearing shorts by the afternoon.  It hit the mid 80's that day.  I love weather like that.

It was fun, but it was also exhausting.  I made it home and crashed by 10 PM that night.  And the next day it was back to work.

My December Reads

I missed two books I read in November, so I'll start with those.  The rest were read in December.  Not as many mysteries as normal, but some good books.

All ratings are on a scale from 1 (bad) to 5 (great).

THE KINGDOM KEEPERS: POWER PLAY by Ridley Pearson - 5

The Kingdom Keepers have had a breather since the leaders of the Overtakers were arrested.  But a plot to free them finds our heroes in danger and making some shocking discoveries.  Those discoveries really helped make this book feel fresh and exciting and not just enough retread of a familiar plot.

FORMULA FOR MURDER by Diana Orgain - 4

New mom and new PI Kate Connelly is in a hit and run, and witnesses identify the car as belonging to someone from the French consulate.  The consulate denies it, but it leads to a case for Kate when she sees a reporter leaving and the reporter turns up dead two days later.  Was she working on a story on the French consulate that lead to her death?  I love the characters, and the story was interesting.  It did bog down a little in the middle, but it picked up again for a fun finish.

THE ANIMATED MAN: A LIFE OF WALT DISNEY by J. Michael Barrier - 4

I found this to be an interesting and balance biography of Walt Disney.  The author played media critic a bit too much, which bothered me, but in the end I walked away with a clearer picture of a true American success story.

THE END by David LaRochelle - 5

A fun picture book take on fairytales, this one starts at "Happily ever after" and works back to "Once Upon a Time."  Along the way, we get some surprises and laughs.  Highly recommended.

HIDDEN MICKEY by Nancy Temple Rodrigue, David W. Smith - 2

While on a MouseQuest at Disneyland, Adam and Lance find what they think is Walt Disney's diary.   A clue in it leads them on a quest through his life with a possible big prize at the end.  This book is an example of everything that can go wrong with self-publishing.  There are too many data dumps, the action is slow at times, and the characters are flat and unlikable.  I'm enough of a Disney geek to enjoy parts of it, but it needed a good editor before it saw the light of day.

KILLER ROUTINE by Alan Orloff - 3

Channing Hayes' is trying to help his almost sister-in-law begin a solo stand up comic career while he recovers from the accident that took his fiancee.  On the night of her big break, she vanishes.  Why?  Can Channing find her?  The characters were enjoyable, especially Channing, but the plot was a series of events with no real detective work involved.

IN SERVICE TO THE MOUSE by Jack Lindquist - 4

The memories of the man who rose from head of advertising for Disneyland in 1955 to become its first president in the late 80's and early 90's.  As a Disnerd, I loved this inside look at the park's history, although the writing style could have been a little better.

PETER AND THE SECRET OF RUNDOON by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry - 5

The final chapter in their Peter Pan prequel trilogy is the best one yet.  Just be sure you read the other two first because you'll pretty much be lost by everything that is happening here.

Weekly TV Recap for January 7th

Well, shows are starting to come back and there will be even more next week.  I'm not sorry to have shows I love back, but I've enjoyed not having much to watch the last couple of weeks.  It's been nice to come home with no real agenda.  I need to make time for that more.

In the mean time, here's what I did watch.

Wipeout - Not only did I watch, I watched live.  As usual, I loved the Johns.  But Vanessa just isn't doing it for me.  She isn't nearly as funny as Jill was.  The obstacles are very intense right now, and that's make it fun.  I'll stick with it for now, but might drop it at some later point.

Chuck - Laughed multiple times, especially as Sarah spiraling down after she warned Chuck about that multiple times.  You never know when something will come into play, and I loved how they used those guns with the anti-friendly fire feature to save the day in the end.  But what amazes me most is Jeff.  Make the man smart and suddenly he's able to figure out the plot of the show in one episode.  He even had "Intersect" on his board.  That ending was very interesting and I can't wait to see how they play it out next week.

Nikita - It was wonderful to have this show back.  So many stories moving forward so quickly.  And twists and turns.  The writers seem to be pulling together not only things from this season but also season one.  They even had the CIA agent back again.  Great stuff.  And, of course, I was having a 24 geek moment since Sarah Clarke (Nina in season 1-3) guest starred on the show her husband Xander Berkley (George Mason in seasons 1 and 2) regularly stars in.

Christmas

Christmas was different this year.  Not saying it was bad, just different.

As usual, I headed to my parent's house.  I'm so thankful I got two weeks off because I was able to head up there for a week without even thinking about it.  My brother, sister-in-law, and niece were there early, so we celebrated Christmas on the 21st.  Then we celebrated again on the 23rd with my uncle and aunt.  Yep, we'd opened all presents before the 25th, so it was a bit different.  In fact, when the news was talking about last minute shopping on the 24th, we were all wondering why people were last minute shopping still.

Since Christmas was on a Sunday, we went to church that morning.  In the afternoon, we headed back to my uncle and aunts.  My cousin and his family were there, and we had Christmas dinner together.  They live in Washington, so I don't see them very often, and that was nice, especially since it was the first time I got to see his new son, who's over a year old already.

Of course, I got to visit my friends Donald and Heather on the way back down south.  Saw Donald on the way north, too.  We played two rounds of The Stock Market Game, and I won both of them.  Couldn't believe that since he usually beats me.  Also saw family friends while in Santa Rosa.

Word Association for January 4th

I know, I know.  I really need to post something other than Word Association and TV Recaps.  I promise to feel guilty about that.  Meanwhile, here's this week's Word Association.

1. Resolution :: New Year
2. Adorable :: Puppy
3. Fractions :: Math
4. Intensify :: Pain
5. Commute :: Job
6. Job :: Work (I swear, I was typing Job before I saw this was next)
7. Advance :: Forward
8. Audit :: Auditors
9. Highlight :: Hair
10. Disallow :: Illegal