Toilet Terror: My Unexpected Encounter with a Cockroach

The alarm rings, as it always does on a Tuesday morning at 4:20am. I get out of bed thinking I’ll snooze for 10 mins. But no, Mother Nature calls, and I have to use the restroom.

Groggy and tired, I make my way to the restroom, turn on the lights, and suddenly spot something brown in the toilet. Nope, not a leftover nugget. It moves, and I realize it’s a ROACH! A freakin’ cockroach has made its way INTO my toilet bowl! Gag!

My first instinct is to flush the toilet, but it’s so massive that I’m thinking, “I’m so screwed.” But when I bought this toilet it said it could flush 20 golf balls. So obviously this roach will go down the drain. Right?

The cockroach stumbles and ends up floating in the water. Great; now I have to wait until the toilet is ready for another flush. Impatiently, I grab my air freshener and spray, hoping it will get rid of the cockroach. Finally, after what feels like hours—probably only 40 seconds—I flush, and down the toilet hole it goes.

But I wait. I wait to ensure it doesn’t magically swim up to torment me. For now, nothing. A sigh of relief.

I couldn’t fathom using my toilet after this incident. I left for work for the day with my toilet seat down, hoping this roach infestation will disappear. And by infestation, I mean infestation! This is the 4th or 5th roach I’ve seen in the house in the past month. We are running a roach motel. 🤨

“I ran, ran so far away…”

And that I did! But first, if you know the song reference to my blog title then you’re an 80’s music fan, like me! Or, you just know the very popular song by The Flock of Seagulls!

Sunday was the Brea 8K and for those that don’t know how many miles an 8K is, it’s 4.971. But I call it 5 miles. And that’s like 4 miles too many for me. Ha! As you can tell, I’m not a runner. Never have been and likely, never will be. It just doesn’t bring me joy. So you may be thinking to yourself, why did you do it?

Let me start with the backstory. My sister and I are part of Fit Body Boot Camp and they encouraged us to participate in 2018 and 2019. 2020 as well as it was right before the pandemic started but I was out of country in Cancun. So, we decided to participate this year in its comeback post-pandemic. And as nervous as I was, I decided it’s okay to walk so if I have to then I will. I don’t remember my times but I do know I ran/jogged it in the past and did pretty good. Actually in 2019 you only got a medal for being top, I believe it was 1,000, so I pushed myself and did it!! Got that medal!

Let’s come back to 2023. Our boot camp did not participate this year but we; me, my sister, her sister-in-law and SIL’s daughter decided to encourage each other and do it. I was actually super excited and probably the most encouraging. First of all, everyone gets a medal this year so no need to force myself to run the whole thing. Excellent!

But then, the nerves kicked in. The whole night pre race day, I could not sleep. So much nerves and why the heck did I sign up thoughts running through my head. I wanna sleep in. Don’t make me wake up early to torture myself!!

Well, I’m proud to say, in my age range 40-44, granted I’m in the high of that range (44) I was 47th out of 113!! *tear dripping down my eyes* I am so proud of myself for not only pushing myself to run/jog most of it, I did walk when my body said stop and walk, but for completing it in under an 1:00; 57:09 to be exact. It was definitely challenging, pushed me to my almost limits, and I salute those who live to run half marathons heck even marathons. But running is not my forte and yet, I did it! And I’m so glad it’s over!

I never say no to Ramen!

Ahhh the warmth and savory sips of a hot ramen noodle bowl on a bone-chilling weekday afternoon. Pure bliss.

First of all, it was extremely cold for us Southern Californians yesterday as we hit highs of 55 but felt more like forties. And where I am situated at work, I get the cold draft from employees walking in and out of the building. Needless to say, my body was craving some warm goodness.

My coworker friends had gone to this new place which recently opened within the past year at South Coast Plaza and knew I would appreciate this place. Le Shrimp Noodle Bar!

I ordered the Prawn and Chicken Wonton Noodle Soup. I love wonton so wonton filled with warm chicken was so tasty to the tongue. And that first sip of broth, mmmmm!!! I definitely warmed up immediately.

There are three choices on noodles; thick vermicelli, ramen noodle which I got and rice noodle, which is like pho noodles.

Give it a try if you’re out in Costa Mesa, CA! Located on the first floor inside Bloomingdale’s.

Bon appetit!

Disney is life.

You know, each time I visit the Disney parks, whether it be Disneyland or California Adventure, I always seem to have a unique experience each time. And I definitely had a unique AND new experience this past Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday.

Now it had nothing to do with Super Bowl but here we thought it would be less busy as everyone is prepping for the big game. Nope! Everyone was at the parks! Maybe everyone had my idea to come early and leave before game time? Who knows.

Anyways, the purpose of Sundays visit was to try and get on the new Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railroad ride which opened in Toon Town on January 27th. And that we did!! Tried for the virtual queue at 7am and we got boarding group 6. Totally elated!! But that also means, get the heck outta the house ASAP cause as soon as the park opens it’s our turn!

We made it and our boarding group didn’t board yet. Long story short, the ride was down in the morning so the first groups (including mine) wasn’t until a bit after 9:30am. In the meanwhile we got to ride a mere 0 min wait Small World and ran into the one and only, Pinocchio and Geppetto!

As soon as took snapped the pic, we got called to board! We were right outside Toon Town where the new ride is located so it was a quick entry and we walked right through the queue! It was amazing!!

The queue walking in was an experience filled with so many photo ops and the ride itself was enthralling. I won’t spoil anything but definitely sit back and enjoy!

It’s never a dull day when I visit Disneyland or California Adventure and even Downtown Disney! Before heading back home in time to watch the Super Bowl, we had lunch at the recently relocated Earl of Sandwich. It’s just at the entrance to Downtown Disney if you’re coming from the parks. Used to be La Brea Bakery but that closed down. Not 100% sure Earl will be permanently located there but it was fun eating their sandwich again after so long! Now the question is, which sandwich did I eat? 😎

“Ka-Chow!”

The catch phrase made popular by the one and only, Lightning McQueen! And if you don’t know who he is, then you clearly need more Disney in your life. 😍

“Ka-Chow!” A term of excitement and happiness and exactly how I felt last Sunday when I saw him in the corner of my eye. But let’s start from the beginning…

I’m lucky to work in a job where I have the opportunity to experience diverse events. One being race car driving! Sunday, I gathered my bro-in-law and nephew and took them with me to the City of Angels to experience The Clash. The Clash is a NASCAR exhibition race before NASCAR kicks off in Daytona mid-Feb; this weekend!

The Clash moved to LA in 2022 and returned for another year in 2023. The LA Coliseum is the venue and it’s fascinating that they transform the USC football field to a racing platform with asphalt in a mere month. They do 150 laps which doesn’t last too long except when there are constant crashes and resetting. Crashes are cool to watch as long as no one gets hurt! 🙏

Before we headed to our seats, I had to stop by at the Fan Fest where you can have interactive experiences with vendors one being the AAA display. Of course I visited! 😁 My nephew spun the wheel to win a prize. Race-goers could also talk to an agent about AAA’s products & services. Oh and take a selfie with a race car replica! 🏎️

But my excitement came from stopping at “Radiator Springs” and grabbing a picture with Lightning McQueen!! “Ka-Chow!”

Sports is life. Who knew?!

Growing up in Downey, California, a suburb of Los Angeles County, we heard a lot about Lakers and Dodgers. I remember rushing home from school, turning the TV on to watch afternoon cartoons. In the summer though, those cartoons were overtaken by baseball and I would be so sad.

Come August 2019, I embark in a new career of Sports Marketing. I’m now not only a Dodgers and Angels fan, I love all sports! I did love the early 2000’s era of back-to-back Lakers championships, but now I’m not only understanding it but wishing to go to more games. And even loving college basketball so much that I attended a Final Four game in 2021!

And football?! Well that’s a whole other love. I’ve become a college football and big Chargers fan. I like the Rams too. Let’s just say, I love anything and everything L.A.

So when the Anaheim Ducks’ Street Team and mascot decided to stop by my work yesterday, I got super excited! Granted I prefer the L.A. Kings, but I gotta support OC too. And who doesn’t want a picture with Wild Wing?!

So let’s go to a sports event together next season! Lakers, Dodgers, Clippers, Angels, Ducks, Rams. Chargers, Kings! You name it, let’s go! ⚾️ 🏀 🏈 ⚽️ 🎾 🏒

Wild Wing and me 😊 on January 31, 2023

Dreaming about poppies…

I’m obsessed with nature. I love hiking…well, as long as I don’t encounter a snake, coyote, mountain lion, bear or any wild animal. 😮

This past weekend I did a mini hike up Bane Canyon Trail at Chino Hills State Park and saw poppies. March 2019 we had a super-bloom in California. Gorgeous purple and golden flowers blanketed Walker Canyon near Lake Elsinore. And Chino Hills had these golden gems also. Hoping for another “poppymagedon” in 2023!

There was ice on my car!

January is always known to be chilly and for us born and raised in California, anything below 70 can mean chilly! So it being 38 degrees this morning was like I was living in a freezer. I leave for work pretty early; anywhere between 5:30-6am and today it was about 5:50am and yup, there was ice on my car. But the best feeling is getting in, blasting the heater, turning on the radio and waiting until my back windshield defrosts a bit.

My reward for the cold was this amazing sunrise this morning which reminded me of a sunny side up egg.

Costa Mesa sunrise from Metro Pointe