The Tickle Monster Laugh Kit

This funny, cutesy book was a gift to Benny from my high school counselor and good friend, Shirleen Armstrong (who still inspires me and makes me laugh just like the first day we met).

Benny loves it because mommy makes it a point to read it aloud using strange, funny, monster voices and most importantly, because I tickle him wearing the monster gloves that come along with the book!

The story is about a blue furry monster from Planet Tickle who descends on Planet Earth to bring joy and laughter to the children…Too cute!

The pages are wonderfully illustrated and the author, Josie Bissett, is none other than the girl who played Jane Mancini on the television series Melrose Place…anybody?

Well if you don’t remember her, it’s ok. You can get to know her through her fantastic little blog: www.josiebissettblog.com

And back to the book, it can be ordered online through Barnes&Noble.com for $34.95 (tickle monster hands included).

It makes for a fun bedtime story because you can read it to your babies, make them laugh and put them to sleep. When it’s your turn to go to bed, you’ll have the sweet memory of their little giggles (fun)!

Oxnard 10K Salsa Dash

When I was an itty bitty Oxnard High School Yellowjacket back in 1996 or so, I decided to join the Track & Field team for a semester (WOW…that's almost 20 years ago).

Anyway, I had not been involved with any sports…ever…in my life. My athletic prowess was limited to tetherball and ping pong. Wait, are those even sports? 
So I knew I needed to get into a sort of ‘forced’ workout setting somehow, otherwise, I wouldn’t have the will power to exercise on my own and would eventually go to college looking huge (which I did anyway). 

Well, I started running everyday with the Track team during 6^th period and even though I pretty much sucked (I was the last one to finish and had the worst, loudest breathing tendencies), I realized I loved running. After that junior year semester though, I don’t know what happened but I never returned to track and field, ever again.

Now we fast forward time to 2013. 

One of my Crossfit buddies before the 7 mile race

I am 32 years old and just got back into running. Paul has finished several marathons in his life and has always encouraged me to run but I never listened. Then I had Benny.

I decided I would get back into running slowly and start giving myself short-term goals because Paul always promised that running was the best way to shed pounds.

My first post-baby race was an uphill, 7-mile run through the city of Monrovia into Monrovia Canyon Park (Fountain to the Falls Race). Paul ran it with me.

Kissy kiss before the race began

Given my short-lived running background, I thought I did well for my first race; I finished in about an hour and fifteen minutes. Then about a month and a half later, I got the running itch and ran a 15K in North Hollywood with a co-worker (tons of fun!).

A few weeks ago, I decided to register for a 10K to be held on a cool July morning in the same city where I first set foot on a paved ground to run long distances back in 1996— Oxnard.

It was the Oxnard Salsa Festival’s 10K Salsa Dash.

I kind of annoyed my family by making my mom and dad and sister and son get up early in the morning to watch me, take pictures of me and cheer for me at the finish line (Hey, it’s good to have a fan club every now and then).  I couldn’t have my husband there because as you will learn, he works on Saturdays.

Before this race, I bought some really cutesy hot pink and neon yellow Nike Free 5.0’s which were extremely comfortable and should hopefully last me through my half-marathon in October. I mention this because I really think the shoes made my experience a pleasant one. Looking down at them, especially as I reached mile 5, made me think of Electric Pink Lemonade (with a splash of vodka)!!

When I got close to the finish line, I envisioned my little boy Benny with his eyes glued to his mother, smiling and screaming in his own little way, as I approached the finish line. I ran slower during the last 300 feet of the race so that the boy would watch me blow him a big, loud kiss and I had given my sister instructions to capture it all on camera…but...drum roll, please...My Benny is a distracted little kid! Even as I got closer, he simply was too busy looking down at the grass, turning over to watch the lady next to him, swinging his head back to play with his grandma’s glasses, moving up to look at the sky, turning his head to watch the dog below him, etc. And his eyes simply didn't coincide with the view of his running mother...LOL!

I ran to the finish line and completed the 10K Oxnard Salsa Dash in about an hour and two minutes. Then I reached over to hold my baby boy in my sweaty arms.

My goal is to raise a family that is active and happy; whose weekend activities include healthy eating and physical fitness.  Of course, Benny is too young to understand that so he spent the entire time in my arms playing with mommy’s medal instead of thanking my efforts to make him health-conscious. Maybe he’ll actually look up to see me during the Baldwin Park Pride of the Valley 5K (fingers crossed)!

My Husband Paul

Sitting around the living room one day, I asked my husband to use one word to describe me (It was one of those days when I needed to be spoiled).

He  responded : “sunshine”. Awwwww. Very cute. He certainly scored brownie points.

Then I asked him to use another word to describe me because sunshine is cute but I wanted to hear more! The second time, he said “fantastic.”

Really? That’s not a word he ever uses but since I liked where this was going, I asked him to use a third word to describe me, this time it had to begin with the letter “F” again.

To be honest, I thought he would say “fun” but instead, he said I was fabulous!

Yay! I smacked a big kiss on his lips and walked away.

I know I set him up to describe me as fantastic and fabulous but there has to be some truth to his words if he says them, right?

I don’t think I’m amazingly, out-of-this-world fabulous nor do I usually ask others to feed my ego but in a society where expressions and descriptions tend to be highly exaggerated (I always say I’m ‘dying’ when I think something tastes delicious, for example), I thought it was quite fitting to capitalize on the word fabulous for purposes of this blog.

A day in the life of a fabulous wife focuses mainly on my family and fun, cutesy things of a positive nature, although you’ll always read about my husband Paul, like beginning now:

Paul is the love of my life. We met in college at Loyola Marymount University back in 2002. He was a shy guy; Mysterious and sexy, if I do say so myself.  But he was so shy  that  it  was me who asked him out first and I also initiated our first kiss! But once we started dating, he was so much fun!! We would study together, party, travel, laugh and spend every penny (from odd jobs and our parents’ allowance) on each other. We were two passionate college students who loved each other a lot and gained a lot of weight together in the process.

We had many bumps along the way though…our fights and break-ups were as explosive as our laughing attacks. Even our closest friends at times would tell us we weren’t good for each other. Once I graduated, I went off to Texas to pursue a journalism career and he stayed in Los Angeles and entered the world of law enforcement.   

Today, we  are MUCH more mellow than during our crazy college years. We got married in 2007 and had a rocky start, even living a part for quite some time…but that pure, deep, solid love has always prevailed and we’ve managed to make our marriage work. 

He gives me the freedom to make most household  & financial decisions, as long as there’s a fully stocked fridge with healthy foods, clean towels in the shower and proof that we're continuing to pay off our debt (those college loans, I tell ya). He doesn't ask for much and is very appreciative of the life he's been blessed with, especially after a few scares we experienced before he was diagnosed with a heart condition that he's been handling quite well these days. We have incorporated a fitness regimen into our daily lives. We believe that, yes, a couple that prays together, stays together (and we do pray). But we also believe a couple who works out together, stays together.

My husband deserves this little tribute because he's supported me, my career and all my crazy endeavors throughout the years and has showed me some good lovin' all along. He's been one heck of a father to our son Benny and will surely lead our son's Boyscout troop one day (giggles). 

Paul has always been camera shy and refuses to take part in any social media networking-- but for all intents and purposes, let it be known in cyberspace and beyond that he's my incredible partner and I'm honored to be his fabulous wife (love)!