Where Did October Go??

Whew! October was one busy month! I started it off with the 3 Day for The Cure on Oct 1, 2 & 3 and from then on it was non-stop.

The weekend after the 3 Day Bill & I drove to Paso Robles to pick up our newest family member. Eve is a beautiful blind kitty who had been in a shelter for 7 months and didn't have much time left (yes - they were going to kill her).

She caught my eye when I saw her picture on a website -- she looked just like Chai did when I adopted her over 8 years ago. I thought that a blind kitty might be a perfect companion for my mom (who lives in our downstairs apartment) and Mom thought so too. So a dedicated shelter volunteer offered to meet us half-way and there you have it. She is a beautiful little sweetheart and we love that we could rescue this precious girl and give her a loving forever home.

For most of October the Giants were in the play-offs and watching the games became the focus of our activities with everything else fitting in around them. We worked around other obligations such as plays, dinners out, ham radio club meetings, (and oh yeah - work) so we could watch or listen to the games. I even took a small TV to a restaurant the final night of the NL Pennant series and that was big fun - the waitstaff kept coming by to check the score. I re-arranged massages, mani-pedis & hair appointments around the games. I guess at some level we all knew the Giants were making history and we wanted to participate as much as we could.

Of course the pinnacle was the Monday night winning of the World Series and then the parade on Wednesday. Now life has started to go back to normal; I'm wearing colors other than orange & black, flossing my teeth (it just took too much time & I was too tired), we're eating dinner at the dining room table instead of in front of the TV, and no longer trying to figure out what time the game starts in our time zone.

Yeah, it was hectic & crazy and I wouldn't change one minute of it!!

I Love a Parade

And today in San Francisco we had a Giant one!

Over one million people lined the streets of San Francisco to cheer and celebrate our World Champion Giants - and we were there!

On Monday night the Giants showed up for us and today we showed up for them. The streets of San Francisco were an ocean of orange & black. Bill and I both agree we've never seen anything like it - it was absolutely amazing. F&ck Yeah!

Wow - What a Weekend!

Bill picked me up at work on Friday afternoon and we headed south to celebrate our first wedding anniversary on Halloween in Disneyland. By 10 pm we were checking into the Candy Cane Inn right next to the Magic Kingdom.

On Saturday we stopped at Disneyland City Hall to get our special Happy Anniversary pins. Then we headed to the Bengal Bar-B-Que in Adventureland, which is our traditional first meal whenever we visit the House of the Mouse. After that we enjoyed several of our favorite rides before going to Tony Roma's for Game 3 of the World Series. Although our Giants gave that one up to the Texas Rangers, we still had a fun time sitting in the "Giants section" of the restaurant and cheering for our team along with many other Giants fans.

After the game, we went to California Adventure for the spectacular show, "The World of Color" - a water, color, fire and light show that is not to be missed.

On Sunday we were back in Disneyland for a few more rides and some shopping. Then we watched our Giants win game 4 of the World Series back at the hotel. Thank you for the anniversary present San Francisco Giants!!

On Monday, we had a light breakfast then headed back home with a stop at Philippe's in Los Angeles. Bill had never been there and I thought it would be a real treat for him to visit the shrine where the French Dip was created. It took a lot of courage to wear our Giants gear into the belly of the beast (Dodger country) but after dodging 1000's of strollers and 100's of Snow Whites, Tinker Bells, Spider Men, & Jedi Knights we felt up to the task. Philippe's did not disappoint and after a terrific lunch we continued our trip home.

We tuned into the Giants-Rangers game and listened nervously as the game continued scoreless into the 6th inning. I went a little crazy when Renteria hit his 3 run homer in the 7th, but then I wasn't driving. We made it home in the bottom of the 8th and while Bill parked the car I raced upstairs to turn on the TV. Then together we watched the 9th inning and the Giants became World Champions!!

Our neighbors came over and we opened a bottle of champagne that was given to us by the Cliff House the night of our wedding. What a perfect way to celebrate our first anniversary and the San Francisco Giants first World Series win!!

Go Giants!!

Thanks to my wonderful hubby and his sister I was lucky enough to have the experience of a lifetime last night. I got to attend Game 2 of the World Series and watch our San Francisco Giants win 9 - 0!!

Wow! The energy and the excitement as our team trounced the Rangers is hard to describe. Suffice to say, it was an experience I will never forget!

Go Giants!!

We Walked

Since Sunday night I've tried to come up with the words to describe the experience of doing the 3 Day for Cure. Amazing, incredible, life changing, powerful ... I could go on and on.

But I've finally stopped because there is really only one word - Indescribable.

We walked. Young, old, male, female.
We walked. Tall, short, fat, thin.
We walked. Blonde, brunette, gray, bald, and yes even pink.
We walked. Fast, slow, together & alone.
We walked. With blisters, bunions, limps & bandages.
We walked, Black, white, & all shades in between.
We walked. In sunshine, rain, fog and wind.
We walked. Through smiles, tears, laughter & in silence.

We walked. For countless reasons, but with one common purpose.

I still have so many images in my mind and I know that over time most will fade. But the one enduring image that will stay with me is the way we walked. It was something I noticed in every single walker - that stride of determination and purpose - putting one foot in front of the other - step after step, mile after mile.

We walked.

60 miles!!

@ the last pit stop.