The Phantom of the Opera

On Friday, November 28, 2008, me and my friend April went to see The Phantom of the Opera in San Francisco. I was excited to see it again. I haven't seen it since I saw it for my 21st birthday in Philadelphia. I was very excited to take April to this vegetarian restaurant but it was closed up. So we ended up trying this really nice restaurant in a hotel across the street from the theater. We had these amazing raviolis. Anyway, we made it to the theater and enjoyed watching the show. Also we got really excited about our tickets to see Wicked because we realized that we have some good seats. And it's only 3 more weeks until I go to see Wicked in Los Angeles with my sisters for Christmas. Yay for musicals!!

Silicon Valley Turkey Trot

Thanksgiving morning found me running with about 7,500 other people around downtown San Jose. I went with my friend Shauna and her husband Adlai. Shauna and I ran the 5k and Adlai did the 10k. I haven't run in a couple of weeks, and at the end of the event I was feeling that. In fact, I'm still feeling it in my upper thighs, where I tend to feel things when I'm running. I did get an awesome t-shirt and I guess as my Aunt Val would say, I earned my dinner. I am hoping to run New Year's day in Palo Alto. I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

Guess Who I saw at PF Changs

I took a photo to prove that I saw him. I hope he thinks I've been nice, not naughty.

Baby Fish

About a month ago, I came home to find extra items in my fish tank, but I had to look a couple of times to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing... baby fish. At first I was assuming it must be from my guppies because they were the only fish I had that were the same kind. So I ran one of them back to the pet store. So I read up on guppies to see how long you have to keep them before you can get rid of them. I was waiting until they were old enough to take to the pet store. Today I was look at the babies and noticed that they are getting markings that are very similar to my Mikey Mouse Platy. (they have a marking that looks like Mickey Mouse on them.) So tonight I was doing some research on Platy babies. Turns out that I was wrong about how fish have babies. There are fish that have live births. And so it's possible to have bought a pregnant fish. And it's possible that my babies are Platys instead of guppies. It turns out that they are very hardy fish. I am hoping to get rid of some babies next week. Let me know if you are interested.

Happy Halloween

This year was all about recycling and reusing. So last year I was Spider Pig and this year I was another famous pig. Also, we decorated at work and it was a zoo theme. It was lots of fun. I didn't win for my costume, but I had fun. I am also including the photo of me trying to find my blond wig.

Walking around the World

Okay, I didn't quite walk around the world. But I did manage to get my 13.1 miles of walking in for the Nike Half-Marathon on Sunday October 19th. I was so happy to get so much support for everyone. I had fun texting and talking to people while walking. And I really enjoyed listening to the book on tape that I had. It was also fun having people driving around and honking at me in encouragement. Also, a co-worker lives a couple of miles from me and she and her husband came out to wish me on. Needless to say I got in my distance and I will be getting my prizes in the mail shortly. I will be showing that stuff of a lot. Thanks to everyone who wished me well.

The next Saturday I went on the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in San Jose. I had fun walking with everyone. It always makes me cry to see so many people out supporting such an important cause. I sometimes wish that we could have better results against diseases like breast cancer and Cystic Fibrosis.

Sleep Clinic Experience

On Wednesday night I went to the sleep clinic per my doctor's request. She thinks that I might have sleep apnea, but I don't think so. Anyways I get there and it takes 45 minutes to hook me up to all the wires and electrodes. It was strange sleeping somewhere like that, but it was also kind of like sleeping in a hotel room. The TV didn't work, but I had brought my homework for my writing class. I didn't realize that they had wireless access until I was already in my car and I didn't really want to go back upstairs and pack up the laptop. I guess I get high scores in laziness. After we got me all wired up and tested to make sure it was all working correctly, I set to reading, since that's what I always do before going to bed. But I guess I read for longer than they wanted and the nurse called me over the intecom asking me to stop reading and go to sleep. I can tell you that it's hard to sleep wired up to stuff. The nurse told me I should be able to do so without too much trouble, but the bed was too soft to sleep on my side and then I just couldn't get comfortable. Then wake up was before 6am. We spent the time from when I woke up until I left getting all the wires off. And then it was back into the car in the dark to drive home. I just came home and get ontop of my bed for a nap. I needed extra sleep after the sleep clinic. It will take 2-3 weeks for the results and then I will see if it's all worth it. Last night I really appreciated sleeping in my own bed.

The First Time I Was Robbed

“Why didn’t you close the store after the robbery?” the policeman asked me. I was sitting outside the Wienerschnitzel with my uncle, the manager, standing there wanting to know the same thing. Neither of them seemed to have enough sympathy for the fact that it was my first robbery. My uncle had always told us that we should give the robber whatever they asked for because our lives were more important than the money. He also had told us that if at all possible to have the robber take the money out of the cash register in hopes of getting viable fingerprints. But as the policeman asked me why I didn’t close the store, all I could think was that I wanted to bring in more money to make up for the money that was taken.
“Can you describe the man who robbed you?” Again with the questions and showing off what I didn’t do right. “Well when I looked across to the drive-thru to where he was I just saw he looked really ugly and turned back around.” I didn’t feel comfortable telling the cop how scared I was when I saw the gun in the man’s pants. I also didn’t want to tell the cop with my uncle standing there how I was worried that the robber would not listen to Dave that the front register was closed. I was concerned because we had also been told to not keep more than $50 in the register at a time, and I had around $300 in there.
I was embarrassed that I didn’t know what to do that first time. I was not like my cousin Kris who had been robbed multiple times. She had even been held up twice already by this same guy. He ended up robbing the Wienerschnitzel a total of five times. When he came the fourth time to rob us, I was with my cousin and I was more prepared on what I should do. I was even able to joke with the cops the second time about the guy keeping the gun in his pants and how he might shoot off important things if he kept it there. In the three and half a years that I worked there, I wasn’t robbed until the last summer I was there, even though the store was across the street from the projects.
The first time I was robbed prepared me for the second time, but it only slightly prepared me for the third time when my cousin Kris and I were taken into the back by the fridge and kept there by gun point. That third time I was just hoping to go back to when I was just there across the room watching the action with plenty of witnesses. It only took those three times before I decided to move on to another job, and I made the decision to finish college so that I would never have to work at a job where someone might walk up with a gun to get something from me.

JUST DO IT!!!

So back in March of this year I signed up with some girls in my ward to do the Nike Women's Half-Marathon in San Francisco. This event has gotten so large that the individual entrance is done by lottery. I received an email in April that I read and led me to believe from what I read that I was invited to take part in the event. I received a follow up email to sign up for that date and did so. I was so excited to JUST DO IT that I started my training for walking 6 months before the event. I researched my training program and began. I felt like I could train twice given the amount of time I had. My plan became that at the end of the first 12 weeks I would evaluate where I was and see about maybe trying to run. As time went on I was happy with my walking. I would look forward to my long walks on Saturday, just me, the beautiful weather and my iPod playing whatever book I was listening to at the time. At the end of the 12 weeks I received a follow-up email from Nike reminding me about the event and letting me know of any training options in order to prepare for the event. I was JAZZED. I was so proud to be a part and decided that I could JUST DO IT. So I decided to take up running. I went down to the Nike store at the Stanford Mall and purchased a Nike Sportsband and a pair of running shoes. Again, I started with the research of what it would take to prepare for this event. I realized quite quickly that I could not train to run 13.1 miles when at 12 weeks out, I had never really run in my life. So I made the choice to still continue to train to walk the event, but that I would start to become a runner. I set up my training schedule so that I would run 4 days a week and then do my LONG walk on Saturday to stay up there for the endurance of walking. I started off by running 1 minute and then walking 2 minutes. Gradually over 8 weeks, I got to where I would run for 30 minutes without walking in between. I was so excited that I could do anything. All it took was a little swallowing of pride and a willingness to just keep trying. The Nike Women's Marathon is scheduled for October 19th in San Francisco. Last week someone at work was asking me about how my running was going and I was telling them how I was doing, that I had reached my goal of 30 minute runs, but I was no longer pushing myself as I was getting close to my Half-Marathon and wanted to reserve energy for that. Someone overheard me and came out to say that they were also part of that event and maybe we should go up together to pick up our racing packets. I was all over that. I told her yes, I would love to. Then last night I was looking over the events page at the route again and the race information and noticed that they said you would receive your barcoded registration information by October 6th. I stopped and went, I didn't receive any such thing yet. I had better look over my email to make sure I have what I need to call and find out what's going on. It was looking for information that I came across that email back in April that actually told me that I was not picked to be part of the event in San Francisco, but that I could join the event online by using my sportsband to link my walk up. I just sat there feeling like the dumbest person in the world. Like I couldn't read. And then everything I have done in the past 6 months to prepare for this event came rushing into my memory. And I realized I wouldn't have pushed myself as much for a linked up walk. I was grateful for the mistake I made. I was grateful for the direction in took me in. And I was grateful that I had JUST DONE IT. I will be walking 13.1 miles on Sunday, October 19th. I will be walking in the Palo Alto/Moutain View area instead of San Francisco. But I will JUST DO IT!!

First Writing Assignment for Creative Non-Fiction Class

Wash Away War
My sister just under me is called Lois, which means war maiden, but we’ve always called her Mandy (although recently she prefers Mandi.) When Mandy was 16, she and my mom would often get into some pretty involved arguments. When the war would break out it was time to grab my three younger siblings and go for a drive.
We would crowd into my golden brown Chevy Citation purchased from my uncle for only $400 because of the accident. My grandpa and I had done a ‘fix’ job on it but now the car had what appeared to be a crocked smile or a lopped eye. Not a big deal when it’s your first car and you are running before you become a victim of the battle going on inside the house.
We were use to these events - leaving the house while the two of them went at it. On this one day we decided to take the ‘other’ route into Yucaipa, what is now known as the ‘back way’ with the introduction of the completed freeway. This way would take us through small towns and the wash. It also drove by the orange groves, which were heavily rumored to have Satan worshippers in their depths. It was said that there were some who had progressed up the chain and were now on human sacrifices. I didn’t believe it completely, but enough to be leery near them.
Arriving at the bridge that went over the wash, we got out and started down the incline to the river bed. It had been years since the river had flowed freely. The two dams up the mountain had made sure of that. We ‘played’ for a while and then thought we had been gone long enough that it might be safe to return. As soon as we mentioned returning the debate began of who would sit in the front seat for the ride home. My sister, Kirsten, was around 12 years old and felt that she should sit in the front, even though she had sat up front on the way out there. She proceeded to throw a fit when I told her that someone else would get to sit up there. Granted everyone wanted to sit in the front seat next to their big sister and closer to the B-52s coming out of the tape deck.
Our wills continued to clash as we started up the side of the empty river towards the car. She was threatening to stay, but there seemed to be an invisible cord that would pull her closer the closer we got to the car. She still refused to get into the car unless she was in the front seat, and I still refused to allow her to have the front seat. The other two really could care less which of them had the front seat, as long as Kirsten didn’t win.
We crossed the street to where the car was as she was cresting the road. The game continued of who would give in as I climbed into the driver’s side and the other two worked out who would sit where. Kirsten was not moving as she threw me dirty looks, also known as crusties, from across the road. With my seatbelt fastened I made the next move by starting up the car. Still just folded arms and pinched face. I put the car in drive as the B-52s continued letting me know about the Love Shack being lil ol’ place. My foot moved from off the brake and onto the gas, but still no action from the statue refusing to move.
The Citation was rolling down the road and my other sister and brother were laughing that we would just leave her there. We liked winning. As we drove further away, towards Yucaipa, not our place, I started to think of how responsible I should be as the big sister even though I was only 19. It took me a mile, maybe a bit more, to realize I had probably showed her I meant business. We turned around and headed back towards home.
When she climbed into the back seat, I still felt like I had won. Until we returned back to the house and I realized we were still all refugees. We had survived our small skirmish but we were just amateurs in the large game of power and control.

Two Weeks to Nike Half Marathon

It's only two weeks until I walk the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco. I found someone from workto go up to San Francisco with beforehand to get my running packet. I also found out that I can wear my iPod so I'm super happy so I can walk and listen to my book on tape. I'm trying to decide which book will help me walk the fastest.

In other news. It's 3 weeks until the Making Strides against breast cancer walk in San Jose. I am not walking the San Francisco on in Golden Gate Park because it's the day before the Nike Half Marathon. Luckily this year there is a San Jose walk. I am excited to do the walk, but sad at the same time. It's hard knowing that we must walk in order to fight breast cancer. But hopefully with research and pre-screening we can lessen what women have to go through.

FINALLY NEW TEETH - before and after

I ran into someone today who had before and after photos of me. In case you don't know... I went through 3 and a half years of changes for my teeth and jaw. We are coming up on 2 years since my major jaw surgery. It's been a year since I've had my braces off. And it's been 4 months since I got my new caps and veneers. I am VERY happy with the results of everything. Please enjoy my before and after photos. Also, if you look very closely at the x-ray, you can see where I broke my jaw years ago.

Another Opera - Eugene Onegin

So a friend of mine was able to get me tickets to see Eugene Onegin in San Jose on Friday. The tickets ended up being only $11. You can't beat that! Anyways, the opera was wonderful. This one was in Russian and is by Tchaikovsky. It's based on a novel by Alexander Pushkin. The opera was about love and friendship and bad choices. We really enjoyed it. I asked my friend today how much those seats normally are (we were in the orchestra) and she said $70. So much for just going there for fun without a discount. I found it interesting that you could tell Tchaikovsky music style in the introduction. I think it's funny that I could even tell his musical stylings. It was hard not comparing Eugene Onegin to The Bonesetter's Daughter. The were done by such different companies. San Francisco's opera house is so HUGE and ornate. But the San Jose house was much more comfortable. I am grateful to have been able to see another opera so soon. And I'm looking forward to the other musical events I have coming up.

The Bonesetter's Daughter - The Opera

Last night I went into San Francisco to see the World Premiere of the new opera, The Bonesetter's Daughter. It was an amazing experience. I also got to see a lot of the people who actually worked on it. And I was even standing right next to Amy Tan!! I was tempted to take a picture, but refrained out of respect for her and any opening night jitters. In case you don't know who Amy Tan is, she is the author of The Bonesetter's Daughter and other books like The Joy Luck Club. She worked with Stewart Wallace on putting together this opera. My friend, Erin, and I went to the lecture before hand and learned about what they went through researching different types of music to use in the opera. There was a good blend of Chinese sounds and traditional opera.

http://sfopera.com/o/265.asp

There are some amazing clips on the opera's website.

Family Newsletter - FINALLY DONE

Another issue of the Willis Family Newsletter is done. It's great to get those done. This time was hard because there were so many awesome photos that I didn't include, but I was already at 12 pages, and I didn't want to add more. I thought be going every 2 months we could make the newsletter smaller, but it just seems to want to be large, or I'm not very good at cutting things down. Actually by not putting everything in, there will be exciting new, never before seen photos at the family Christmas party.

Stephanie Meyer Puts Next Book on Hold

Yeah, so I'm reading the last book finished in the famous "young adult" Twilight series. And last night I came across the article saying how Stephanie Meyer's final book in the series was leaked on the internet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080903/lf_nm_life/books_meyer_dc_2

This is disturbing to me. I love the internet and all that can be found on there. But I do believe in the right to protect your material from being distributed around without your permission. I also really appreciate the point she makes in the article that books are the same as music and movies, they are original protected materials that are being created and should be respected by the copyright laws. And now because some yahoo had to post something to the internet before it was done, she might not finish the series.

Training

On Saturday I did double training. I am still in my beginner running training. So I did my 30 minutes of interval running. (13 minutes of running, 1 walking, repeat and run the difference to 30 minutes.) I then went out for my walk to train for the half marathon I'm walking in October. I walked another 8 miles on top of the 3 that I ran. Man I felt like I could do anything. I am so happy with my little Nike Sportsband that tells me all my nerdy information, like how far I've gone, my pace, how many calories I've burned (A LOT - it was 11 miles!), and how long you've been going.

Today I got up and went running in the morning because I didn't have work. I was doing my run on the track like normal, but it always bruises my ego when people pass me up on the track. I know that I don't run fast and that I'm a beginner, but man, my pride is sometimes a great stumbling block (no pun intended.) I don't know if there is a time limit for walking the half marathon. I think I can handle the distance no problem, but if it's like the Disneyland Half Marathon (which I plan on running next year), then I'm in trouble. The Disneyland one they want you to be done within 2 and a half hours. That's a pace of like a 12 minute mile. That's some heavy duty walking! Anyways, I'm doing this because this is a year of not accepting defeat just because I'm afraid. I might baby step my way there, but I'm doing it. (JUST DOING IT!!)

Finished Book - The Bonesetter's Daughter

I just finished The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. I am going to see the premiere of the opera on opening night in two weeks. I'm pretty excited to go to the grand opening of something. And the book was pretty good. Some of it I'm wondering how or if they will deal with it in the opera, but it's all good. I am also listening to a good book called, Inkheart, while I'm running and walking.

Yeah, I'm still sore and stiff from the running, but I'm still doing it. I tell you the running makes it feel better. And I'm still preparing for the Nike Women's Half Marathon for October. I'm planning on walking it since I'm such a way beginner on running.

Guilty Pleasure - I've started reading the Twilight books. It seems that everyone has or is reading them. I find them to be brain candy, but I just can't put them down. I can be a bit of a book snob.

It Begins

Everyone is doing it, so why can't I? I have so much wisdom in my head, that I thought it's time to express this to everyone else in the world. I can't let all of my secrets escape or there would be nothing left to put in our family newsletter. I hope to post stuff about myself that I think are important enough for everyone to know. Or that might make you go... hmmm that Sabrina she really is Tim's sister... see how smart she is.