10
Jul
09

I could get used to this

By sheilamia Leave a Comment
Categories: 1

Most of you know that my 14 year old nephew, Austin, stayed with us for a week.  He just left with his parents after a fun week with “parental rules clueless” Uncle Pete and Auntie Sheila.  Suddenly the silence is deafening.

A week with the kid, who definitely tried my patience (but I’m impatient and virtually EVERYONE tries my patience sooner or later)… and I’m sadly remorse that he is no longer around to a) take out the trash, b) inform me of the ways to cheat at Wii or c) respond “I don’t know” when I ask him what he wants to eat for dinner.

I could definitely see the challenge in this situation on a day to day, month to month, year to year situation… but dammit I miss that little booger and he left just an hour ago.

I guess all I can say is hopefully one day, Pete and I will also breed and create an offspring as cool/smart/talented/funny/sweet as my nephew Austin.    Kid, don’t let it go to your head!

07
Jul
09

This story makes my blood boil

By sheilamia Leave a Comment
Categories: jerks and society

I love the town where I live (Alamo, CA).  It’s a peaceful, picturesque, charming town… of course it is also one of the most affluent areas in the East Bay Area [we rent our house].  I could totally imagine raising well-adjusted, happy children in this area.  Generally speaking, Alamo residents are friendly, smart, progressive and successful (duh!)

So no one was more shocked than me when I heard the following story which occurred at a park less than 1/2 mile from my house.

One of Lucy’s favorite pups on the trail is a gorgeous chestnut colored pit bull named Rocky.  We see Rocky and his mom running the trail pretty much every morning.  Rocky’s mom & I let the pups off leash and while they chase each other around and around, we get a chance to catch up for a bit.

Rocky’s mom (shameful that I don’t know her name, but I will refer to her as RM going forward) is a petite, stunningly beautiful, dark-skinned Brazilian gal.

We ran into the duo this past Saturday and, as usual, stopped to chit-chat.  RM seemed pretty distressed, but I’m not one to pry.  Finally she unloads this story that left me completely shocked.

Apparently RM took her 9 year old son and two 7 week old pit bulls who she was babysitting to the Hap Magee park in Alamo recently.

They were tooling around the park, baby pit bulls on leash.  RM’s son ran off as 9 year old boys do.  So RM got a bit distracted and in the confusion, the puppies got loose… as puppies do.

Well….  a group of 15 people were picnicking/bbqing at the park and where do you think the baby pit bulls went?  … you got it… straight to the yummy smelling BBQ beef.

Turns out baby pit bulls found the 15 assholes that live in Alamo.

RM ran immediately over to the scene of the crime, apologizing, trying to grab the babies who are at this point chewing on tasty prime rib (LOL, sounds like the scene from a Will Farrell comedy, huh?)  Here is where reasonable people would realize that this poor woman was trying her best to grab  hold of her puppies and avoid a major conflict.  But NO.  Instead, privileged, affluent, entitled white person mentality kicked in and the group decided to make RM’s life even more miserable.

The leader of the crew, a 6′5″ white dude decided that the situation called for him to start kicking the <10 pound pups and he started screaming at RM to “go back to the ghetto”.  OMFG (just breathe).  The others in the group decided to call 9-1-1.  (REALLY? pathetic is the word that comes to mind).

Cut to the Danville police (they probably have nothing better to do) who rush to the group asking, “where’s the pitbull?”  No doubt expecting to see some 60+ pound beast in the vicinity.  Clearly our fine diners had no sense of embarrrassment when RM displayed the “vicious pitbulls in question”… weighing all of 10 pounds apiece.

Needless to say, the Danville police told RM to go home and relax. RM, bless her heart, told the police that she wanted to press charges for animal cruelty.  Apparently the police told her, “it just isn’t worth it”.  So she went home.

I am stunned.  There are so many things I could rant about: the baby pitbulls, the 9 year old son who has to experience racial discrimination for the first time, etc, etc.  simply SICK.

The reality is if said picnickers had been reasonable people, RM would have gone to the store to purchase them a boat load of meat to replace whatever meat the babies had eaten, done whatever was needed to remedy the situation.  Instead, they chose to be jackasses and flaunt their ugly, entitled selves…  in the process tainting the beautiful community which is Alamo, CA.

06
Jul
09

I am alive!

By sheilamia Leave a Comment
Categories: 1

I am quite embarrassed about my rather shameful disappearance over the past few months.  I really have no excuse.  My favorite standby, “I’m SOOOO busy” gets old real  quick.  I hope to make it up to you fabulous readers (whoever is left, that is) by committing to blog regularly.   No longer will I commit to blogging once a day, cause that’s just too darn difficult given the other obligations in my life.  Perhaps when I finally win the millions I’m due to win at Super Lotto, I will have lots of time to write creative and inspired blog entries (as I sip frosty fruity drinks on the beach at whatever vacation destination I happen to be at the time)…. SNAP!  Back to reality, girl.

The reality is it’s Monday after a long Holiday weekend.  In typical Sheila fashion, I went HARD!  Paying for it today, but phew, what an amazing weekend.

Where do I begin?  My sweet, talented, 14 year old nephew, Austin, is staying with us until this Friday… which is just awesome.  I went to pick him up on Friday and enjoyed lunch with his parents (my sister Laura and my bro-in-law Keith).  On the way home, we stopped off at my favorite adult toystore, Best Buy, to pick up the Wii FIT (currently borrowing the Wii game console from the fabulous Jackie & Mark, who are traveling the world at the moment).   The Wii FIT fitness module appeals to my UBER fitness crazed self.  It did not disappoint.  Pizza dinner and hours of fun playing on the Wii that evening.  What a great entertainment invention.  The best part was KO’ing Pete multiple times in Wii boxing – he he he!

Saturday morning, up and at ‘em.  Lucy and I decided to run 6 miles instead of walk.  I hadn’t run in over 1 1/2 months since I stubbed my toe on the couch (this is a blog entry of its own, note to self to write about it)… so I started with trepidation.  Luckily we ran into many of Lucy’s puppy & people friends on the trail, so we got lots of chit-chat breaks and I was able to complete the run without any problems.  Hurrah!

Next, I chucked my running shoes to the side and turned into Baking Queen.  I whipped up some coconut macaroons (these beauties are ridiculously EASY to make and everyone who has ever tasted them seems to experience some kind of intense orgasmic pleasure).  I also made some tomato mushroom tarts using fresh tomatoes from Laura/Keith/Austin’s tomato garden.  I had never made them before, so was a bit worried, but they turned out a-ok (it’s pretty difficult to mess up puff pastry and loads of cheese!)

Why the baking spree you ask?  Well, Saturday (4th of July) was the annual ultimate Independence day BBQ/Pool Party at Ayelet’s house.  This is a not-to-be-missed yearly event.  I wanted to contribute to the party hence the baking spree… although I should have known Ayelet would prepare enough food to feed an army.   She always goes all out — grilled steak, veggies, multiple salads, tasty appetizers, etc etc.  This year she outdid even herself by making a giant batch of paella on the BBQ!!  Jeez, that paella also deserves its own blog post!  Ayelet is the hostess with the mostest.   She’s one of the most generous people I know… and that’s the least of what makes her great.  I’m lucky that she’s one of my closest friends.

Anyhoo… cut to 10 hours later and we’re finally getting ready to head home.  You know it’s *some party* when you stay for 10 hours! DRINK FOOD FOOD DRINK FOOD DRINK FOOD DRINK FOOD FOOD DRINK.  That was my day Saturday…  with a bit of swimming, games, laughter and fun with good people.  EPIC is the best word to describe the day.   Oh, yeah, also I beat Austin in a little swim race a couple of times too!   Notice a trend?  yah, might have a few competitive bones in me.  :)

OH! and the weekend is not over…  onto Sunday.  Simply memorable.  Austin and I took BART into the city and met up with pals Alexandra and Wilson to catch the Giants vs. Astros game.   First of all, kicking myself that this was the first game I attended all season.  How did that happen?!?! So wrong.  There is just something about Sunday afternoons at the yard…  Back when I worked right across the street from AT&T Park, I loved mid-week day games as well… but there is something about Sunday afternoons that screams baseball.  What made the day so much more special is that I got to meet the fabulous, charming PCon (Patrick Connor, producer for KNBR).  Those who know me well, know that the KNBR Morning show is very much a part of my life…. almost as much as my family (I said ALMOST people, no need to get your panties in a bunch!) PCon, as he is affectionately called on the show, is the producer and most definitely integral to the success of the show.  He’s one of the most real people I have ever known (and met now!)  Ex-marine guy, sharp as a tack, not afraid to speak his mind, scarily knowledgeable and just plain adorable.  Anyways, I was a bit star-struck, tongue-tied, (lame) when I met him… but it was so fun to get a picture with him.   Also, simply thrilled to be “connected” to him on Twitter!  Gotta love social networking.

Back to the game….such a fun afternoon, but sadly the Giants did not win.  I am going to let it slide cause they are playing really well lately and, guess what?  It’s early but they are leading the Wild Card race… a girl can dream can’t she?!?!

03
Apr
09

Announcing a fun event and a contest too!

By sheilamia Leave a Comment
Categories: 1

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A great friend of mine has produced and directed an indie film called Beer Wars.  The movie is very compelling and will be showing on one day only at 440 theaters across the nation on April 16.   Ben Stein is hosting the event LIVE in LA… pretty cool stuff!

I am fortunate to have experienced the evolution of this movie over the past couple of years.  I’ve watched a couple of the early screenings and have truly enjoyed each new and improved version.  I haven’t seen the final version, so I am really excited for April 16!

In light of my excitement, I’ve decided to have a little contest for my fabulous readers.  I am giving away two free tickets to the movie at a theater of your choice.  Here is a list of theaters to choose from: http://tinyurl.com/cpvkmg.

I will have a random drawing on Tuesday, April 14.  All you have to do to register is:  #1 post a blog entry or Twitter about the event.  #2 enter a comment on this post linking to your blog entry or Twitter ID…. that’s it!

Here is a short synopsis of the movie:  BEER WARS LIVE on April 16th, One Night Only.  Beer Wars LIVE marches into select movie theatres in a special live simulcast event on Thursday, April 16th to tell the David and Goliath story of the American beer industry.. Beer Wars LIVE will take you inside the boardrooms and back rooms of the big business of beer — a microcosm of American business today where the big are getting bigger, consolidation reigns and free enterprise often takes a back seat.

The evening will feature the world premiere of the groundbreaking documentary Beer Wars, followed by a spirited and timely LIVE discussion led by Ben Stein with some of America’s leading independent brewers and experts.  Playing in 440 movie theatres nationwide on Thursday, April 16th, Beer Wars LIVE will take you behind-the-scenes of the daily battles and all-out wars that dominate one of America’s favorite industries.

Presented by NCM Fathom and Ducks In A Row Entertainment, in partnership with Reason Foundation, Yelp! and All About Beer magazine.

For more information, visit www.beerwarsmovie.com.  Purchase tickets for the LIVE event on April 16th at 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/8pm PT (tape delayed) at www.fathomevents.com/upcoming/details/Beer_Wars.html

Here is a link to the trailer, http://beerwarsmovie.com/trailer/large/

Oh, and by the way, I’ll be experiencing this epic event in San Francisco at the Century 9 San Francisco Centre Cinema (at the Westfield Shopping Center).  Let me know if you would like to join our group.  I’ll send you an invite to our Facebook event.

17
Mar
09

Girls will be girls

By sheilamia Leave a Comment
Categories: friendship

Lately I have been taking an exercise class that I’ve grown to love to hate.  The Dailey Method is a full body “core” exercise class that combines techniques from yoga, pilates and the exercises that ballerinas perform at the barre.  The concept is that, during the 1 hour class, we alternate controlled, challenging movements with deep stretching in order to maximize the elongating the muscles, which supposedly translates to a leaner body (not there yet).  We work our arms, thighs, butt & abs.  But each focused exercise works the core overall.  Needless to say, it’s brutal.  I’ve gotten close to tears, as my legs shake uncontrollably during thigh sessions.  But I am stubborn and determined to conquer this challenge… so 5 or 6 days a week, I go back for more torture.  I must say, it has gotten easier and I’ve noticed that I have greater flexibility.

Actually, that wasn’t really the point of this blog entry, but I’m glad I put down in words about my newest “hobby”.  What I wanted to talk about is Girls and the commonalities we share.

I made a “sorta friend” at The Dailey Method.  If you go regularly, you will start to see the same women (and yes, they are all women.  I have only seen one man in the three weeks I have been going!)  One gal, Brooke, tends to go to the 4:30pm class I have been attending.  After seeing each other a couple of times, we exchanged Hi’s.  One day, we were both early to class and while waiting for the previous class to get out, we introduced ourselves and had a somewhat awkward, “where do you live?, what do you do?, etc” conversation.  When class started, we scurried to our places and didn’t say another word to each other.

Yesterday in class, Brooke came up to me with a very excited look on her face.  She lowered her voice and said, “hey, have you ever taken a class with Chelsea May?”

Turns out there was some gossip circulating amongst the students that Chelsea May had been fired.  I had just been to a class with Chelsea May the day before so that made things a bit juicier.  We speculated on what might have gone down, who would replace her, etc, etc.

In that moment, Brooke and I could have been best friends gossiping about another acquaintance. We truly bonded and, I felt, escalated our relationship to a  “sorta friend” status.  Is gossiping  just one of those activities that all girls live for?

I found the experience to be an interesting study of human behavior.  Who knows, maybe one day Brooke and I will go have drinks after class or is that crazy talk?

06
Mar
09

Family

By sheilamia Leave a Comment
Categories: 1

Need to make this quick as we’re leaving in less than 2 hours to drop Lucy off at Auntie Ayelet’s house then head to the airport for a red-eye flight to New Jersey.  BTW, how lucky are WE that the 10 inches of snow that fell in N.J. last Sunday has melted and it is projected to be a balmy 65 degrees over the weekend, phew!

So, really, who goes to New Jersey in March?!?!, you are probably wondering.  We’re visiting Pete’s family to celebrate his mother, Madeleine’s 80th birthday.  We normally select nicer times of the year to visit his family, but this certainly qualifies as a special occasion.  A fun filled weekend has been planned by Pete’s family and I know that a good time will be had by all.  First stop: Atlantic City.  Pretty much everyone in Pete’s family loves to gamble so a visit to the casinos is pretty much a requirement anytime we all get together.  I have to say, my most memorable experiences with the family are at one Roulette table or another gambling the night away and having the time of our lives.  When all of us are together, we seem to generate a certain energy that quite often results in winning streaks for all.

The real celebration will occur on Sunday when all of the relatives will get together to celebrate the big day.  Seriously, I will be thrilled if I live to at least 80 years old.  Chances are we will play games to honor Madeleine, as she is the most competitive and skilled player around.  I do not share that skill, so I can only look on in awe.  I really admire how the family bonds during these game sessions.

The sad part for me will be missing my “baby” Lucy — yes, she is like a baby to me, even though she is a crazy 3 year old Boston Terrier dog.  Lucy is a bonafide member of the family and life is just not the same when she isn’t around.  As I spent this afternoon packing my suitcase, Lucy looked on with apprehension.  She definitely senses that “something’s up” and like a hawk, she’s been monitoring my every move.  At one point, as I struggled with my suitcase to get it zipped up, she started to shake (her trademark “I don’t feel comfortable with what’s going on” move).  Breaks my heart.  How we got such a sensitive dog, who knows?  But this dog is so in tune with our every move, that as soon as something is non-routine, she gets bent out of shape.  I am hoping that she has so much fun with her favorite Auntie that she forgets all about us.  We certainly won’t forget her.

P.S. Watch this space.  I will have a contest very soon for some lucky winner to win a pair of tickets to see the movie Beer Wars, screening one day only on April 16….  read more online, http://beerwarsmovie.com/

More to come…

25
Feb
09

The return of an old friend

By sheilamia 1 Comment
Categories: baseball and sports

Earlier this week, I listened to an interview with one of my favorite Giants baseball announcers, Jon Miller.  He said something that really hit home and perfectly described how I feel about my favorite pastime: Baseball (specifically GIANTS baseball!)

He said, “baseball is such good company”.  He went on to talk about how all of the activities related to baseball, whether it is listening on the radio, watching the game on TV, talking about the game, or rehashing the previous day’s game is such a vacation from the “real scratches of life”.

I truly do feel like when the season ends in September (or October if you root for a good team), I am saying goodbye to a good friend.

Then, in the spring, when the days start to get longer and the flowers start to bloom, I find myself giddy with excitement for the start of a brand new season.  Once the season begins, I truly feel like I’m welcoming the return of a great old friend.

Spring training has just begun in Arizona.  Most of the baseball teams head to Arizona to play practice games with other teams before the official start of the season.  I am lucky to have had the opportunity in previous years to visit Arizona to catch a couple of Giants Spring Training games.  Sadly, this year, I am cutting back, so no trip to sunny Scottsdale, Arizona.  But you know, I’m tuned into the radio listening to each pitch, hit, homerun and strikeout.

Watch this space for stories, discussions, rants, raves, fanatical outcries, etc as the season progresses.  Like a good friend, and most relationships, there are sure to be ups and downs.

20
Feb
09

25 things about me.

By sheilamia Leave a Comment
Categories: 1

I have become obsessed with FaceBook.  I can’t stay away.  It’s as addictive [I imagine] as crack cocaine.  One of my favorite things to do these days is to find new FaceBook “questionnaires” to answer and post on my profile.  Since I don’t have much to contribute today, I thought I’d post “25 things about me”, a recent contribution on FaceBook:

1. I am a multi-tasker and tend to be happiest when I’m juggling multiple projects/tasks at work.

2. I entered college as a Computer Science major (doh!)

3. I wanted to be an archaeologist as a kid.

4. I visited Germany and Austria in High School as part of the California Youth Symphony (I played violin) and we got to perform in the most beautiful concert halls.

5. I have never lived outside of California.

6. I managed a newspaper route when I was 12 years old.

7. I lived in the Tenderloin district for 1 ½ years when I first moved to S.F. (yikes!)

8. I sucked at P.E. as a kid, always last to be selected for team sports.

9. I completed an IronMan triathlon in 2004.

10. I broke my left leg the same summer that my future husband broke his left leg

11. I love butter rum lifesavers, and eat way too many of them on a regular basis.

12. I traveled to New Zealand with my dad when I was 5 years old.

13. I swam on swim teams during much of my childhood.

14. I learned to play piano at 4 years old, but quickly forgot how to play when I took up violin at 10 years old.

15. I currently work from home and often do not shower until late in the afternoon (gross, I know!)

16. As a kid, my sister and I would often go body surfing in the ocean at Santa Cruz wearing only our swim suits.

17. I hit the trail with my dog, Lucy, each weekday morning by 5am….by 7am on weekends.

18. My worst job was working as a pants presser at a dry cleaner’s one summer in college.

19. I am very selfish with my time and require lots of alone time… although I am also an extrovert and love making plans with friends.

20. My husband and I are pretty much exact opposites in personality, but it works.

21. My family and I once got stuck on a ferry when seeing off relatives in Japan.

22. The first concert I ever attended was Depeche Mode in the 80’s.

23. At a point in my life, I weighed over 200 pounds. I now weigh 125 or so.

24. I won the spelling bee every year in Elementary School except for the year Felicia Chew won when I misspelled “carload” – you were my nemesis that year, Felicia : )

25. I love salsa so much that I eat it right out of the jar.

17
Feb
09

Jerks

By sheilamia 4 Comments
Categories: 1

So…. it’ pretty common knowledge that I’m “trying” (38 year old, married… duh) and after years of this crap, I may be a bit sensitive about the subject.  But seriously, I am not dumb enough to know that I am NOT being overly sensitive when it comes to what happened to me recently as described below.

A bit of background….

A couple of weeks ago, I thought that I was pregnant (I FELT pregnant, my period was late, my boobies were sore, nausea, headaches, etc, etc).   I took a couple of tests — negative!  BUT, my acupuncturist (LOVE HER) had really helped me to be “regular” so I was a believer, based on the symptoms…

… yet, 10 days late, the lovely “auntie flow” (A.F. is the acronym used in many infertility message boards) reared her ugly head and showed up much to my dismay — OF COURSE, exactly one DAY after I attended the “Make a Wish Foundation’s Wine & Wishes event”, where I declined numerous glasses of fabulous wine “just in case” — grrrrrr! <sigh>…such is my life, a la the comic strip, “Born Loser”.

I had a regularly scheduled Gyno appointment the next day: Monday.  It all went well, since my flow was pretty light at that point.  However, my “oh so lovely” gyno proceeded to lecture me about how “I ain’t getting any younger” — thanks, bitch!

I requested hormone tests (not suggested by my gyno, but she agreed once I asked), since last year I was diagnosed with low Estrogen… wondered if Acupuncture could have improved my situation?

Cut to Thursday afternoon…

I call my Gyno’s office (hello? I have not heard from them… I was told I would have the results within 24 hours).  The receptionist tells me that there is a note on my lab test that “everything is normal” — hurrah!  (totally psyched, of course).  So, then I call back thinking I could request Clomid (hey, maybe it will work this time since low Estrogen is no longer a factor right?)  — the Fucking nurse practitioner calls me back and proceeds to bring me to tears:

Nurse Practitioner (when asked if I could try Clomid again): “NO…. (condescending voice) your Estrogen levels are low and your FSH levels are a bit high” — “WHY do you think you should try Clomid?”…

Me: “Well, the receptionist told me that my tests were normal AND THAT’S WHY I thought I’d try Clomid again” — (fuck, you’d think I was trying to pull a fast one over here).

Nurse Practitioner: “You should talk to a doctor about your lab results NOT the receptionist”

Okay fucking bitch, if a doctor would have called me I would have spoken to the DOCTOR.

Then she goes on to say that the Reproductive Science people recommended injections and “don’t I think they know what’s best???”  I’m sorry, but what a bitch!  Also, what if I HADN’T called back to request Clomid??? I would have just proceeded thinking my hormones were at a normal state… this is completely irresponsible and unacceptable… especially given my advanced age.  Time is OF THE ESSENCE.

Needless to say, I’m looking for a new Gynecologist… any recommendations in the SF East Bay Area??

03
Feb
09

Anticipation

By sheilamia Leave a Comment
Categories: 1

I am not a patient person.  It is one of the things I love and hate about myself.  I love that I make decisions quickly but I hate when I jump to conclusions and end up dead wrong.

I’m currently in a weird state of being, a sort of limbo state.   I am waiting for some answers but I am helpless to do much of anything but wait.  I am the type of person who needs to know her fate. I need answers NOW, if not yesterday.  I don’t do well when I have to wait even an hour… in this case, I’ll likely have to wait a week or weeks even.

So I spend my days searching the Internet for clues… anything that can help me pinpoint what the answer inevitably will be.  This exercise only serves to make me crazier with anxiousness.  Ah, if only someone would whisk me away to Maui…  I am pretty sure my angst would disappear the moment I stepped foot on that beautiful island.

I hope that with this post I haven’t driven you, my loyal reader, to a level of wonder and anticipation… that certainly was not my intention.  I promise to fill you all in as soon as I have answers.

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