7:11a

what the hell am I doing up?
yes, I am up.
this is unusual for me...for anyone, for that matter, to be up so freakin' early.
'couldn't sleep any more because our decrepit, old bed
left my lower back all twisted in knots.
it was sore like hell!
'figured I might as well get an early start on my day.

the ironic thing is, I was having the nicest dream about being in italy!
It was simply beautiful.
For some reason our spa flew all of us employees
to work and vacation at our Italian headquarters.
We don't really have an italian spa, but it was a nice touch to the dream.

Anyway, the nicest thing about it all was that
my cousin, Chi Chi, and her husband, Blake,
were vacationing with me!

That's it. No more interruptions in my dreams. I'm gonna look for a new bed today.

it's like riding your bike all day around the neighborhood with your best friend
thank goodness we weren't running on the schedule that
my bf planned the night before.
a kink in my bf's neck threw a wrench in all his planning.
luckily for us, it turned out to be one of the nicest days together.

poor bf....hahahaha...
he woke up with a stiff neck. it was his left side.
ironically, i kinked the same side of my neck two days earlier
from trying a PNF stretch.
It's this stretch that I always, always recommend to my clients
where you contract the muscle you are stretching for a few seconds
and then stretch it out.
Theoretically, you will release the tension more effectively when doing it this way.
Ironically for me, my stupid neck simply locked up.
ai yah!!!
Anyhow, my bf said I was contagious and blamed me unsuccessfully for his new "ailment".
hahahaha....silly rabbit! (...tricks are for kids!)

After using my massage skills to help ease the pain temporarily,
we both headed off to McDonald's for breakfast.
By this time it was already 10am and, according to his "schedule",
we were already 2 hours behind. hehehe.
After waiting almost 15 minutes to get our order (poor management I tell ya),
we sat down to our very unhealthy yet filling breakfast of O.J., egg bacon and cheese bagel,
big breakfast and hashbrowns. And as usual, my bf got 2 of those - hashbrowns that is.

We walked away ready to tackle our first stop: our neighborhood hardware store.
for months...I think it's actually been a year already...our faucet in our
first bathroom has been out of commission, since it leaked like crazy.
The whole shopping experience for our new faucet was quick and fun, plus
we got some of the best help around!
That's why I love this little hardware store in our neighborhood.
It's been here since I started living here back in 1975.
It's super personable...they take the time to make you feel like they really want you to succeed
in your home improvement products.
Heck, they even told us to call them if we get stuck in the middle of our installation process!
I actually did call them, too. They were so helpful even on the phone.

Happy with our purchase, we headed off to stop #2: Borders.
While the bf looked for his photography books,
I sat and read the new Michael Moore book, Dude, Where's My Country?.
I could not put the book down for the life of me!
It was hilarious, in-your-face critical, and a down-right great read.
I highly recommend it.
Since the bf didn't want to spend $75 on this photography book he
wanted, we opted instead to go to a cheaper option: the library.

I love our library.
It's probably one of the nicest in the Bay Area.
Of course, it used to be pretty ghetto when
I was growing up here, but it has improved immensely.
I tried to look for the Michael Moore book, but as expected
they were all checked out - all 18 copies!
I opted instead for one of Ralph Nader's most recent books,
Crashing the Party - How to Tell the Truth and Still Run for President.
I actually saw it on sale the other day in the city for $5 but decided to
save my $5 for dinner.
It's written very differently than Michael Moore's book, but
I like what Nader has to say. I actually voted for him in the 2000 election.
Although I knew he wouldn't win, I did it to support the Green Party...so that they
would break the two-party system that we currently have.
And on a random note: his sister was my Anthropology Professor back in college.

We finally ended my bf's book search at this store that sells books at half price.
Remember that $75 book that my bf wanted back at Borders?
Well, they were selling it at this half price bookstore for $15!!!!!
Holy Crap!
I told my bf that it's like finding something you like at a garage sale for $2.
Now he understands. hopefully, he'll stop bugging me about going to so many of those.

We finally came home and read our books for a little while.
We used the $10 gift certificate that was given to us by our local
pizza place and ordered a large ground beef, onion and tomato pizza.
Can you believe it only cost us $6?
Only problem is, they were so cheap with the toppings. I could literally count
on one hand the amount of stuff that was on our pizza other than the crust, cheese and sauce.

Nevertheless, it filled our tummies and we went on with our day.
By that time I couldn't believe it was only 1p.
We accomplished so much in such a short time.
The rest of the day:
- we made a make-shift studio in our family room and took portraits of me and my hands for his photography class project
- I installed our new bathroom faucet all by myself (well, ok, the bf helped too. he held the faucet in place while I secured it.) (i felt so empowered...hehehe)
- After installing the faucet, i proceeded to day dream about all the other improvements I could make to the house, i.e. installing laminate flooring in our living room and master bedroom
- I researched water softeners to install in our home

By the end of the day, the bf and i both fell asleep on the couch watching TV.
We were so pooped!
If it weren't for my bf's bear-like snoring, I wouldn't have woken up to
move to the bed.
but we did. and we slept. even though we smelled like the day.
just like when we were kids, riding our bikes all day around the neighborhood.