Archive for June, 2010
7 Jun
Go, Tom, go!
We cheered for Tom as he competed in the Kansas Ironman 70.3 yesterday at Clinton Lake. He did a fantastic job, finishing strong and meeting his goal after nearly a year of training.
The swim course alone was extremely intimidating at 1.2 miles long. Tom was one of 2,000 competitors, which means a lot of flailing arms and legs in the lake. We were looking for a white swim cap–the color assigned to his heat.
There he is!
We didn’t get a great shot of Tom on the bike (he’s just too fast), but knocked off those 56 miles with relative ease. We saw him several times as the 13.1 mile run looped through the park. He said it was difficult, but he was smiling every time we caught sight of him.
Liv caught a quick nap in the shade of the finish chute while we waited. Fortunately for the athletes and spectators, the temperature was in the low 80s, instead of the mid 90s like the day before.
At the finish line with some pretty big fans.
One of the highlights of the weekend was meeting Tom’s sister Jenn (left) and seeing his sister Sarah (right) again. We had a great time getting to know them.
Seventy miles in just a few short hours–I found the whole thing incredibly inspirational. Congrats, Tom!
4 Jun
Trading stilletos for sneakers
Maybe it’s a short attention span, maybe it’s the price of having small children, but I have a bad habit of picking up new activities only to drop them a few weeks or months later. Bryan calls our guest room closet “the place hobbies go to die.” You’ll find knitting needles, oil paints and paper crafts in there, and that’s just the start.
They’ve all been abandoned for one of my more current pursuits, most of which I recently realized involve food or alcohol—cooking, beer-making, gardening and (especially) golf. I’m not saying I’m going to give those up, but I really do feel like I need to add something to the mix. Something that would be good for me.
So, a couple of weeks ago I downloaded a Couch to 5K program for my phone, and I signed up for a 5K on July 24. I reasoned it would help me better manage stress, not to mention the aforementioned food and alcohol. Plus, I just got myself a whole two hours of alone time every week!
When I started, the 5K was eight and a half weeks away, which seemed like a tight but reasonable schedule to get into some sort of shape. I’m not exactly starting from the couch, but definitely the proximity of the living room. I have to take this pretty seriously if I actually intend to run three miles (in succession!) next month.
The program, which strongly suggests training every other day, provides verbal cues over your music of choice. The first week, I started with 60 seconds of running, followed by 90 seconds of walking. Repeat for 20 minutes, and add in 10 minutes for a warm up and cool down.
This week, I’m running for 90 seconds and walking for two minutes. Totally manageable, though not entirely enjoyable. I looked ahead to next week (which starts for me on Sunday), and see that I’ll be running for three minute increments. I am afraid to look much beyond that.
I am not remotely athletic (though my new running wardrobe just might suggest otherwise). I have a pretty reasonable amount of doubt that I will be able to run the complete 5K without walking, but that’s my goal.
Given my inability to stick to much of anything, I created a new category and will post my progress here. Help keep me honest.
Two weeks down, seven to go.
3 Jun
Awkward Family Photos
This doesn’t look like an awkward family photo . . .
But check it out pre-crop.
Saying goodbye is so hard!
2 Jun
Because Mommy just can’t explain macroeconomics on the way home from the grocery store
Ava, after a trip to the supermarket: “Mom, how do you make money?”
Mom: “How do I make money, or how is money made?”
Ava: “How is money made?”
Mom: “Well, certain types of money are made with metal, and certain types are made with paper and ink.”
Ava: “Who makes it?”
Mom: “The government.”
Ava: “So when you work really hard the government gives you money for doing a good job?”
Mom (silently contemplates covering the whole state employee thing while deciding to skip right over the part about taxes): “Yes, kind of. My employer gives me money when I do my job.”
Ava: “Where does your employer get the money from?”
Mom: “Um, well, through tuition, I suppose, which students pay to go to school there.”
Ava: “And where do the students get the money?”
Mom: “With the money earned through their own jobs.”
Ava: “But where does that money come from?”
Mom: “You know what? I bet Daddy would really like to help answer some of these questions. Let’s ask him when we get home.”
1 Jun
A fishy tale
We spent Memorial Day weekend at Mom and Dave’s. Bryan and Dave did quite a bit of fishing, but the windy conditions kept the kids (and the moms) off the lake.
Ava was itching to use her fishing pole, so Bryan and Dave took her down to a little inlet nearby. Somehow, she managed to outfish both of them in pretty short order.
Using a Little Tykes fishing pole and a minnow, she caught a catfish . . . then a largemouth bass, and a drum, and then a carp.
Here she is with her bass—my mom took this photo down by the lake.
When they came back to the house, Olivia checked out their catch.
“There’s fishes in there!”
Yeah, big ones! Look at the mouth on that bass.
Here’s the whole crew:
And, in what might just be my favorite photo ever, the “largemouth bass” pose:
Thanks to Ava’s luck, Mom and Dave served up a fabulous fish fry before we left yesterday. Happy Memorial Day!
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