Boy has it been a while since I blogged! Facebook kind of took over. I have lots to update you on. Basically since I last logged on, I have:

a) Been volunteering for the City of Sierra Madre's Fire Department
b) Taken a second EMT course at PCC so that I can pass the National Registry Exam
c) Am currently enrolled in my final class at ELAC. I am waiting for word from CSULA to see if I have been accepted to their school of Technology. I will be transferring in with them as a Junior and on my way to achieving my Bachelors Degree in Fire Administration and Protection
d) Lots of running, and lots of upper body, have to get ready for the El Camino Fire Academy that begins Feb. 2010

Ta-ta for now. More details when I get more time :)

The question

I'm depressed! Will I ever get hired??

Carrera Guadalupana December 12, 2008

Every year, lots of races go on throughout Mexico to celebrate the day the Virgen the Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego. The town I'm from has it's group of runners and I decided to join in with them in 2008.
The group of runners minus me (I think I was still getting off the truck at this point). Our outfits were that of what Juan Diego wore. Legend has it that when he was told to go build a temple for the Virgen...he told her they wouldn't believe him...so she gave Juan Diego Roses to show as "proof" that she did exist, when he opened his shirt to show the roses her image appeared on his shirt instead. The actual piece is actually in Mexico City (and Tino and I visited it last March). They say Scientist from all over the world have examined it and can't tell what kind of paint it is or why it hasn't faded over so many years.

That's me! Running with the Torch. At no point in time is this torch put down for the race. We pass it from person to person for a total of about 60-70 miles (I'm guessing). When I signed up for this race, I thought I would get an amazing workout, sort of like a Marathon. Boy was I wrong-It was in fact the easiest race I've ever ran but it was the most emotional. What an experience!
The view was amazing!!! You are practically running in the middle of no where-with views of Sierra, Animals and beautiful Mountains. I plan on doing this race again in 2009 but I plan on doing the cycling version from Canatlan.

Pasadena Marathon November 16th

Well, this WOULD have been my first ever Marathon, but unfortunately, the event got canceled due to poor air quality because of the local fires. My alarm was ready for 4:30am to get myself mentally "prepared" for the 4 plus hours that awaited me. 4:05am, Jackie calls me to tell me that it was cancelled, yes the race I've been waiting for 4 years got canceled. This is the 4th marathon that I "almost" make. 4:15am, the cancellation is confirmed with an email :(

There are no words to express my disappointment so I wont go into that. The pictures above are pics that my sister Annie took of me. One day, I will have the "real" picture. I wore my shirt and bib all day long and I still haven't taken my chip off from my shoes...

My entire family came to see me run, Mom from San Diego and cousins and aunt from Orange County. Money was spent on food and booze to celebrate afterwards. Lots of people really did lose a lot of money on this event being canceled. People spent money on hotels and airfare, others spent money on entertaining out of town guest and the owners of the Marathon are thousands in debt.

My knee hadn't been doing well in the last couple of weeks AND I didn't train as I should have. This now gives me the chance to lose a few pounds and really do my training right. No word yet on rescheduling the event but I will definitely keep you guys posted.

I wish you could

My co-worker Joseph read an article and thought of me. I thought I would share this really nice article with you too! It is from Ebaums World.

I wish you could know what it is like to search a burning bedroom for trapped children, flames rolling above your head, your palms and knees burning as you crawl, the floor sagging under your weight as the kitchen below you burns.

I wish you could comprehend a wife's horror at 3 a.m. as I check her husband of 40 years for a pulse and find none. I start CPR anyway, hoping to bring him back, knowing intuitively it is too late. But wanting his wife and family to know everything possible was done to try too save his life.

I wish you knew the unique smell of burning insulation, the taste of soot-filled mucus, the feeling of intense heat through your turnout gear, the sound of flames crackling, the eeriness of being able to see absolutely nothing in dense smoke-sensations that I've become too familiar with. I wish you could understand how it feels to go to work in the morning after having spent most of the night, hot and soaking wet at a multiple alarm fire.

I wish you could read my mind as I respond to a building fire "Is this a false alarm or a working fire? How is the building constructed? What hazards await me? Is anyone trapped?" Or to an EMS call, "What is wrong with the patient? Is it minor or life-threatening? Is the caller really in distress or is he waiting for us with a 2x4 or a gun?"

I wish you could be in the emergency room as a doctor pronounces dead the beautiful five-year old girl that I have been trying too save during the past 25 minutes. Who will never go on her first date or say the words, "I love you Mommy" again.

I wish you could know the frustration I feel in the cab of the engine or my personal vehicle, the driver with his foot pressing down hard on the pedal, my arm tugging again and again at the air horn chain, as you fail to yield the right-of-way at an intersection or in traffic. But when you need us however, your first comment upon our arrival will be, "It took you forever to get here!"

I wish you could know my thoughts as I help extricate a girl of teenage years from the remains of her automobile. "What if this was my sister, my girlfriend or a friend? What were her parents reaction going to be when they opened the door to find a police officer with hat in hand?"

I wish you could know how it feels to walk in the back door and greet my parents and family, not having the heart to tell them that I nearly did not come back from the last call.

I wish you could feel the hurt as people verbally, and sometimes physically, abuse us or belittle what I do, or as they express their attitudes of "It will never happen to me."

I wish you could realize the physical, emotional and mental drain or missed meals, lost sleep and forgone social activities, in addition to all the tragedy my eyes have seen.

I wish you could know the brotherhood and self-satisfaction of helping save a life or preserving someone's property, or being able to be therein time of crisis, or creating order from total chaos.

I wish you could understand what it feels like to have a little boy tugging at your arm and asking, "Is Mommy okay?" Not even being able to look in his eyes without tears from your own and not knowing what to say. Or to have to hold back a long time friend who watches his buddy having rescue breathing done on him as they take him away in the ambulance. You know all along he did not have his seat belt on. A sensation that I have become too familiar with.

Unless you have lived with this kind of life, you will never truly understand or appreciate who I am, we are, or what our job really means to us...although I wish you could.

Every year, Locals 112's explorer's compete in the LAFD Muster. Tino and I try to volunteer when ever possible. My mentor and good friend Captain Anthony Navarro heads stations 112 explorer program and with the help of his wife, Carla Navarro, they make this event a success. I've attached a video of one of the competitions. This particular competition has the explorers pull a hose (typically, anywhere from 50-200 pounds) to one side and reel it in. The team that does this the fastest wins! This is the type of thing I use to train with Fuego Tech, a Wild land firefighting group I belonged to in 2006. It looks easy but it's not! Sometimes, you feel that you used all your body can give that when you are done, it almost feels like you want to throw up. That's is when you know you gave it your all!!!

As a firefighter, you must be physically fit! I became a runner over a year and a half ago. Meanwhile, my husband Tino got into cycling. Tino cycled the Rosarito/Ensenada Bike Tour April 2008. When the same tour became available in September...we bought me a bike (used because they are SUPER expensive). This trip was not only fun and relaxing, it really did challenge my body and mind. I rode my bike for about 52 mile and it took me 3 hours and 38 minutes to complete.