It's Official...

We're ready.

This weekend each of our workouts was longer than each of our legs on race day.
We swam 1.5 miles and then got dressed and biked 74 miles yesterday (yep...I knocked last week's longest ride ever out of the water by adding another mile and a half to this week's ride) and our Saturday 16 mile "beer" run obviously went splendidly.

We have two more long workouts - next Saturday is a 60/10 brick and HOORAY...it's supposed to be HOT here. Well...Oregon in Spring "hot"...maybe close to 80 degrees?? and then the following Saturday is Bull Run. That will be worth a whole post on it's own.

I feel good. I am getting tired of the long days - I left for the lake at 8:15am yesterday and didn't arrive home until 5:30pm. Yay for fun! Grrr for family.
My legs feel super strong.
My throat is kind of sore today...so I'm hoping it goes away as quickly as it arrived.
1 million and 1 things running through my brain. 1 million and 1 things on my "to do" list. 1 million and 2 excuses I can come up with to put them all off...
I'm heading to bed with, I'm sure, dreams of race day in my head...

Q: How do you know your date with a triathlete is half over?

A: She says "but enough about me - wanna hear about my bike?" 

Q: How do you know if there is a triathlete at your party? 

A: She'll tell you.

Soon...very soon...the tri talk will cease...

somewhat...

Monday Morning Dance Party

Today's MMDP is dedicated to the lovely Michael , who has been trying to get me to play these guys for over a month now ;-)


YouTube wouldn't let me embed the original MTV Video,

but here's their Grammy performance which showcases the dance moves even more! Grab your shoulder pads and let's practice our steps.

Will Run 16 Miles For Malt Liquor

There is nothing better than starting your Saturday 16 mile run with some dynamic stretching...

...and cute boys...

...who are serving warm malt liquor...

...because we all know what water does to you...

Energy bars make you gassy, Gatorade cures baldness, Malt Liquor eases muscle pain and Water causes hallucinations.

 You be the judge...did we make the right choice at 14 miles into our run?
A few minutes of burning bubbles in my tummy were cured by a couple of sugary orange slices and we ran to the finish line with tons of energy.

So, I know... I know...my evening before long workout drinks have now actually infiltrated the workouts themselves. But who am I to argue the benefits of such golden goodness?

My longest run since 2006!! WOOT!

The Day She Drank Vancouver Lake

I've missed the last two open water swims due to family commitments, so I was determined to get out to Vancouver Lake last night to join the team in a leisurely, if rainy, swim. When I arrived, someone tried to tell me that the temperatures of the lakes we've been swimming in have ranged between 46 and 56 degrees (which I just verified) and all of my warm thoughts flew away into the cloudy skies. Here I've been thinking I've been in 60+ water and the placebo effect was downright wonderful.

I could see from the shore that it was really choppy, but I had NO IDEA! As I entered the lake and put my head down into the water, it occurred to me that I would need earplugs today...See!...I haven't been using my ear plugs at all this year and I've been fine, but now someone puts into my head how cold it is and my mind starts playing tricks on me. Generally at Vancouver Lake we swim a large circle around these poles...

The water goes in quite a ways more up the shore right now and...in fact, I don't believe there was even a sandy shore last night - it went straight into the grass. I don't know...it's maybe a 300-400 meter loop?? The inside of this loop near the shore was not smooth, but didn't look too horrible... but as soon as I rounded the corner out into the main part of the lake, the waves hit! Look...there I am...can you see through all that pounding water ;-)

Everytime I looked up...ALL I saw was water...water..and more water...

No sighting possible.

I felt like I was in the ocean. Worst...and Best swim ever.
The first loop I was so scared I peed all over myself. Wait a minute...I always pee all over myself...never mind. But the second loop, I took in about 2 gallons of water within two breaths and had a minor panic attack and had to tread water while a teammate laughed at me! Laughed at me! What the heck is he doing laughing at me?? Some friends I have =D   It WAS pretty funny. Laugh or cry funny. There was nothing to do but laugh and have fun...or go back to shore with the pussycats.

By the third loop, I had gotten pretty good at how to handle it all and by the fourth loop, I was so tired of fighting the waves that I started to take in lots of water again. Every other breath was a mouthful of water and me stopping to find my bearings. The fifth loop I could barely swim I was so tired and waterlogged.

I survived.
I'm well hydrated.
But...I'm apparently not ready for an ocean swim yet.

I feel stronger for the experience.

What is your worst, best, or craziest open water swim?

Two Hip Cooks

I don't cook much and what I do is pretty simple fare. Steve does cook...on occasion. When he does, it's always really good!
I read a great review of Hipcooks on Lisa's Blog last September, just in time to buy a gift certificate for a cooking class for Steve's birthday.

We finally got around to using it last night for their Healthy Fresh and Zingy 3 class. I was a little disappointed that out of all the classes, he chose this one. I would have gravitated more towards the Greek or Moroccan or Thai One On class, but I was in for a treat.

On the menu was

• Veggie spring rolls
• Wild salmon stuffed with oyster mushrooms
• Warm salad of roasted asparagus, new potatoes and pine nuts
• Very Berry Souffle

 ALL...SO...GOOD!!! Who knew I could be such a great chef?
When we arrived, we donned our aprons...

...and then got straight to our knife handling skills part of the class. Steve was excited for me to partake in this, since my go-to knife for chopping vegetables is our bread knife. It cuts and dices them so nice and fine and I've been convinced that our other knives don't do as good of a job.

I was excited to get the knife work done, because I had heard from our instructor, Cheyenne...

that once the knives were put away, the wine would come out! I know, I know...but it feels kind of weird to be cooking without enjoying a sip of wine while puttering around in the kitchen.  Besides, it's a nice social lubricant for 13 strangers :-)

We enjoyed our spring rolls early on but then spent quite a bit of time doing more prep work and cooking before sitting down to dinner and more drinks. It took 13 of us hipcooks and 3 hours, but we got the job done...and did it well. I had never cooked with rice paper before but we used it on the spring rolls and also on the salmon! After we stuffed the salmon with our incredibly delicious mushroom mixture, we wrapped each piece in rice paper for cooking. It gave the salmon a nice crunchy texture all over that was so divine!  The potato "salad" was DIVINE! Divine, I say! The berry souffle?
Divine.
Of course.

I am now one Hip Cook!
What Fun! I'll be back for more of their classes, for sure!

What The Flowers USUALLY look like in late May

I thought I should entice you all to visit Oregon with some better pictures of this hike than I was able to capture in my photos in the post below...

It is truly a sight to see! I might even be convinced to go up again in a couple weeks. My quads are rejecting this idea at the present moment...

Dog Mountain

Yesterday, we finally made our annual Mothers Day trip up Dog Mountain. We've been waiting for sunshine (or at least no rain...) and for the wildflowers to come in. We decided we could wait no longer and were pleasantly surprised with decent weather, but the flowers won't come into full bloom for a couple more weeks I would guess.

Still made for a great day! 3.7 miles up and then 3.7 miles back down of pretty strenuous hiking. My legs are toast after the last 5 days. We're never sure what we'll get when we summit. Some years it's too windy and cold to stay long, one year we hit snow, last year we sunbathed in excessive warmth and this year was just right. Much of the morning clouds had disappeared. We could see Adams through some trees, the top of Hood and a very little part of St. Helens, which still had a lot of cloud cover. It was warm enough with a jacket to lay back and eat our lunch and stare at the sky...and the mountains...and the river...and all that He created.

This Run Fueled By Grain Alcohol...

...and fruit of the vine.
I should probably commit to NO MORE alcohol until after my race on June 25th, but we all know that I don't like to be told what to do - even by myself - so using reverse psychology, I made a pact this morning to drink in excess every day from now until the race. There. Let's see if that works.

Seriously, though, today's run was spectacular. You know that Saturday was the epic 72.5 mile bike ride. I looked on my calendar and saw that the following morning I was supposed to swim 1.5 miles and then run 13-15 miles...after a night of drinking wine to send off a friend to a new state who decided the last minute that we meant too much to her and canceled the move!

Besides...I had promised the wee girl a lunch date at Panera...

...and a movie

...and then a slumber party.

The run HAD to wait.

So...that movie seemed like it should be accompanied by wine?? and there happened to be a new bottle in the fridge...
At least I slept well.

I wasn't sure how today's run would go...so I picked an out and back where I knew I would probably be able to make it out 6.5 miles without concern and then would HAVE to make it all the way back or be stuck in the middle of nowhere on foot. It worked.

There would have been no problem, though, as this run was excellent. I felt great and my legs felt fresh the whole time. I kept a 9:48 avg pace and basically giggled out of sheer joy that I was running pain free. It is interesting to note that I went in to this run quite nervous because my 5 miler on Friday was so ...not great. How can a 13.1 miler in the cool clouds be QUITE A BIT EASIER than a 5 miler in the sun?
I felt like sludge on that run...that run in the sun...

Which brings me to Pac Crest. It's hot there. It will most likely be in the upper 80s to upper 90s by the run leg. I guess that would be ok if we ever got to train in the heat, but we don't. It is the ONE thing about this race that is currently worrying me. I know that worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have...but I'm pretty sure...
it's going to be

come race day.

Monday Morning Dance Party

Kerri at TutuRunner PRd at her half marathon in May, wearing a beautiful green and yellow tutu that has since made it's way to Oregon to it's permanent home with this OREGON DUCK family.

The tutu arrived with a note requesting that I might like to put up a Lady Gaga song one of these Mondays for her Grandma Betty.
Kerri's Grandma passed away the same weekend as the race and she lost in her words "the most honest, no-frills, loving, giving,
level-headed, big-hearted person that i know" 

Well...she sounds just wonderful and I wondered how in the world this woman got caught up in the Gaga hype enough to actually like her??

p.s. I am NOT a Lady Gaga fan.

I agreed to this request, though, based on Betty's lovely qualities and out of respect to her. When I cautiously asked Kerri which Lady Gaga song would make the best choice for this morning, she responded with THIS STORY...that cleared up a lot, made me love Betty even more, and so here you go...
if you like this b!tch (you've got to go read Kerri's story above!! Right now!) , then listen to the following Gaga song. The only one I really know is Paparazzi...and that's only 'cause it's on our Kidz Bop 17 CD. I picked Poker Face because I could actually let Mai watch most of the video when she was helping me pick the song.



If you lean more towards the kind of music Betty and I like...tune in here... Let's rock everybody, let's rock!

The Longest Ride

Let me start by saying that yesterday was a MAGNIFICENT day. The sun was finally making an appearance in Portland and I was done with my work by about 10:30am. I spent much of the day running in the sun, driving in the sun with my SUN ROOF in use, and generally being happy with THE SUN! Then I made the horrible mistake of taking one last business call after business hours and had someone call me all kinds of names and generally try to ruin my groovy mood. It worked. Then, Mai reminded me that I had promised to take her to a friend's Scentsy Party. Grrr....I am really NOT into candle parties...
...until now!

When we arrived, I was offered tequila or vodka. Oh...vodka...take me away! What a fun party. The men grilled some great steak and we all just talked and talked and drank and talked some more and then smelled a couple of candles :-)

When I arrived home way past bed time and realized I hadn't even bothered to get ready for my 72.5 mile bike ride today, I panicked...briefly...then hit the hay.

From Cherry of a Ride in April

The morning came quickly and I was off to Washington state for a ride around Clark County. We killed it! My group of 4 were in the zone and it was a simply great ride. At about 62 miles, Michele led me on a pretty good pick me up mile. A little later she had me zooming it up again for another speedy mile. It felt great to be able to really pick up the speed that late in the ride and gave me some confidence that I've been needing. The last little bit up to Hani's house was a really hard hill and then we arrived to find his wife had beer on ice for us...and about 10 hot pizzas. Oh. My. Goodness.

I rolled into Jack's baseball game in time to see him hit a double and witness one truly happy 8 year old dancing up a storm on 2nd base. I was stinky and sweaty and cold because today the sun is NOT shining. A quick trip home to shower and then out for a going away party for a friend. What a great time catching up with old friends. The kids were so good and let us stay and play for a few hours and now it's time for some serious couch potatoing.

I did my longest ride ever today.
72.5 miles of awesomeness. Dare I say it? It felt fine. Good even. I'm happy.

The Open Water...and....Who Are You?

Have I ever told you how much I love open water swimming?
I know that from previous posts you might think I'm afraid of it. I'm not. What I'm afraid of is my wetsuit. The first time or two I put it on, I feel like my breathing is constricted, like my arms aren't moving correctly and then once the panic sets it...everything else is magnified...like my husband telling me there are over 1 million fish in Hagg Lake and that bringing up into my mind how many dead bodies might have been tossed in over the years.

But lap swimming in a pool cannot even compare to the joy of swimming out in the open. Whether it is rain splashing down on you or the brilliant sunshine...or a nice sunset...

...it is an amazing feeling to Not. Stop. At. The. Wall. Every. 20something. Strokes.

I remember someone saying during my first tri season that they wished the whole race were a swim. I thought that they were loco. But after a really really really tough first season of learning to swim, it finally all came together for me and the swim was a great leg that first year...and now I wish the whole race were the swim. I wish at the very least, they would move the swim to the end, 'cause it is hot as hell once you hit leg three of Pac Crest...but more on that later.

I almost didn't post this next picture because...well...geez...I could have smiled or woke up or... something. I do know I was stressed out from the garage sale happenings...and ready for bed!

The funny thing about this picture is it took me 10 minutes to figure out who that was on the far right. So many people on the team and you see them in so many different sweaty and funny ways that when you do finally see them in street clothes with their hair done, it's kind of freaky. In fact, one night Kelly (the beautiful short girl) was telling me how ironic she found it that that very morning she had run into a fellow teammate in a random McDonald's bathroom on the way out to a training ride. "What are the chances", she said?
I said "that was me". She said "no it wasn't". I said "yes...yes it was".
"No! It wasn't. I talked to her", she protested.

Oh brother...it WAS me. And...I wasn't even wearing a swim cap or helmet at the time...just my morning face. YIKES!

They Tried To Kill Me...

but they couldn't drop me.

Oh boy! Four of us to start, five by the end.
2 Ironwomen, 2 Ironmen, and this silly mutha.

When I talked with Michele this weekend, I remember she said something about doing hills on Tuesdays from here out, but in her e-mail to me she said " no cue sheet, we will go together and it is pretty easy." and it even had a smiley face at the end.


So...in my mind, I picked up on the "and it is pretty easy" and paid no attention to this part "Out to Hwy30 and then up McNamee, down Newberry and then back here. Ride should be about 2:30 or less."

We gathered at Michele's and I was reminded of the hill (one of the "four b!tches" that we will be apparently be riding during these Tuesday rides in the next month) by my friends, and off we went.

First, we head out to HWY 30 and I'm keeping up ok but enjoying every red light until we get there. Once we hit the HWY, they took off like greased lightning and I just held on for dear life. Once I started to fall a little behind (but not really by much!) and Carly pulled back to pick me back up into the line. I kept alternating between wanting the hill to get here so we could just stop riding so freaking fast and wondering if I would even have the steam to conquer the hill once we got to her. It seemed every time I looked down at my odomoter, it read 23mph. Holy Cr@p!

We finally reached McNamee and up we went. It was tough, but not so tough I didn't think I could do it. I kept up well here. Carly was much faster than us and this is where we picked up Scott, who was also much faster...I think he had been doing hill repeats while he waited for us to arrive :p

On the way down Newberry, they dropped me. I don't mind myself a little downhill but I was riding with Tim, who apparently can't change a flat very well, but who clocks 57mph on his downhills without batting an eye. I was keeping my eye on my speedometer which was at about 30mph and the road signs that were telling me to slow down to 10mph and trying to just survive. We all gathered at the bottom and headed home. My legs have not been this sore from a ride in a LOOOOONG time!

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...right? Right!

Don't Be Such A Wuss Bag

I don't particularly like riding my bike. I mean, I like a nice leisurely ride around Sunriver on a cruiser or out with the kids on the bike path...maybe even a 20 miler with friends, but this 50, 60, 70 mile crap is ridiculous. It hurts. It takes a long time. It hurts...
...and I'm not very good at it. I'm low moderate. That's the part I hate the most. If I was strong and fast, I might enjoy myself more, but as it is, I mentally beat myself up ride after ride.

So when I arrived at the lake swim Sunday morning (in the pouring rain) and saw that only about 8 people showed up and only 4 with bikes and those 4 are in training for Canada Ironman...I was a little perturbed. I had seen the cue sheet and it was lengthy. I knew that I could not keep up with these guys and would more than likely get lost - plus the whole "group" ride thing would become a solo ride - not something I really want to do for 70 miles.

The swim was great. I felt strong for all 1.5 miles... although underfed. The swim started late and we took longer than I had planned. Then we tried to get dry and warm before heading off on our bikes, which set us back an extra 45 minutes. By the time we got on the road, I knew that making my Mother-in-law's birthday dinner on time was in deep jeopardy. More people (swim wusses) showed up in time for the bike but skipped the cold wet swim and as I scanned the crowd, I realized that I now had about 5 Ironman finishers and 5 Canada Ironman in training people to contend with on this very dreary day. BUT...two more people showed up that I could hang with, so off we went. Stop and go. Stop and go. I hate these kinds of rides. Finally fell into somewhat of a groove around mile 40...only to have someone flat and we all held back to wait, which was to our detriment. We got so cold...and he had such a hard time changing the flat with cold wet fingers. 15 minutes later, with the tube finally in place, he broke the stem trying to pump it up. Start over. By this time, I knew that 70 miles was not happening for me on this day. I could not let down the family, so I scooted back to the lake with only 45 miles on my odometer. Most people only went 10 miles further, so I don't feel too bad. I know that with the big party fundraiser the night before and weather conditions as they were, probably not too many of the team even got out to ride that day.

But this brings me back to my riding skills. I made a commitment to start riding on Tuesday nights with a couple of friends. After Sunday's ride and seeing the great riders holding back to hang with us slower riders was of course viewed by me as a nice effort on their part, but also makes me mad at myself for holding them back from an all out strong fast ride. It made me want to tell my Tuesday night people that I'm out. I don't want to hold them back...but I also know that if I commit to these Tuesday rides, I WILL become a stronger rider...like they are!

Tonight it is just me and two of THE strongest female riders I know. I'm sure I'll get dropped, but I'm tired of being this wussy about the whole thing. I know they will make me a stronger rider, too... so I'm going. And then...since we won't be done until after the kids are already in bed, I'm going to join them in a nice hot tub and I'm going to try to let some of this stress, that is mounting daily, slip away.

I'm at that point where it has just become too much. We all need a nice summer break and it cannot get here soon enough!! 38 more days. Just 38 more days. I can do this, right? RIGHT!

Monday Morning Dance Party

Thanks for taking over the song choice for me this week!

Due to popular request :-)

You get to choose your favorite version.
Will.I.Am


or The Original

Mock Tri and A Successful Garage Sale

Remember Baby Katelyn? She was born early at 1 pound 6 ounces. She is a fighter and she is 2 months old now and weighs 3 pounds 6.5 ounces. God is Good!! Isn't she beautiful! Every day my cousin and aunt give us updates and pictures and it has just been amazing to witness how far this sweet baby has come. Her due date has still not even arrived yet and she's already 2 months old. This blows my mind! Continued prayers are needed as she is having trouble with one of her eyes, which could lead to blindness. Please remember Katelyn in your prayers. I was so sad to miss her baby shower this weekend :-(

This week was SO busy. My mom, my Aunt Nadine, and my Mother-in-law are ROCK STARS!! I could not have done this fundraiser garage sale without them. We spent all day Thursday getting it organized and priced. Friday was not as busy as I had hoped it would be, but still a success. Yesterday, I had my first triathlon of the season so Mom and Gloria ran the whole thing until I got home at 2pm. We raised $1006 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and were able to donate some furniture to a couple who were trying to set up an abused woman in her new apartment. What a successful fundraiser!!

Every year, the Portland Tri Club puts on a "mock" tri up at Vancouver Lake. You can choose to do the sprint or olympic distance, but we all do the same swim - which was about 1/2 mile this year. If you do the oly distance, it is an out and back TWICE on the bike and out and back TWICE on the run. I do not like this one bit. 

I was rather disappointed with my time AND how I felt during this race. My swim was fine. The start was crazier than a usual tri. I think because its the first tri of the season and lots of people new to triathlon do this race, it's always a bit of a mad rush to get around that first buoy. I was kicked A LOT - in the face, the legs, the crotch - everywhere and often. I eventually swam out of my way and found a little pocket to myself finally and it was all good.

The ride started good but it was the first time I hadn't worn pants during a ride. I generally will wear either really short thin tri shorts or my running shorts under my wetsuit during a race. Both of these are short shorts and so the skin of my thighs is rubbing the bike seat. I totally forgot to body glide myself so I had some chafing going on with both legs. I was also having some trouble in my sitting area so it was just pretty unpleasant the last 10 miles. I was glad to be off the bike.

The run was where I really never got into my groove. I felt I was plodding along the whole time. First mistake was not hitting the restrooms. They were too far away and I didn't want to bother - but that meant running the entire run with a full bladder. I also did not bring my foam roller and totally regretted that one. It has been working wonders for me to roll out my back real quick at T2. Lesson learned.

Swim was short @ 1/2 mile.
Swim:0:12:00
T1:  0:02:15
Bike: 1:36:00
T2: 0:02:00
Run: 0:58:45
Total time: 2:51:00

I crossed the finish line with my new friend, Lisa. We hugged. I frantically gathered all my stuff and headed back down to Portland to finish off the garage sale. We had planned to stop around 2pm but ended up selling stuff right up until almost 5pm. Got all the borrowed tables back to the golf course, had some wine, and slept like a log.

Today is an open water swim followed by a 65-70 mile bike ride...
...and it's raining. Grrrr.

Vegas Is For Reading Bibles and Bed Hopping

When you are in high school, you are very lucky if you find even just one friend that gets you. Totally gets you. Or doesn't always get you, but loves you despite that other stuff.
They make you laugh and they make you cry and they remain friends even after the simple days of childhood leave you...

Holy hairdo.

and the wild stuff begins.

Always willing to go camping with you even though she's more of a "city girl"...

I think that case of Hamms in the bottom of the picture helped.

Drags you to Mexico in little house on the prairie dresses to go drinking and dancing...

THAT was a long day!

Makes regular trips to Vegas with you to read the bible...

and bed hop...

What did you think I meant??

and then grows old with you...on the stoop...just talking...and being together...

And today, I've set a date to go visit this great friend of mine in July down in SoCal.
July can't get here soon enough.
So - I don't travel much. Where's the best place to get great deals on flights?

Also...did you see that The SockDoc called me "hard core" over at misszippy's today? But...I don't think he was saying it in a positive manner (hmph!). In fact, today I thought at about mile 3 that I should stop at mile 5 due to my ankle (and butt) hurting and thought to myself, "well, Julie, that is very smart of you". Then I thought about Alex and all that he's going through with his new diagnosis of Leukemia and I said to myself "Don't be a quitter. Alex can't quit. Neither should you". So you see...it's not that I don't want to rest and let my injury heal, it's that I have promised to do this race and raise money for the LLS and until I accomplish that, there is a huge problem with me resting (my mind calls it quitting). HOWEVER...I am taking The SockDoc's advice under advisement.


I used my first iPhone app today. Well, it's not the first one to be put on my phone, because I see that some young child had already added a fart app - but it was MY first app ~ Nike+GPS. I used it on my 7 miler today and it tracked the mileage magnificently but it said I maintained a 10:00m/m pace...and that just must be wrong ;P
Does anyone else use Nike+GPS. Do you like it or is there something better out there I should be trying to find?

Out With The Old, In With The New

I feel like a kid at Christmas with all the great gifts I've received in the last week!
When I was down at the Eugene Half, I arrived to find this on the guest bed from my mom...

She found it at the Eugene Expo. I haven't run in it yet, but I've worn it to the gym and it's like I'm wearing nothing, it's so comfy.

...and then at the bloggy meetup, I was treated with candy from Kim, but it's long gone. The chocolate from Raina has also been eaten, but this little guy...

...sits on my tub, just waiting for me to take ice baths with him.

When I returned from Eugene, this...

...was packed away in my stuff. Mom strikes again!

Of course, Sunday was Mothers Day, but since I would be out swimming in the rain in the lake, the kids gave me my presents on Saturday night. Jack drew an eerily accurate picture of me..

...and requested it be on the mantel with all the other family pictures.

Mai got me flowers....

and although it arrived a day late and made the man a bit perturbed, when it did arrive on Monday, Mama was happy indeed....

a new iPhone! My old Palm Treo was falling apart and I lost my iPod a couple of weeks ago - it was also falling apart. The kids couldn't hold it in any longer on Saturday when the package didn't arrive in the mail and very conspiratorially told me that they were waiting for my "gourmet chocolates" to arrive. I see someone (very rightly so) did not trust them to keep a secret.

My Mothers Day swim went...well, it went swimmingly. Well...more so than in previous years. I did a 6 mile run out at the lake prior to the swim, thinking it would calm me down - take off some nervous energy - and help wear me out a bit so I wouldn't try to swim too fast and freak myself out when I couldn't breathe. We were swimming in a triangle that totaled about 700 meters. The first half of the first triangle side, I felt pretty good and thought I wasn't going to freak out, but then in the 2nd half of that side, I did freak out...but kept my head down and kept on swimming through the freak. I never did have to flip over and sing lullabies to myself. After the first lap, though, I stopped. I shouldn't have because then I really started to feel freaky and I almost talked myself out of a second lap, but Erica got me back out there and the second lap went pretty good. I was swimming great, just freaking out on the inside. When I got out and was changing into my clothes, I got pretty emotional and cried a bit. I'm not sure why the first swim of the year does this to me, but I'm glad it is over for the year. And...I'm glad I've learned to swim through it and I guess next year will be even better!

After the run and swim and Saturday's big workout, I was ready for a nap, but instead we went out to Steve's sister's house and had an awesome meal of freshly caught salmon and strawberry shortcake and LOTS of other stuff... and then the men built a fire in the pit so we could roast marshmallows and make s'mores...in the rain. It was fun, but I'm dreaming about when the rain will stop and summer will arrive!

Why doesn't her mother put a coat on the poor child?

Perfectly burned.

Grandpa helping Carly get that flame out.

Jack didn't care for marshmallows, he was into frying bugs and spiders.

Check out the fence they had to tear down to make roasting sticks!

So we stood around the campfire, watching Jack burn spiders, listening to Uncle Dan tell farting stories, watching Katie try to lick marshmallow off her elbow and laughing A. LOT.

Now, it's time to get "out with the old". I'm having my fund raiser garage sale this Fri/Sat and I'm trying to get more donations of stuff to sell and trying to wash all the mounds of clothes we'll be selling and gathering up cardboard boxes to make signs out of. My mom and aunt will be here on Thursday to help out, but between now and then we are going through this house room by room, trying to find what we can live without. It's nice to "clean house" every once in a while, right?