Yay, sunshine

Now that's a huge STOP sign
Originally uploaded by pengrin.

Sunshine means I can get out of the house to do things. This is great but also frustrating, because then I have more material to blog about but less time to blog about it!

As you may already know, I have been very busy lately, training for a 20-mile charity fundraising walk, called The Overnight. I heard about it on the radio and felt compelled to participate, though I've never done a charity walk before. This supports the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, a very important cause to me.

Thankfully, with the support of so many of wonderfully generous friends, I have already reached my minimum fundraising goal! (Of course, if you haven't contributed yet, additional donations are more than welcome.)

Now I just have to make sure I'm prepared for this intensely long walk! (Did I mention it's 20-miles?) I've been roughly following the recommended training schedule in preparation.

This means that after work, I have been walking 3-5 miles a day, and on weekends, I take a longer walk, like 6-8 miles. As the weeks go by, I'm gradually increasing the distances.

It seems bearable now, but I must admit that the later weeks do seem a bit daunting. I'm going to have to be better about time management and getting enough sleep.

Anyway, luckily the weather is much nicer these days, and I have taken this as an opportunity to explore bay area hiking and San Francisco with my friends, which has been lots of fun.

So far I have walked the Dish at Stanford, all across Golden Gate Park and back, and yesterday I walked from the Ferry Building to Fisherman's Wharf to Union Square and back. It's also a nice opportunity to hang out with friends and play Asian Tourist.

I have since discovered that my friends love to discuss food while on these walks. We also usually start with a tasty meal and end the walk with a tasty meal (a nice incentive). So I have decided to call my team of walking buddies, "Team Food."

All this walking is great exercise, but unfortunately it seems to serve as an easy excuse for me to pig out.

Panna Cotta
Originally uploaded by pengrin.

For example, last week, when dining at The Last Supper Club and perusing the dessert menu after a more-than-filling dinner, I think, "Hells, I walked 8 miles today. I can eat whatever I want," which resulted in a lovely sharing of Panna Cotta topped with berries.

So perhaps my hopes of losing weight after all this training is not so good. But I am enjoying myself, so what is more important?

And last week I volunteered with a bunch of other Yahoos for Rebuilding Together, an annual event where we get to help out someone or some needy entity in a local community. This year we helped remodel a home that belonged to an elderly woman caring for her ailing son. Again, I was hoeing in the garden. Hard manual labor in the sun is a little jarring for someone with a desk job like me.

But I especially enjoyed hacking at the ground with a big pick axe. (I think I might have scared some people.) Then I went home and showered and rested. But my arms and muscles were still in pain for the rest of the day.

So I consoled myself with some shopping at the San Francisco Forever 21 store. (Let's not talk about the fact that I probably shouldn't be shopping here anymore at 30)

That place is some kind of fantasy shopping haven. Three floors of a huge variety of clothes, almost all under $20 a piece. How is this possible! (BTW did you know that the founder of Forever 21 is a devout Christian? He labels the bottom of the bags like In N Out with Biblical references. Go figure.)

Colorful plastic letters
Originally uploaded by misocrazy.

Today I also finally went to the monthly Alameda flea market with some friends, where I discovered that flea markets are a fantastic place to find fun vintage clip-on earrings! (I don't have pierced ears) And it's a great place to take photos.

And when I got back from Alameda, it was still sunny at home, so I got to finally sun by the pool... if only for about an hour, after which the wind started to pick up. But hey, I got to wear a bikini and even get a tan in SF! Things are looking up!