Ods and Ends

After dropping of Ayden at school today, I decided to drive by the 35W bridge to see it for myself. Ayden's school is literally three block from the bridge. It was surreal. Everything I saw on the news and in pictures came to life. From the school bus, to the bent ends of the bridge, to the cars still sitting on the pieces of the bridge that did not go into the river...it was such an odd feeling. I actually felt guilty as I didn't want to be a "gawker" but I couldn't help myself. I drove by quickly and only caught a brife glimpse but the image is seared into my memory. How tragic and sad.

On a lighter note, I wanted to share some more pictures of Ayden. Shoua did such a great job capturing Ayden's personality. I've worked with so many photographers/artists who want to capture a child the way they think the child should be seen instead of how the child really is. I was really impressed with Shoua. Some of the pictures are a little blurry and the color just a tinsy off but I love the photo's anyway. In my opinion, the goal I have in mind when having my children's pictures taken is to capture the child in that particular point in her life and Shoua absolutely did that - Ayden is silly, stinky and carefree. Here are a few more pictures. If you want to see all of them, go to: http://auohs.blogs.com/photos/ayden/index.html.

Lastly, I did not work out on Saturday but I did run 3.5 miles on Sunday and I plan on going to the gym over lunch today. Though I have not lost much weight, I can see a huge difference in my body size and shape. I have to constantly remind myself that it's not about the weight but about making healthy life changes.

I Finally Figured it Out

I've been running this past month and could not figure out why I was so winded after two miles. Depending on how I felt on a particular day, I struggled with even running the two miles. I finally figured it out on Thursday when I went for my morning run.

Since I'm not a runner to begin with, I didn't realize that I was tensing up my shoulders which in turn tenses up the top half of my back. The result was that my lungs were not expanding hence I could not get enough oxygen to my body. That's why I was breathing so heavy and was tiring out so quickly. My run on Thursday was so enlightening. After one mile, I was barely winded. After the second mile, I was still pretty comfortable. I think I'm going to try for three miles my next time out. All I kept thinking during that run was, "Wow! This is what it's suppose to feel like."

Exercise Log
- Monday, July 30, 2007 - Ran 2.2 Miles
- Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - Did not exercise
- Wednesday, August 1, 2007 - Did not exercise
- Thursday, August 2, 2007 - My day of enlightenment - I ran 2.3 Miles.
- Friday, August 3, 2007 - I ran 3.5 Miles. I probably could have run more but I didn't want to push myself too hard.

I'm comfortable running 3 Miles and will probably stick to that as I don't want to put too much pressure on my knees. I need to make sure I switch it up between running and the elliptical as the elliptical is better for my knees. I don't think I have ever run 3 miles in my life.

I'm happy to also report that I started seeing my acupuncturist again. I went over lunch. I could not believe the difference when I came back to the office. I was efficient, my memory was sharp and I was so productive I did more work this afternoon than I did all day yesterday. This may sound unbelievable but I'm telling you, it makes a huge difference. Especially if you feel tired all the time and have no energy. I'm making a commitment to myself that even if I feel good, I'm going to see Dr. Chi every two weeks to maintain good health.

Lastly, Ayden had her 4 year old pictures taken by a friend of Kaosong name Shoua. She does wonderful work. Here are a few of the pictures she took of Ayden.

Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

It's amazing how it takes a catastrphe to remind us of how blessed and fortunate we are. The events of last night really hit home for us as that very same bridge is the one Kong has traveled on for nearly a year when picking up Ayden in the evenings. Kong started taking the 10th street bridge, which if you've been watching the news, is the smaller bridge that is still standing and runs right next to the 35W bridge, because of the road construction. He avoided that area completely yesterday because Ayden stayed home with a stomach ache. God was truly watching out for us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the collapse yesterday.