Cars, Baseball, and Cycling

CARS: Yesterday on our way home from church, the van broke down. I mean...it died. Dead. Done. (these are the terms that brought Jay to the decision: replace timing belt, pistons, engine...whatever.... I stopped paying attention after he said it would probably just be better to replace the damn thing) This means that I get a new van..... but I'm carless until then (hopefully tomorrow). I am NOT looking forward to the payments, since we haven't had one in a long time. I may be guilted into working more hours...gasp!

BASEBALL: Today in David's baseball game, he hit a grand slam (that's bases loaded, hit the ball over the fences-home run, 4 runs scored, for those of you not baseball savy). Standing ovation, high fives, screaming fans, giant smiles. It was great.

CYCLING: I had a HUGE workout on Saturday. Swam 500 yards then went cycling for 2 hours. 25 miles. Had a flat tire 8 miles in (that's why the distance is only 25 miles). Fixed it and finished the workout. Afterward I went to my fave bike shop and got aerobars for my birthday. The endorphins lasted the entire day.....I felt awesome. My heartrate stayed in the 140s the whole ride...which is perfect! I am still stoaked. No other word quite describes it. I'm excited to see how my performance in the race goes. 12 days to go.

Drama Update

After going head-to-head with the athletic director, Eric's baseball season ended early. Apparently, he can override the coach's recommendations and interpret the rules any way he wants. The Athletic Code of Conduct clearly stated that the player will be suspended for 20% of the games from the time of the infraction. The athletic director thinks that means 20% of the total season. We were willing to take it to the next level of "directorship", but the season is almost over and all the fighting will just make things worse for the little angel. Ugh. School politics are awful. It's who you know, who likes you, who you give the biggest "tax deductible donations" to, blah, blah, blah. Just like the high school social food chain. Lame! I won't rant anymore......but I'd like the school athletic departments to hear my favorite one-line-lecture, usually reserved for teenagers: Pull Your Head Out!

This past weekend, my nephew Christian got baptised, and my sister Mary came for the weekend. Jay and my kids had to go to So Cal to see sick family members, but I got to stay and hang out with Mary and Julianne. So fun!

These are Mary's pics.... my camera died, as usual. If Julianne has better ones, I'll post those later. Whatever....I hate pictures.

5 by 35... check!

Thursday was my fifth race. It was a Splash 'n Dash in Tempe Town Lake. 1000 meter swim (a little over 1/2 a mile) followed by a 3k run. It was harder than I thought it would be, hopefully because I was getting sick. It was good practice for open water swimming (ie getting kicked in the head and swam over the top of) and good practice for transition. I got some serious chaffing on my arm compounded by being kicked and scratched, but all in all it was good. I finished in the time I wanted, and my goal is now completed. I can now look forward to my May triathlon (my "A" race) and focus on getting faster and having fun (I know... weird to have triathlon and fun in the same sentence!)

I'm starting to understand why I'm into this racing thing. I love to prove people wrong. I am slow, overweight, and depressed. I shouldn't be able to race. But guess what?!? I pull my butt out of bed, get to the gym, the trainer, or out on the road. I swim twice a week. I bike twice a week. I run twice a week. I lift weights twice a week. I try to watch my diet (key word there is TRY). I take all my meds. I am still a mess. I know it, and I'm almost okay with it. I am almost okay with the fact that people look at me and judge me, incorrectly... and there is nothing I can do about it. I have to be comfortable knowing that I am doing the best I can. Sometimes I'm lame, sometimes I miss a workout, sometimes I yell at my kids. Sometimes I push myself really well at a workout, sometimes I just complete it. My house is still a mess. I'm still fat. But I work hard. I'm ALMOST comfortable in my own skin. In my world, that's a huge accomplishment for anyone. YOUR new goal: be comfortable in your own skin.

The only reason I posted this pic is so that you can see that I'm on my way to transition and there are still people in the water! Look close.......

Immediately after the race, Bekah is offering a towel. She's so sweet..... trying to figure out how she can make me feel better (I'm breathing pretty hard, probably not looking so good). She's like...Oh! She's still wet! "Here, Mom. Dry off!" It'll make everything "all better". Such a good MIT (mom-in-training).

Girls' Night Out

My friend Krista and I went to see Bon Jovi last night. It was so great! Her husband got us sweet suite tickets:) It was SO nice to get out and not have to think about or worry about kids, work, house, etc! Nothing! We ate junk food, sang/screamed, and danced though the encore. It was awesome! Bon Jovi always puts on such a great show. Plus he's so darn cute!

I brought extra batteries for my camera to be sure and get lots of good shots. I left them in the car. Smart. This is all I got before the camera died. SO FUN!

Crime and Punishment

So, my (awesome, well-behaved, perfect-NOT!) son is suspended for 5 days. He got into a fight at school. It was "self defense". The police (always on duty at the HS!) and witnesses all agree. Eric was tackled by another guy who accused him of "sayin stuff 'bout" him. Eric got in the last punches. The policeman (Officer Lively-seriously-the biggest, buffest man I've ever seen) pulled him off the kid, ripping Eric's shirt. No cuts, blood, or bruises involved. We've always taught our kids to NEVER get into a fight, but if someone else starts it, they should defend themselves and finish it. With school rules these days it doesn't matter who starts it, if you are involved at all, you are suspended. Period. No negotiation. With any luck, he won't get kicked off the baseball team, but that's still up in the air. He is now the official "slave" at our office until next Wednesday. (also the busiest week of the ENTIRE YEAR). Perfect timing.

Here's the conundrum. If it really isn't his fault, do we still punish him? The school has their part covered. What about at home? My little darling has been caught in some minor mishaps lately, causing me to doubt the trust I had in him. After all my investigating, finding that he is not at fault, do I let it go?

Frog Jumps Suck.

Last week was nuts...here are some highlights.

In 5 days, I saw 5 baseball games (two little league, three high school). I'm a hardened baseball mom, and that's a little much for me. Snooze-a-pallooza.

I went to see my trainer twice. It was the beginning of a new straighth training program (it changes every 3 weeks). On legs day, I almost puked. Seriously. On my way home I was seconds away from pulling over to the side of the road. It took some major self-talk to not toss my cookies. Two words: frog jumps. You wouldn't think that would be bad, but trying to jump your 30-pounds-over-weight butt off the ground 45 times. It will make you want to chop your legs off. Go ahead, try 5. Let me know how you feel. Really! Squat on the ground, with your bum almost touching the ground. Jump up like a frog, as far into the air as you can. Upon landing, return to the starting position and repeat....quickly. Now imagine that there are people in the room with you. You get to look that lame in front of others! Oh goody. BTW, that wasn't the only exercise in my hour-long session. Just the one that I hated, and sucked at, the most. And my legs still hurt (4 days later). I get to do it again tomorrow. Yea, me.

I had my usual other tri-training sessions, too. 1 swim, 1 plyometrics, 2 runs, 3 bikes. My favorite was Saturday morning's bike ride. I made Jay go with me. We rode to our favorite breakfast spot (Paradise Bakery) first, fuelled up, then headed out for 20 miles. Wowza. That was tough. But invigorating. As you can guess, breakfast was the best part. A close second-best-part was the I did it! feeling when we got home.

With less than 2 weeks left before our big tax deadline, of course, there was lots of work, too. At the end of the long week filled with work, kids, and training, we had to work some more. After our ride on Saturday, Jay and I went into the office for a while. NOT a fun way to spend the weekend. He had to bribe me with Pei Wei, but the work that needed to get done, got done. Add in Costco, Albertsons, yard work, laundry, argueing with teenagers, and getting the house to a point where it doesn't look like the victim of looting. That was the weekend.

This next week is going to be equally busy. More intense training (May 10th will be here before I know it), LOTS of taxes, LOTS of baseball. Nothing exciting, just a lot of it. Typical. Jealous? I didn't think so.

NAMI 5k

So, the race turned out lame. I think I came in seventh. Truly. There was a starting line, a finish line, the streets were closed, and I got a shirt. That's about the end of "race" detail. There was a pack of little boys running with their coach (they were first) and another lady in a sports bra who finished a minute or so before me. That's it. I think everyone else was walking, or maybe strolling. I passed one lady who was alternating jogging and walking (like me) and two teenage boys who were sprinting, passing me, and then stopping for a rest. I think the course was cut short, too. I finished in 29 minutes, and I don't run fast enough for that to have been 3 miles. We asked someone after I finished about the length of the course and they had no idea. Whatever. I got in a good run, passed a couple of people. That's good for the ego.

Some people from church ran a 5K in Anthem the same day. I should have signed up for that race. This one was for "a cause" so I figured it'd be good. Lame.

These ladies started the race. Everyone was just walking behind them. I couldn't really start until I saw someone go around them.

It looks like I need to work on my form:)

4 races down, 1 to go!