Nathan (Sharon and Joel's 8-year old boy) had his birthday party at Laser Quest on Saturday and what can I say… I had loads of fun! LOL. We played two, 15-minute games of laser tag and I have to say, 10 minutes into the first game, I was tired!! LOL I couldn't believe that playing laser tag takes a bit out of you… Then again, I am out of shape. Still, Nathan and his not-so-little buddies were roaming about and ganging up on the adults! ROFL. Of course, the second time around, we (the adults) got more intelligent and started planning tactics…. only to abandon them when the game started. Heheh. So much fun. I wanna play again. I'll be scanning the scoresheet later… rofl you'll see how competitive I got the second time around! (Look for my codename… Celery.)

So after that, we went to the Lacson's home and watched Nathan open his presents. One of the presents he received (from us) was the Monopoly board game… Remember Monopoly? Remember counting cash to pay rent and such? Well this version had debit cards! ROFL. It was fun playing the game again but even more fun making deals (i.e., trades) with Nathan's 5-year-old-uncle Sean. Good times.

I have to give props to my fav online store, Amazon.com. They really are an efficient lot and find myself comparing other online retailers to this one. Granted, I pay a premium every year to get free 2-day shipping, I think I've made up for that amount during the holiday season. I've gotten spoiled with shopping online (from Amazon) and receiving it 2 to 3 days after I place my order. Then, I ordered a digital camera battery charger off another website (only cos Amazon didn't carry it) and got really nervous when I hadn't received it yet. I had to remind myself that I ordered it elsewhere and that I at least got free shipping for it. I eventually received the charger about 5 to 7 days later but thought that it still took too long to arrive. So yah, it's pretty neat to have semi-instant online shopping gratification… ^_^

In other news, my sis and I along with our friend Irene (and her acquaintances) went to watch Spirit of the Marathon last night at The Bridge. It's a documentary about the history of the marathon and the people who run it; they followed two elite athletes (i.e., professional marathon runners) and five people (from different walks of life) who were going to run the Chicago Marathon. BTW, this was the Chicago Marathon year when I ran my first marathon!! The film's subject was interesting to me (cos I run marathons!) and in a way ended up being inspiring as well. I'd definitely buy the DVD and watch it when I don't feel like training — lol!!

The mucus I'm coughing up, that is. >_< TMI? Well, it's better out than in and I think I'm finally at the tail-end of this very long illness!

Also, I've been eating one serving of fruit daily! I'm planning to increase this to the recommended amount but am taking baby steps right now. I need to eat veggies too, I suppose. ^_^

Sadly, I haven't run. Will do so this weekend, though otherwise, I'll be 3 straight weeks missing training. Ahhhh… I'm going to die at San Diego (again).

I thought I missed going to Star Trek The Tour @ the Queen Mary in Long Beach but was excited to read that it was extended until the 2nd of March! w00t.

So now I just gotta figure out when to go. Herman? Mark? Mike? ^_^

SoccerTV.com
I used to visit that site a lot of television listings of what else… soccer matches. The original owner sold the domain/etc. and now it's nothing more than a squatter's site.

Couchville.com/guide
My fav site for TV listings — it loaded quicker and was less bloated than other TV listing sites (hello, Yahoo and TV Guide?). For some reason, it's been shut down as well. Pah!

So if you have any suggestions on replacements for the two sites above, please send me an email.

In other news, I have laid off the chocolates for now and began eating fresh fruits (read: mangoes) instead. I dunno what I'm going to do tomorrow, though cos I ran out of mangoes to eat. Also, the baby carrots I bought at Costco are about to expire. Do carrots really expire?! Anyway, feeling a bit better today. Despite the phlegm returning, it's not as bad as before. LOL, is that TMI? Soz… ^_^

After breakfast yesterday (read: a glass of chocolate soy milk), I felt something at the back of my throat. It was a slight tingle yesterday and this morning, feels somewhat more scratchy. Please tell me I'm not falling ill again. I don't understand! Or maybe I do — I haven't really been eating fruits and veggies since the last time I fell ill and do remember feeling unusually cold yesterday. Ugh. I might have a bug or something.

I'll most likely take Airborne today and hope that it doesn't go into a full-blown cold/cough again. >_< Did I mention I haven't started training yet? =(

My marathon training began last week. LOL. I just found out today when I began planning my training. This is exactly what happened last year and the year before that. I am really hoping to follow the program somewhat closely this year, especially since I have not been in good health lately. >_<

So yah, I've already missed the first long run (6 miles), a day of cross-training, and 3 days 3-milers. Tomorrow, I need to run 7 miles! Eek. I don't think I'll be able to do that but I'm going to at least push for 2 miles… >_<