An evening at home

I'm bored. What an exciting evening at home. There is NOTHING on TV and I don't have any books to read. Oh, poor me. ;) I'm pissed at the weather too. The one night the weather cooperated in the late afternoon and it didn't occur to me to try to go ride. I just figured it would be like every other evening we've had for the last week. But noooooo, when my husband got home, the weather was great. Oh well. I don't really need to ride (need to rest) but wanted to anyway. When has a "rest" day ever stopped me from riding? Never, unless there was a trainer involved.

I found this carnage in the bathroom the other day, Barbie mass-suicide. Ken was last seen leaving the scene with a large container of Kool-Aid.

I could hardly contain my laughter when I sent this to my husband. I had to call him and find out if he'd opened the email yet. I waited, trying not to giggle, for him to open it with the pic attached. HAHA. I laughed so hard and so did he.

I'm sitting on the computer because my husband is watching a movie on his computer from Netflix. Have you tried this? Very cool. Like video on demand but with a wider selection. So, he's watching a movie I rented a long time ago when he was out of town on business. He's watching "Pan's Labrynth," a weird-ass Spanish movie with a super crazy monster. (but the monster is only a small part of the story) One night during a particularly silly, drunken mood, I drew eyes on my palms like the monster to demonstrate how strange it looks. If you're not familiar with the film, he looks like this ------>
Disturbing, right? I'm pretty sure I didn't it justice. Mostly because I have hair (and clothes) and it just wasn't the same. I got a kick out of being silly because I did look silly and I was drunk. ;) I'm still waiting on the final verdict since the movie isn't over yet. He stopped it about 1/2 way through and all he said was that it was a fucked up movie. No shit. Any movie with a dude with eyes on his hands and Pan frolicking around getting the little girl to do crazy tasks is gonna be fucked up. This is who Pan is: "The legend of Pan tells of a god born with goat legs and feet, horns, and a furry human upper body." The ending is one of those movies that ends and you're left wondering, "did she? or didn't she? was it real? was it a dream?"

I knew this movie would be right up my husband's alley. I'm surprised I saw it before him, actually. He's all about those weird movies that make you uncomfortable and wonder why you're still watching it when you know you don't want to but still can't help it. Or maybe that's just me. Like "A Clockwork Orange." He really likes that movie and I hated it. I couldn't get past the ultraviolence and brainwashing to see any subtle commentary on society from the film. The movie he's watching now isn't as disturbing as "A Clockwork Orange" but it does have a bit of the mindfuck genre.

Taking over the world

Facebook has taken over. Now that I have online communication with friends through two websites, FB definitely gets more attention. There are some people who I hear from regularly on there that I rarely hear from anymore on the other site. When it was first discovered that we were all on both, there was probably a 50/50 split. Now the overlap is definitely closer to 75/25. Gone are the days of everyday 'inspires' to check in with how training was going or the reading of race reports to get details. These days, to say that "M had a great outdoor swim" seems to be enough. I can't really blame them, I sometimes do it too. Although, when someone does a race, I try to make it over to the other site to read their race report. I figure if someone takes the time to write a full race report... it's not only for their own personal information, it's to share their experience with everyone else as well. Maybe I'm just being oversensitive. I write race reports so I have my full account of the race but it's nice when others read it and give a 'congrats' or tips to do better.

I do feel I've fallen 'tween the cracks, though. I don't see them in person often (or ever, really) so what I've done has been forgotten or overlooked. The 3 races I've done this year have fallen on the same day as other bigger races and if I'm the only one doing a particular race, it's easy to forget. If I don't post it on facebook, then they'd probably never go and seek out the information. Maybe it's because we're not newbies anymore. When I joined the other site, I hooked up with a group of people who were also in the first or second season of triathlon. Now we're in our fourth or fifth seasons (or more for some), the circle has widened, life has gotten busy and we don't need constant "monitoring" anymore.

I don't know.... does this sound like whining? Like, "oh poor M, doesn't get any attention and is feeling neglected." Maybe I'm just the weird one because I don't have many people in real life that I can talk to about training and racing. Or maybe there is the possibility that they are so wrapped up in their own lives that they can't take the time to check in on mine.

Body image

I mentioned this the other day but I want to talk (or type!) about body image. There are really two parts to this: my history and my current thoughts.

The History
For as long as I can remember, I felt that I was a "fat girl" living in my body. Even if I was average size, I always felt big. Looking in the mirror did not provide me with images of a girl that was average size. Compared to many of my friends I felt overweight, not just athletic.

I also think I can pinpoint when it started. In 4th grade, I had a neighborhood friend who lived just across the street from me and she was a year older. I remember one day that she called me FAT. She was cruel and mean but I thought she was super cool so I wanted to be her friend. When she called me fat, I was devastated. It had never occurred to me that I could be fat. I know there's more to it that I don't remember but I do remember that instance being one of the main things in my memory. I also remember holding myself to a standard (like celebrities and musicians) that I couldn't meet. As a preteen and teenager, I was taller, average size and awkward. Trying to fit in to the mold of the "popular kids" and the mold of what an ideal girl should look like gave me a warped set of ideals. Middle school might have been the hardest 3 years of my life. I do not look forward to my daughter getting to that age.

As I got older, it got a little easier to deal with but I still never felt thin. Even when I was playing Varsity basketball as a Junior and I see pictures of me, I was thin but never saw it. I don't even remember what size I was wearing but I know about how much I weighed because that weight stayed on my driver's license for years.

When my weight fluctuated, I wanted to hide my body as best as I could. It was never something I was proud of or flaunted. My wardrobe included baggy shirts, shorts and jeans. (it helped that at the time, it was in style) There were times when I felt confident and could wear something revealing, like a bikini, but they were rare. College and post-college included years of eating poorly, drinking and little exercise. (with the exception of one season of rowing) I gained weight and was unhappy. I was stuck in the routine of working long, irregular hours, grabbing what was easiest and not working out. We did belong to a gym but my visits were sporadic because I'm not (and never have been) a gym-rat.

The current
I had kids and after my youngest, I decided I needed to change. I wanted to get back to, at the minimum, my pre-pregnancy weight so I started swimming regularly. Swimming progressed to triathlon training and the weight slowly started to come off. More training meant eating better which lead to more training and I lost weight.

I was happy with the changes I saw but still never felt thin. I come from a family of heavy and overweight people and I didn't see myself as the one who had beat my genes. And when I say family, that means everyone: Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Parents. It's weird to think that I might be the thinnest and fittest person in my family. But on the other side... my husband's family is full of thin, fit people. It just occurred to me that the difference has A LOT to do with geography and socio-economic status. My extended family is Blue Collar/Middle Class in Ohio. (not exactly the mecca of exercise enthusiasts) My husband's family is definitely Upper-Middle Class in Georgia. (each lives in a well-to-do area where image is important)

Anyway, back to me. ;) I feel like I have reached a point in my life when I am finally happy, most of the time, with what I see in the mirror. I still don't think I see what others see but I am happy with what I do see. Cycling and swimming have toned and slimmed my body to where I'm pleased with the results. I have a friend who always talks about how I'm a great example of what endurance training can do because of my long-lean muscles. I've always been a size large kind of girl and to be smaller is weird. When I went to pick up my race packet for the Xterra the woman asked me what size shirt; I said medium and she looked at me and said I needed a small. Who? Me? No way. I've never been a small in my life. But, sure enough, it fits me. It's smaller than I prefer but it fits and my husband says it looks good. I am finally at the point when what looks back in the mirror is acceptable.

Kids and the playground

Taking my kids to the playground is often an exercise in patience and learning to let go. When my older daughter was little, I would only take her to the park if I thought for sure there wouldn't be a bunch of "big kids" there to knock her over or cause trouble. If the park was empty, I was happy. She wasn't but I always said a little 'thank you' that the park was deserted. I liked it, she didn't. Now I can understand that they want to play with other kids. In fact, now that they're older, it's better because they can play and I can relax a little. I can't keep them with me forever and I have to let them be kids.

My patience is tested when dealing with other children. The way kids talk to each other makes me want to step in and tell the other child "No, you can't talk to my daughter like that," and a few other choice words that I think in my head but wouldn't say out loud. If it doesn't bother them, I try hard to bite my tongue and not let it bother me; that's how kids talk to each other sometimes. Unless the other child is being particularly bothersome or rude or obnoxious, I let it go. But it pains me to hear some of the conversations because I want to protect them and don't want their feelings hurt.

So, I listen on the sideline, only stepping in if necessary. I make sure I'm nearby if they need me but far enough away not to hover too much. Some days I do a better job than others.

Training

Once again I came across another blog that covered a very similar topic that I was thinking about when I was at the gym today, weird. It was Andrew's blog again, "Creating a Machine." It is about motivation and burn-out. My thoughts are not as well organized as his, all jumbled and in a random order. I have many thoughts at the same time and I'm having a hard time organizing them.

My thinking was prompted by the realization that so far this year I have a focus for triathlon that I haven't had in the past. (doing well in 2 of the 3 races definitely helps!) Sure, I did some serious training in '07 but once I completed my goal race, my training fizzled out. Getting to that race and completing an Olympic distance race was the only goal. I had a focus for that race that kept me going and doing 7 or 8 workouts each week. I realize now that I burned out. I didn't find the balance between training to reach my goal and the rest of life. I remember it felt like all I did was train and it felt like a chore. It's easy to see now why I slacked off after that race. (hindsight is 20/20, right?) I couldn't keep up the volume and intensity after 4 months. It was too much: 3x swim, 3x bike, 3x run. This season I knew I didn't want to try to keep that kind of schedule so I have 2 workouts in each sport every week and I get most of them in every week. (Running is neglected, a shock, I know!)

I didn't discover triathlon until I had my younger daughter and even though being a good role model for my daughters was a bonus it wasn't my main motivation. My main motivation was proving that I could do it, to get back in shape after having kids and quitting smoking for good.

My current motivation is a little different. Now I know I can do it, I want to do well. That involves the competition but it's mostly an internal competitor and the time clock. My other motivation is based on body image. This could be a whole post but I will say I LOVE how endurance training has transformed my body and maintaining this body keeps me going.

After the race last weekend, I have picked my training back up where I left off. I am racing again in less than 6 weeks and I know where I need to improve. I don't feel burned out. I feel energized, ready to go again. I pushed through and caught a glimpse of what I might be capable of.

I've touched on this before but I have to remind myself more often as we are diving deeper in to the tri season - I have to keep negative thoughts in check as my friends train for longer distances. I have very little motivation to do an Ironman distance (140.6) race any time soon. I know triathlon isn't going anywhere, I've already had kids and I have the rest of my life to complete an IM. I'm in my 4th season but still, relatively speaking, young.

I don't share their viewpoint that completing an IM is the pinnacle of our sport. Yes, it's huge and I do agree it is a MAJOR accomplishment but I also know my limitations. Those limitations include money, time, and desire. The last one is a biggie. I train and race in a sport most think they would never be able to do... that alone is enough to gain respect. The fact that I'm only racing sprints does not water down my achievement. Sure, it would be great to go to a race with friends and have training buddies but that's not enough for me. I have to want to do an Ironman, not just because everyone else is doing it.

I tell people new to the sport all the time: if it were easy.... everyone would do it. My kids are still young, I already average about 6 hours a week of training and I am unwilling to double or triple my volume to get ready for an IM. I have no desire to get burned out again. I know fitness is something I want to continue for the rest of my life and I want to enjoy it. (most of the time, anyway!)

**I feel it's necessary to point out that this is my point of view and what works for me. I realize everyone is different.

Sprint Recap

I want to do a race recap but won't bore you with a formal report like I did for Xterra.

My sister and I drove down to Baxley on Friday. It took us about 4 hours to get down there. The race site was on the way to the hotel so we tried to find the lake. Country roads are not marked very well so we couldn't find it. I wasn't sure where we were so I had to guess to get back to the main road. My sister had directions from the hotel so we drove in to town. We decided to start at the hotel so we'd have the exact mile directions. After checking in at the Key West Inn, (sounds fancy, right?) we drove back to the country and actually turned on the road we had just left, DOH! Following the directions, we had been less than a mile from the lake the first time but didn't know it because there weren't any signs! Scoped out the site, and then we drove back in to town to find some dinner.

An uneventful evening at the hotel and I went to sleep about 10:30. We knew transition didn't open until 6 and it took about 15 minutes to get there. I set the alarm for 5 and was up about 5:10. I made hot water with the coffee maker and took a quick shower. My sister was up soon after but she was feeling rough. She had not slept well and I'm sure she was annoyed that I was up and so awake. I made oatmeal and coffee with the hot water, got dressed, checked the weather on TV and was ready to go. We left the hotel at 5:55. I know I said last week I was anxious about this race but on race morning I felt good - very little nervousness. I knew I was ready.

We arrived at the race site, parked and walked to the pavilion to pick up our packets and get bodymarked. After waiting in line, we were marked and walked back to the van to get our stuff and put our numbers on. We pumped up our tires, gathered our crap and walked to transition. The racks were set up by race number which always makes it easier. We were alphabetical so my sister's rack was 4 or 5 racks away. I had planned to take my bike out for warm-up but decided there wasn't time - transition was supposed to close at 7:15 and by now it was about 7. I ate my gel, made a potty stop and we walked down to the water. On the way, I grabbed a drink out of the water fountain and the water tasted awful. It made me gag. YUCK. I thought the vanilla bean GU was coming back. Visions of gagging in the lake made me a little anxious so I tried to shake it.

We got in the water and the temperature was perfect but the visibility was not. This was some seriously dark water, like an Amberbock or a Guinness - no kidding. Zero visibility. I was standing in the water up to my knees and I couldn't see my shins. It freaked me out at first but I tried not to think about it too much. Too much thinking messes me up before a race.

Waiting to start, I was going over my plan in my head. I knew what I had to do and I felt confident in my abilities. Knowing there were only 5 women in my age group, I was there to win. Even though there was a girl in our AG that looked fast... I wanted to win, I needed to win.

The actual race is a blur. I can remember bits and pieces but didn't think a whole lot like I normally do. I felt like I was on auto-pilot to GO. We started as one wave and I tried to push as much as possible. I finished the swim (slower than I planned) made the transition and got on my bike. I hammered as much as could over the 11 miles. I felt strong and that everything was firing on all cylinders. The course was mostly flat with slight false-flats and 2 tiny inclines. I passed some guys and caught 2 women that had been in front of me. I finished the bike as the 2nd woman. At this point I knew I was doing well. I didn't see many women and to know I was that far in front was a new thing for me - I like it!

I jogged in to T2 with my bike and got ready to run. Right out of the gate I felt good, no cramping, no dead legs just a little shoulder soreness from riding in the drops. I wasn't going to walk. I knew I'd made up some time and wanted to keep any distance I could because I'm not a super fast runner. My HR was high but not totally out of control so even though it was uncomfortable, I pushed through. I had 3 women catch me on the run and I couldn't keep up so I let them go.

I was able to stay ahead of any other women and crossed the finish line as the 5th woman. Since none of the women who passed me were in my AG, I was pretty sure I was 1st. I waited for the official results to be posted to see that I was, indeed, 1st in my Age Group. I was so happy.

I walked around and recovered and waited for my sister to finish. She finished under her goal time - YAY! This was her second outdoor race and I'm proud of what she's been able to do. Yay Lindsay!

Here are my official splits, there were 30 women and 85 total participants:
Swim: 9:27 32/85
T1: 0:48 9/85
Bike: 34:17 22/85
T2: 0:46 13/85
Run: 29:44 58/85 <-- this is a PR for a 5k - yipee!

Total time: 1:15:02 1/5 AG, 41/85 O/A, 5/30 F

Staying at home

So many people have deep thoughts today... well, not me. Just another day in the exciting life of a stay at home mom who swims, bikes and sometimes even runs. I have piles of laundry to fold, housework to finish, gear to gather for the race, an appetizer to make for the bridging ceremony and several other mundane tasks. It's glamorous, right?

I know I sometimes complain but I really am thankful to be able to stay home. It's hard for my husband to work as hard as he does so I can take care of the girls. We both know there are aspects of our life that would be easier if I went back to work (especially financially!) but agreed it's important that I stay home to care for them. Sometimes I do miss working but not enough to put my 3 year old in daycare full-time and pay for afterschool care for the other one. I don't know what I'd do anyway but that's a whole other story.

Race

My nerves have already started for the race this weekend. I'm not sure why, it was never an "A" race since it was a late addition to the schedule. Probably because I want to do well after my piss-poor performance at the Xterra. [I still don't know how I feel about that race. Mostly I'm satisfied with my performance because of everything that happened but I had planned to do better.] Well, this weekend is a small race on a flat course... I expect to kick ass. The distance is 440y swim, 11.1 bike, 5k run. My realistic time goal is 1:20:xx (now I think 1:25:xx is actually more realistic) and a secret time goal that would require having a stellar performance - the swim and bike are do-able, it's the run that could make or break my total time. Right now, there are 4 women (including me) in my age group, they have race day registration so that could change. I will need to relax, kick ass, and enjoy the race. I get to race while supporting my sister before she leaves for the summer.

Something occurred to my while swimming after reading something in Andrew's blog (<---- Creating a Machine) about racing. It occurred to me that in a race, almost always on the run, I cop-out and walk because I don't want it to hurt. It's a race... it's supposed to hurt... it's gonna hurt... Now that I've had this epiphany, I know what I need to do; now all that's left is execution in a race. I can push it on a group ride to a pace that is just above comfortable. I need to learn to be able to do the same thing with running. I know I can. The true test will be on Saturday. My only wild cards are my hamstring and my IT Bands that I've been rolling.

Breakfast with Mom

I had "Muffins with Mom" this morning at my daughter's school (they even had the muffins title on the sign- no joke) and it seemed there was either a bigger response than they expected or poor planning from the get-go.

The school administrator's thinking must have gone something like this: "Let's plan a breakfast in the cafeteria, right before school, with... oh, I don't know... 200+ kids and parents... and instead of actual muffins... let's have sausage and biscuits and let's do it so when the parents are leaving, they have to fight traffic from the other two schools that are in the very close vicinity and everyone has to go down one road because the other end of the road is closed due to construction?! Oh yeah, that sounds like an excellent plan!"

I'm glad I went because it meant a lot to my daughter but I definitely think there could have been better planning.

Talent show

My daughter is currently lacking talent. I don't mean she's totally lacking talent, I mean the kind of talent that is showcaseable. (is that a word??) She's smart, creative, funny and the best mountain biking 7 year old I know... but she doesn't know how to play any instruments, can't carry a tune and doesn't take formal dance lessons. They're having a talent show at her school and she wants to audition. I tried to gently suggest that she wait to audition next year after her dad teaches her how to play guitar. (she got a Hannah Montana Washburn guitar for Christmas) I'd like for her to start formal lessons as well. Anyway, we talked about it and I tried, delicately, to put the show in perspective that other kids have taken a bunch of formal lessons and she hasn't done anything to prepare or practice. (I also know she gets nervous in front of a crowd) She still wanted to do the preliminary 'Sharing Day' audition so I agreed. She's going to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

I think I hurt her feelings when I really, really tried to handle the situation in a caring way. When I saw the hurt, I agreed to let her sing the song. I don't want her to get laughed at or embarressed when she performs but I know I can't always protect her or shelter her from every bad situation. I know. I realized she may do great and I have to let her try. I don't think she's ready for the school-wide show, yet, but she can sing a song in front of her class. Now we'll just have to practice "Twinkle, Twinkle" whenever we have the chance.

A Haiku

Writing a Haiku about riding was harder than I anticipated. I had the last line in my head during my ride yesterday but getting the other two was difficult. I'm not super satisfied with it so I might change it. I don't know yet. And for the record... I know Haiku is usually about nature but it can also be about a moment in time to reflect emotion. Anyway, here it is:

Wheels roll, the sun shines
The road rises above me
Fearlessly I ride

Topics and birthdays

Over the last couple of days I've been in the writing (or blogging about random shit) mode and topics come easily. Yesterday I think I had 3 come to mind and now I've forgotten them. *frowny face* I know I should start the post when I think if them but I distinctly remember thinking that they were good ones and I wouldn't forget them. Well, here I sit, drawing a blank.

Yesterday at the gym I put my younger daughter in the child care (like I always do) and when I went to pick her up the girl working there said she had invited every child she saw to her birthday party.... in September. Hmmm, might be difficult to get addresses for all those random kids. ;) She talks about her birthday party almost everyday. I never bring it up and I think she'll forget but something will spark her memory and then she'll talk about it again. She wants an Ariel Mermaid (that's what she calls her, I know it's The Little Mermaid) party at the jumpy place and she wants an Ariel cake. I know she has absolutely no concept of the calendar or how long it is until her birthday but that has not deterred her from making plans. After visiting the jumpy place with my older daughter's Daisy troop, she now has it in her head that she will have her birthday party there. While I don't think it's a terrible idea... I don't think it would be fair to my 7 year old. "Yes, I'm sorry that I slacked on planning your birthday a couple of times so we've always had it at our house and now that your sister is turning 4, well, we're going to pay for a jumpy place birthday for her." Yeah, I'm sure that would go over.

I have a Queen song in my head this morning and I need to get ready to go. In case you miss it and are wondering which Queen song, here are the lyrics:

Bicycle, bicycle...
I want to ride my bicycle,
I want to ride my bike.
I want to ride my bicycle,
I want to ride it where I like.

May race

I am now officially registered for another race, a sprint on May 16th. It's in Middle of Nowhere, GA. Just kidding, that's not the official town name but when I said it to a couple people on Saturday they looked at me like I was serious. Obviously, those people don't know me well. Well, to be fair, one of the women is Irish and doesn't know many town names. I suppose it's not outside the realm of possibility that there might be a town called that somewhere in Georgia. I wish I had a map nearby so I could list some of the crazy town names but I don't. Bummer.

My sister and I are going down to do this race together. I'm going as support and decided to race since my mom offered to pay for it - thanks, Mom! We're driving down on Friday afternoon and staying in a hotel in the town near the race site. It should be fun, my sister and I don't get to do stuff together (without the fam) very often. My job, as the big sister, is to give her support and make her laugh. She gets my sarcastic sense of humor and subtle movie quotes. She'll randomly quote movies too and it drives my mom crazy that I get them and she doesn't... which of course makes us do it more. ;) It should be fun, I'm looking forward to it.

Random

Random Monday stuff:
**When made properly, Spongebob Mac & Cheese is actually pretty good. I had to make myself stop eating it.

**I am going to start tracking my hydration again. I have been doing a piss-poor job of being properly hydrated and I feel the effects during workouts. My goal is at the minimum to get 70 oz everyday.

-3 pm update: 57.8 oz, 7 pm update: 82 oz.

**I'm craving all kinds of weird stuff today.... red meat (which I rarely eat), a fruit smoothie, cheeze-its, jelly beans. It's not that time so I don't know what that's about.

**I am very proud of the fact that I was in and out of Wal-Mart in 45 minutes with my 3 year old and shopped for the week on a very strict budget - go me.

**I hate loading the dishwasher. I don't like touching the dirty dishes. Growing up, my sister and I used to take turns on who would empty and load the top or bottom. I always chose the top whenever I could; the cups, glasses and bowls are easier and not as icky.

**I worked retail for many years before I became a stay at home mom and I have a couple of habits leftover from that time that I'm almost embarrassed to admit. I still batch hang my clothes when I have a bunch of shirts to hang. (if you've worked retail, specifically Old Navy, you know what I'm talking about) And I have the clothes on my side of the closet in ROYGBIV order. Yes, really. It really bothers me if it gets messed up.

**I love Pandora. It knows me. It is probably one of the coolest things about the internet. I can pick an artist and it just knows what other artists to pick.

**Even though it seems to happen on a daily basis lately... I am still surprised by the melodrama of my 7 year old. Seriously, is her life that terrible?? Apparently, I'm the worst mom. Ever. Ha! She has no idea. If that's the worst thing in her life... I'm fine with that.

It's raining, it's pouring...

"the old man is snoring..."

Lovely weather we're having this morning. I woke up to steady rain, hoo-ray. Today is my scheduled off day but I hoped to ride later anyway. I was able to get out for a little ride yesterday after my husband got home from his metric century at the Sandy Springs Challenge. I was happy to get out after being home with the girls all day.

It occurred to me yesterday, while riding, that on most days I am happiest on my bike and triathlon is just cross-training. (this is important because I thought I wanted to focus more on triathlons) While so many of my Tri friends are training for the 70.3 distance, I am sticking to sprints. Over the summer our focus will be on the bike. Our July and August will be spent training and preparing for the MS 150 ride in September. I might do another sprint in August but I may include that just to keep things interesting. I have 2 or 3 more races and my longest run will be a 5k and I can do that without much extra training. I won't be rocking out the run and I'm going to work on adjusting to that thought - my focus is the bike, my focus is the bike, my focus is the bike....

My bikes make me smile. It helps that I am getting faster and stronger at the same time and hung with the front group on the ride on Saturday. It's a fairly hilly route and I averaged just under 18mph over the 31 miles. Right now I have the feeling that I would ride almost every day if I could. Training always has it's ups and downs and right now I'm definitely on an up.

I hope to be sporting this sweet new jersey by the end of the week. I told my husband I wanted one of these for Mother's Day. It says, "Vanderkitten - Clothing for Women Who Kick Ass." Indeed. I guess I'll have to keep kicking ass so I can continue to wear it. ;0)

1st grade romance

I found a note yesterday that my 7 year-old daughter had written, it said "I <3 Grant." Whoa, what?? I know it's nothing major and sorta cute but it surprised me. She wanted to talk to her dad about it, which made me feel excluded but at least she was talking to one of us. (and I knew he'd tell me about it later) She said Grant ask her out to meet at 6 o'clock but didn't know what they were doing or even if he was going to come down and pick her up. (he lives about 6 houses away) My husband told her they could play together but they couldn't go anywhere and she can not have a boyfriend. Her response? She said, "I'm not gonna kiss him!" You bet your sweet ass you're not! You're SEVEN!

Squirrels in my pants

Today I only have a video from one of our current favorite cartoons, Phineas and Ferb. This song just cracks us all up, even my husband. (this is their sister, Candace)

Jekyll Island

As promised, here's my recap of our week-long camping trip on Jekyll Island.

We arrived late Monday afternoon after spending the day in the car. The drive isn't too bad, it took about 6 hours to get down there. We got to the campground and found our spot - a perfect one that had plenty of shade, water and electricity right across from the bathhouse with an outside sink with hot and cold running water. (perfect for washing dishes!) It was also not on a main driveway so there wasn't a bunch of RV's or cars driving by. Our plan was to park the van on Monday and not move it again until Friday.

We set up camp, rode over to check out the beach, made dinner and got the girls ready for bed. The little one didn't go to sleep until after 10, I hoped and prayed every night would NOT go like this - if so, it's going to make for a long week. My husband and I played cards before bed and cleaned up the major stuff (an important detail in the story), dishes, food, folded the bike trailer so nothing would mess with it and closed the camp stove.

Not long after we go to bed I am awakened by noises of pots being moved. I lie in bed and pretend I don't hear it, I don't want to get up. It stops and I doze off. Soon, I am awakened again by stuff being moved on the picnic table. Crap, now I've got to get up because I'm awake and I have to pee. I climb out of the tent and there are 3 or 4 raccoons going through our stuff. Ahhhhh! So annoying. I shoo them away, try to put the stuff away they were messing with and go back to bed. Camp is quiet for a couple of hours and then I am awakened again. This time I hear constant scratching like they're digging in something. What now?! It doesn't stop so I get up and have to pee, again. (stupid beer goes right through me!) This time they're digging in the bike trailer to get to something. I open the van and throw it in and go back to bed. By this time it's about 4:30 so I know it won't be long before the girls get up.

That first morning they were awake by 6:30. They try to be quiet but quickly get bored in the tent and we are all up and at 'em by 7:15. Breakfast, coffee, get the bikes ready and we pack for the beach. We all head over to Driftwood Beach because it's the closest one. We planned to spend a couple hours at the beach, head back to camp for lunch and then ride down to the turtle center. After the turtle center, we head back down to the beach for a little bit, make dinner, the girls watch a movie (what a life!) and go to bed. Thankfully, they're asleep by 9 after a long day.

After the first night we learned our lesson and put almost everything away after dinner. The raccoons started making appearances almost as soon as it got dark. Ha ha, nothing for you Mr. and Mrs. Raccoon. My husband and I were nearby, playing cards, while they walked within feet of us looking for food. Finding nothing, they left us alone. All of a sudden it's raining. What?? We saw stars not too long before. We had a tarp set up so no big deal, everything was already put away so we just moved our party under the tarp while it rained. I love sleeping in a tent when it's raining. It was raining steady when we went to bed but it must not have lasted too long because in the morning the ground wasn't too wet. No other raccoon events that night and we all had a good night's sleep.

Our plan for Wednesday was putt-putt, lunch at a restaurant, touring the island and the beach. We rode down to the course and I'm pretty sure it was built pre-1980 and it's exactly the same. After putt-putt and the playground, we rode around the entire island - the historic district, the island greenway, and the beach paths. (this pic is by the historic district, facing the Intercoastal Waterway) My older daughter wanted to go to the "real beach," the one that didn't have any trees on it. So, we went down to another beach and then had ice cream at the beach pavilion. We rode back to camp, made a campfire and had dinner. After dinner it was the same, we put all our stuff away, bathed the girls and put them to bed, sat by the fire, showered, had some wine and watched the raccoons search for food.

On Thursday morning the girls were awake by 7 so I grabbed the movie player and let them watch a movie in the tent while we slept in until about 8. The plan for this day was for my husband to take the little one back to the Sea Turtle Center (see previous post) while I took the big one on a bike ride. We were gone about an hour and a half, went back to have lunch, met hubby and little one, packed up and went back to Driftwood Beach for the afternoon. When we got back to camp it was the same routine: dinner, showers, campfire, s'mores, girls to bed, wine, raccoons (although there were noticeably fewer since they had not found anything at our site for 2 nights.)

Friday was departure day. We spent the morning getting organized and packing the Adventure Van. We succeeded in parking the van all week and rode our bikes everywhere we needed to go. The weather was amazing and perfect. Our only problem was the bugs. At dawn and dusk the no-seeums were terrible. One evening they were so bad we had to take our dinner in the community room. Once it started to get late in the afternoon, we were either wearing long sleeves and pants or tons of bug spray - even if the no-seeums didn't get the memo that bug spray was supposed to keep them away! The mosquitoes were annoying too but the bug spray did keep them away.

We were home by 6 on Friday afternoon. We had an amazing time and are already planning how we can make next year's trip better: staying longer, a new family tent with a mesh room and an airtight cooler for food so we don't have buy a new bag of ice everyday. We will definitely go back.