Lions and Tigers and Woolly Mammoths... OH MY!

On Sunday we decided to head on over to the La Brea Tar Pits. I thought that it would be fun because I used to work there many moons ago. Plus, we have a membership for all of the local museums, that's set to expire next month, so no time like the present to check these places out! Shayna has an old book of mine, which mention everything from dinosaurs to sabretoothed cats. It's one of her favorites and I just love pointing out how all of the dinosaur's tails are dragging on the ground (that's how old this book is) because they never really did drag their tails.


This is where I used to work... behind the glass, sorting and gluing bones back together. Small animals, such as mice, snakes and birds. Yes, I even wore a white lab coat! I'm such a nerd!










Here is Shayna in front of a Woolly Mammoth. It was moving and making woolly mammoth noise, which scared her a bit. She had a great solution, though. If you can't hear 'em... then they're not there!















Here's a cute one of Shayna outside the museum.



We had a wonderful time exploring and checking out the new finds at the tar pits. Even though I am a stay-at-home mom/Geologist, this stuff still fascinates me!

What the.... OUCH!

OK... so Web MD and my neighbor, and good friend, Jenny, and I have discussed my foot injury. We three have come to the conclusion that it's probably a tendon - the Peroneus Brevis Tendon. I ran my 10K on Saturday and everything felt fine, until I got home. WHAM... OUCH! It's feeling better tonight after some ice and Ibuprofen... it actually feels just fine, if I don't walk... So, I'm taking a week off... Joy!

Check That One Off of My List!

*UPDATED NEWS* - I FINISHED IN THE TOP 20 FOR MY AGE GROUP! YAY! GO, OLD LADIES!
Well, I can now officially say that I've completed a 10K race! You can see me on the right with a grey shirt, black pants, and sunglasses as I just crossed the Start Line. Mark and Shayna came with me to cheer me on in today's race. There were probably around 1,000 runners participating. I was doing great, up until mile 3, when my feet fell asleep. I managed to walk about a 1/2 mile, then stopped completely and take off both of my shoes. That brought immediate relief to my numb feet!



Here's my very own personal cheerleader screaming, "GO MOMMY GO!" Shayna's the sweetest girl!!!








Here I am finishing the race (even though I told Mark not to take any "behind" pictures...) if you look closely, my shoelace is untied! I'm so happy that I didn't fall!

10K Saturday!

Saturday is quickly approaching and I'm getting so psyched about my Race on the Base 10K! It's 6.21 miles and I've never run at a constant pace for more than a 5K race (3.1 miles). I've been training though, and if I can complete this distance without stopping, I am going to sign up for a half marathon. If I can complete (survive) a half marathon, then I will sign up and complete the Long Beach Marathon this fall.

Shayna and Mark will be accompanying me on Saturday to cheer me on. That will be a huge motivation to complete the race as fast as possible. Stay tuned...
The dotted blue line is the 10K course...

Rain, Rain, Go Away... Just Kidding!

Yes, it's winter time here in SoCal. This means rain... all at once (almost 2 inches so far!). Today, Shayna and I were supposed to go up to L.A. and see a kid's band play, but I decided to stay home and far away from any freeway and/or crazy drivers! We have spent the entire day, in the house... yes, we still have our PJ's on and it's 3pm. Fun! A great day to stare out the window at your crazy mother taking pictures of the flooded street (in her PJ's) in the pouring rain! At least I had some shoes on!

Green Eggs and Ham, Live in Concert!

On Sunday, we drove up to the beautiful Alex Theater in Glendale to watch the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra family presentation of everyone's childhood favorite, Green Eggs and Ham. I know it's hard to imagine people singing, "Sam I am," but it was awesome and Shayna absolutely loved it!

Prior to the start of the show, Shayna was able to try out some of the various instruments.










Here she is with the cello (her favorite!!).

Here with a violin.

...a drum

...and even a flute!!!

I purchased these tickets a while back, so our third row seats were marvelous!

Aquarium Fun

On Tuesday, Shayna and I had the opportunity to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific to take part in the Art Miles mural painting. Art Miles is an international effort that uses art to address world issues. The Aquarium of the Pacific will contribute several panels to help Art Miles set the world record for the longest mural. We will be adding to a section entitled "The Urban Ocean" which will illustrate how humans and nature can coexist. Because we are aquarium members, Shayna got to paint a portion of this mural. Here's a shot of her hard at work!
And, here's the finished product... the happy face on the bottom is her signature... she told me that it has a moustache, and that it's granddad.




Too cute!

A Great Weekend!

This weekend, our college buddies, Jenna & Charlie (and their 4 kids), drove up from San Diego for a visit. Jenna and I were signed up to run the Surf City 5K in Huntington Beach. After an awful night of 2 hours worth of sleep, we woke up at the 5:45 am to head out and drive to Huntington Beach. After a crazy roundabout detour through Huntington Beach, we finally found a parking spot and walked to the 5K staging area, where we stretched and met some cute flag bearer.














We ran with 3,000 other people, which was fun because everyone had a smile on their face, including us!




















We finished the race pretty close together. This was the first time that I've ever run longer than 2 miles without stopping! It was a breakthrough for me. We had a blast and I sure do miss spending time with my former matron of honor, Jenna! Who, BTW, has convinced me to run the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon in May.... what??? am I crazy??? 26.2 miles????















Here are my results:

5K

Runner Details	Race Results	Split Times
Bib: 16484 Name: Lorie Bartee Gender: F Age: 37 Hometown: Long Beach, CA	Overall: 1276 out of 2508 Women: 687 out of 1621 F 35-39: 102 out of 207 Age/Grade: 44.04% Place: 1230 Finish: 34:16 Pace: 11:02 Tag Time: 34:16 Gun Time: 42:30