Sandoogans' Log

Sam and Mr.Andrade She caught me taking pictures. She was not amused. Freedom! Time to get some ice cream. I can't believe the weekend is over! Story of everyone's life I suppose. For being a long weekend I really didn't do much. Main reason being I had to work on Saturday. I tried not to let it damper my weekend too much. After work (I managed to escape my jail cell early) Mr.Andrade and I decided to take Sam to the park. I usually take her to the park during the week on my runs but, she never really gets to play. She's usually in her child carrier enjoying the scenery. We decided to make Saturday her day. She of course loved it! She was all over the place! She had a blast on the swings and slide. We had to pry her away to give other kids a chance to use them. We distracted her with her balls. We took two balls for her to play with. She seemed to enjoy that most. The freedom of  being able to run around without anyone telling her no. We ended the...

Disappointed This has been one of my favorite quotes for years. I've used it many times. I came to realize not too long ago that the quote really does apply to me. I tend to go off on rants about things that I hate about people. I think I'm a people hater. True story. I am easily annoyed by most and find myself with no patience to put up with their lameness. One of the things (might be the thing that annoys me the most) I go off on rants about is people purposely misspelling words. I guess the latest trend is to look like a total moron. I don't care if it's English or Spanish that crap annoys the hell out of me! Especially when girls are trying to look all cutesy. I always wonder if they have friends and if they do why don't they say anything?? I know damn well if my friend was doing that crap I'd let her know. Yo! You look like a douche stop! Turns out, I am a douche! I recently realized that I too purposely misspell words. I tried explaining my action...

Picture By Topix I feel so proud of myself today. I have managed to finally complete one of my many mini goals. When I first started running (about 2 months ago), I had set a goal. Well, I set many but, this was one of them. One of my mini goals was to run all of South Gate Park non stop. I had done it before but, this was a few years ago. South Gate Park is a pretty big park. One lap around is 1.8 miles (per my GPS its 1.6). Yesterday I finally did it. I'm not sure if I mentioned doing a podcast to help with my running. I'm pretty sure I did but I'm too lazy to look through my blogs. Anyway, this podcast has been the absolute best! Not to mention my only reliable companion I've had. Yesterday (week 5) consisted of 20 minutes of running non stop. When I heard this it scared the crap out of me! I was thinking to myself, there is no way I can do this. Then the faq it attitude kicked in and off I went. Turns out I was able to do the full 20 minutes AND as an added bonu...

Oh Jack Johnson, you make me feel all gooey inside. Eres tan lindo! This is one of my favorite songs by him. It always makes me feel so happy and peaceful. Brings a cheesy little smile to my face. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

When I was 18 years old I was given a guinea pig as a pet. I named it Lola. I named it Lola after my favorite Kinks song. The song is about a guy trying to hit on a transvestite. Funny thing is after naming my guinea pig Lola, I came to find out it was actually a male guinea. I remember having quite a chuckle after finding out. I didn't want to change the name because I felt it was more perfect than ever. I always get a kick out of it when I hear that song. I tried to play games with Lola to keep her happy and entertained. I usually made a lot of mazes for her. I had read guinea pigs loved going through mazes. Anyhow, I didn't have Lola for too long. Shortly after getting her she had started to get sick. I took her to the vet and they told me I had to leave her overnight. When I went the following the day to pick her up, I was informed she didn't make it. I remember bawling. I felt I could have done more. I guess part of me wasn't too keen on having a rodent as a pe...

Now that I finally have the courage to do some risk taking, I've hit a wall. I was finally getting ready to venture off to start pursuing my goal and voila! I need money. I hadn't taken that into consideration when I was planning everything out. I don't mean money for bills or for cost of living. Although obviously, I would need that. I need money to do what I want to do. I've pretty much handled the majority of things I've needed to. This is the only thing stopping me now. I need to get a loan. Simple right? Turns out, not so much. Especially when your credit score is as bad as a college student who just discovered credit cards. 

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned to most of my friends not being too keen about Samantha's name. I didn't pick her name. Her father did. Had it been up to me she would have had some funky name. Well, not too funky, at least not for me. I always wanted to name my daughter a boy name. I always thought it was super cute. I liked Frankie and Billie. Frankie after Frank Sinatra and Billie well, for Billie Holiday. Mr.Andrade wasn't too happy with the idea. So I threw out a couple of other names. One was Gia. I first heard that name in the movie, Gia. The idea of having his daughter named after a heroin addict who slept around for a hit, didn't seem to flatter him either. Finally, my last suggestion was Serendipity. I am fully aware that its not a name its a word but, its my favorite word ever! I also love the meaning of it. Needless to say, Mr.Andrade said no. Samantha, came about after watching an episode of Without A Trace. True story. Mr.Andrade was pointing out...

My bib. Mr.Andrade trying to stay warm. Julie to the rescue! We sure did love those 1 minute walking breaks. Great scenery. Trying to win our bet (which he did grr). C'est finite! First Timers. Today was the day that I started training for over a month ago. My 5K. I'm not sure if I had jitters last night but I couldn't sleep a wink. I woke up feeling ridiculously tired. Mr.Andrade and I had to get up at 5 A.M. to get ready and give ourselves plenty of time to pick up our race info. Our drive was a little quiet even though we were both excited. It was gloomy and sprinkling. We figured it was going to rain through out the race. I didn't bring a jacket but luckily my friend Julie had me covered. She was nice enough to bring me a poncho. Turns out I didn't need it. Ten minutes before our race started, the rain stopped and the sun came out. The morning was looking lovely. We started walking towards the starting line and I was feeling ...

Awhile back my friend Sonia and I had an interesting conversation regarding taking risks. Going after your dreams and what not. She started telling me about the risks she's taken in regards to her career. I myself have not taken too many. At least not when it comes to my job. I've always been very scared to do anything that would jeopardize my job. I am very fortunate to work where I work. I know its a great job. I am well paid, have great benefits and am union. There is many people in my office who have degrees and are sitting right next to me doing the same thing I do. I once asked one of my tub mates (that's what we call people who sit next to you), who has a major in criminal justice, why he doesn't work in his field? He stated that there was more money with this company than working his degree. There are some perks working in my department. We are given incentives, taken out on "field trips" (when we meet our numbers) and occasionally treated to del...

Losing weight has been a challenge for me. I'm not sure what's going on. After I had Sam I've struggled to drop the weight. I've gradually lost weight but I feel like I'm at a plateau now. I remember a couple of years ago I did Weight Watchers and the weight just seemed to come off. Now, two years later I'm doing the same thing but the weight is not falling off quite as rapidly. Maybe its my eating habits or I'm not exercising enough. I don't know. I know when I did Weight Watchers the first time around I was very hardcore about it. I was also working out at least 6 times a week. I will admit this second time around I'm not as hardcore. I suppose that where the problem lies. I have started running on a weekly basis now. I also still play soccer and am trying to start bike riding again. I'm also starting to be strict with my points. Weekends are still hard for me although, I still manage to stay within my points. On the bright side, I suppose ...

I really don't know how to say this without it sounding offensive so, here goes. I've never really been a fan of Mother's Day and Father's Day. Not because I don't love my parents. My parents are my world. I guess because I felt I didn't need a holiday to show my appreciation for them. I call my mother on a daily basis and tell her I love her everyday. I probably should call my dad more often also. I do tell him I love him often though. I'm sure there are MANY more things I can do to show my appreciation but I try to let them know as much as I can. Having said that, I now have had a change of heart. Yesterday by far was one of the best days ever! Mr.Andrade totally made me feel like it was my day and whatever I wanted to do was a go. He surprised me with a trip to Shoeteria where he bought me my white Docs. I have been wanting white Docs forever and a day! I couldn't believe he remembered that. We walked over to the Docs section and there they were. T...

This one of my favorite pics of my parents. My pops was rocking his long hair and my momma looks like a star from one those Mexican novelas. I'm not sure if they had my brother yet in this pic, I know for sure I wasn't born yet. I came in the awesome decade we call 80s. According to my mother her and my father use to go out a lot. They would go clubbing and what not. They actually met at club through my uncle. My papi had my uncle walk over to my mami and ask her if she wanted to dance (with my dad not my uncle). My mom asked why my dad didn't come over and ask himself. My uncle said he was shy but is a really nice guy. My mother eventually caved and agreed to dance with my father. She said after that they were inseparable. My father's wooing technique included promises of infinite trips to Disneyland and flowers every weekend. She said she's still waiting for those Disneyland trips and has yet to see some flowers. I know most kids think they're parents are...

 I think I was 3 years old here. My dad's Impala is behind me.  Some of my fondest memories as a kid are on Ohio St. I lived there till the age of 8. I remember playing outside without a care or worry in the world. My cousins lived one house away. There was Tavo who was my age and Junior who was my brother's age. Naturally, Tavo and I would always play together (our brothers are five years older than us). He'd bring his G.I Joes and I'd bring my Barbies. Our imaginations would do the rest. It was usually his G.I Joes having to save my Barbies from a life threatening situation or evil kidnappers. I remember having a friend named Marvin. I loved that guy. He was my closest friend. I always wonder what happen to him. He would always say he wanted us to come out in Double Dare. It was some Nickelodeon show where kids would compete through obstacles. Seemed like oodles of fun! He was so sure we could win. I also remember a girl named Jessica. Her dad would always walk ...

Dear Thighs, Although I appreciate the fact that you seem to be well proportioned for my body, I do not appreciate the fact that you try to eat my shorts. It seems anytime I wear shorts that are mid-thigh you seem to think they are a snack. I find myself constantly having to pull down my shorts through out the day. I attempted wearing running shorts yesterday and it seems I pulled a muscle from constantly having to fix my shorts. Not cool. I would like to be able to wear shorts that are above my knee (not anything too short of course, any woman past 25 should not be wearing anything that look like undies regardless of how great your body is) without having to spend half of my day adjusting. If you could grant me this request I promise to stretch before my runs. Love, Scully

Photo From Google Images With all the commotion going with yesterdays news (Osama Bin Laden's death). I'm really not sure what to feel. I have mixed emotions about the whole ordeal. I'm not happy or sad. I don't feel more patriotic about it. I just feel, I guess, confused. I don't feel any safer because he's no longer roaming the earth, I feel nothing has or will change. We still have the Patriot Act, the airport security that makes you get down to your skivvies and we still have the lingering fear. I just hate not being able to express myself. I just feel kind of lost right now.