Charger Blues

David and I are very competitive people. It helps our competitive spirit to watch sports and to put heart and soul into our teams. This creates a healthy outlet so that we're not necessarily competitive with each other :) Sometimes we are, but it's nice to keep it in a healthy balance and ultimately my only job as I see it, is to be his biggest fan. He's a stud and I make sure he knows it! :)

Having said that, we were in a funk on Sunday. The Chargers lost to the Packers.... and then the Padres lost to the Rockies. These are important games for our teams and they LOST!! With lots of drama to boot. Women who are not into sports, by the way, should follow it simply for the drama on and off the field... It's really a soap opera every week.

The good news is that I get to go with David to the KC game next Sunday. He has season tickets with his brother and nephew and since they are out of town, he is taking me and my friend Angela... see, I told you he's a stud :) We will have lots of fun no matter what, but it will be so exciting if the Chargers win this one at home. I've got my LT jersey all ready to go, but even LT's got to step up his game if we want to have a GREAT season, not just good, but GREAT. So be cheering with me on Sunday for our football boys... and hopefully the Padres will still be playing after that to!

Two-ply

What I'm grateful for today:

2-ply toilet paper

Can someone please explain to me why 1-ply toilet paper even exists?! Don't you end up just using twice as much, but it takes forever to unroll? I really don't want to spend any more time in a public restroom than I have to, especially trying to unroll the toilet paper. That being said, if this is my biggest annoyance today, then I am truly blessed :)

What's Wrong with Philip Rivers?!

K, the Chargers are going to give me high blood pressure if they keep playing like they did last night... They got steamrolled by the Patriots, who I hated even before the whole "cam scam" scandal started last week. I hated them last season when they beat us in the playoffs and if there was ever anyone I really wanted to punch in the face, it's Tom Brady. Well, now it's Bill Belichick, but we'll make him #2 in line. You might be thinking, "Hey, I thought Rachel was a peaceful, granola eatin' hippie chick" and you would be right... as long as we're not talking about competitive sports, and especially my Chargers!! I love my Chargers, but my boys have to step up the game if they think they're going all the way. Ok, my blood pressure is going up again... I'll have to go find something peaceful and healthy to write about.

Go Chargers!!!

The Chargers pulled through and won last Sunday against the Chicago Bears in their season opener. I was nervous to watch it because even though we have all the starters back this season, we have a whole new coaching staff and you just never know. They have to get better this week if they're going to beat the Patriots (and also if they're not going to give me a heart attack) but maybe now that the Patriots are being watched closely after their cheating scandal, we can at least get a fair game. It should at least be very exciting!

David surprised me about a month ago by buying me an LT jersey... it's perfect and I'll be wearing it to watch every game, especially the one against the Chiefs which I'll get to go to, whoo hoo!! I told you he's the best, and he knows how to pick out the perfect gift for me :) I'm spoiled... and so is he :)

Exercise makes you smarter

Have you exercised for at least 10 minutes today? From the article Bigger Brains, Better Genes: "You probably already know that regular, moderate exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health and well-being. What you may not know is that new research is showing that exercise beneficially affects your genes, helps reverse the aging process at a cellular level, gives you more energy, makes you smarter, and may even help you grow so many new brain cells (a process called neurogenesis) that your brain actually gets bigger."

That's regular, moderate exercise folks. Developing a lifelong habit of exercise starts with 10 minutes a day for a week and increasing from there. Doing multiple bouts throughout the day can help you if you're like the rest of us with a million other things to do. What problem-solving do you need to do to get in at least 10 minutes of exercise before you go to bed tonight? What about tomorrow? Don't wait until Monday, start a new positive behavior today!

Check out this list of articles on WebMD.... lots of useful information for losing weight and keeping it off.

Fondue

I finally had my first fondue experience when I went up to see Heidi a couple of weeks ago. We went to The Melting Pot and it was all yummy and fun. Probably better as a couples date night, but we decided to go anyway :) But of course, now I'll be taking David next time as a fun date night. Heidi had the seasoned chicken and I had the vegetarian dinner, but of course it was the cheese course and the dessert course that was the absolute best. Cheese, bread and veggies, how can you go wrong with that?! and then we had milk chocolate melted with caramel and pecans to dip our bananas, cheesecake, biscotti & strawberries, totally decadent!!

Heidi had driven to the restaurant, but when we got there we decided to have some wine and by the time dinner was over we decided it was best not to drive anywhere. About that time, Heidi's mom called her to check in, because she knew we might be out having some drinks and wanted to see if we needed a ride home! So we took her up on that offer, who needs a cab when mom's on the way. And Heidi's dad came with her to drive her car home so we wouldn't have to drive out and pick it up the next day. Are we spoiled or what?! The funniest part about this was when we were leaving the restaurant, her mom turned in the wrong direction to get on the freeway. As she pulled up to a light to make a U-turn, we noticed what looked like a DUI checkpoint ahead at the next intersection, so Heidi and I were very happy about our designated driver. However, after her mom made the U-turn, we immediately noticed lights start flashing on the cop car that had been waiting at the corner of the intersection. Of course, he was waiting for people making that U-turn who were trying to avoid the checkpoint. So I think he was a little surprised to see two tipsy women in their 30's being driven home by Mom! So after assessing the situation and chatting it up with Heidi's mom (Heidi and I were just keeping our mouth shut!), the officer decided no ticket was necessary.

Heidi's mom: Officer, I always told them that if they or their friends ever needed a ride to call me no questions asked... I never wanted them drinking and driving. So anyone could call at any time and we'd make sure they got home safe.

Officer: Will you give me your number so I can call you next time I need a ride home?

Heidi's mom: Of course, young man!

So the universe definitely was on the lookout for us that night, we could have probably talked ourselves into driving home, we hadn't had that much to drink... but we knew better. We had planned to call a cab until Heidi's mom called us up. So we've got a funny story to tell instead of a DUI... life es bueno :)

Hot by nature

I was going to call this post "I love my man" :) because he is absolutely the best... It was so hot this weekend is SD, records highs in East County and unbelievably hot even on the coast. Most people on the coast don't have A/C because it is rare to even need it here... but last weekend was brutally hot. I am very hot-natured even on a cool day, so I grew very grumpy and cranky by Sunday afternoon after we got home from the Padres game. David just kind of smiled at me when I was grumpy because he thought it was funny! and not "haha" funny, but cute kinda funny... that must be love. So he just smiles at me and says, let's just go for a drive and cool you down in the car, see where we end up. Off we go and we end up parked in front of Ace Hardware... let's go cruise Ace Hardware, honey, it's cool in there. wha??? But I'm ok with it, there's A/C in there :) But then he turns me around and starts leading me to Cold Stone Creamery.... whoo hoo!!!! I am in love with this man!! So we sit in Cold Stone Creamery, him laughing at me cuz I'm grumpy, and I can't help but start smiling because everything feels good in spite of the heat. It took a little while longer for the grumpy to wear off, but I love my man for helping me through it and making me laugh and loving even the grumpy part of me. Life is bueno :)

Amy Winehouse at the Mercury Awards

I really hope this girl can kick her drug habits... I love this live version.