All you gotta do is "TRI"

I am really doing it. I officially registered for the Sprint Triathlon I started training for at the end of April. The race is on November 1 and I am so excited and pumped. It has been 29 years since I last competed in any type of organized race.

This is a clipping from my dad's company newsletter. My dad was an avid runner back in the 70s and one Saturday morning he was getting ready to go run a 10k around Lake Powell. I asked him if I could do it, too, and he said sure. I was only seven years old and really had no concept that the race was over 6 miles. I ran my heart out and walked a lot. I can still remember coming up the last hill where I could see the finish line and there was my dad waiting for me so we could cross together. I was in last place and there were tons of people cheering for me as I finished. I don't remember what my time was but I do remember the feeling that I finished and I was so proud of myself.

Training for this triathlon has helped me to remember that confident little seven year old girl who wasn't afraid to "tri". I have realized lately that I have held myself back in lots of areas because of fear of failure or that I wouldn't be able to do something like everyone else. I have decided to start doing the things I want to do and forget about the labels I have put on myself. I can be me!!! Wow, what a concept.

So, I am plugging away everyday with my training and I am so pumped. It is not always easy, especially when that alarm clock goes off. Fortunately, I have the greatest training partners in Amy, Mary Jane and Lisa. They keep me going and my friendships with them have helped me in more ways than they will know. Thanks, ladies!!! I can't wait to "tri" with you.

Mud washes off

Two weekends before school started we decided to head back to the ranch for a final hurrah of the summer. We planned to stay for three days but ended up staying eight when the A/C went out in our house. We had to replace the whole unit and I decided to forgo 110 degree weather and no A/C, so I stayed at the ranch until the new unit was in. We were so lucky we had a fun, cool place to be.

The weather at the ranch was perfect with daily rainstorms and 78 degree temps. What more could you ask for? We also had fun riding the ranger, seeing horses, listening to coyotes, viewing stars (the kids said they had never seen so many stars in the sky), playing games and having mudball fights. That last activity came one afternoon when we had a huge gulley washer. When the rain stopped, we were left with water running everywhere and tons of mud. Albert jokingly asked me if they could play in the mud. I immediately said, "Sure, let's do it." She didn't think I would say yes and they were all so excited to get dirty. (You can tell that I had been at the ranch a few days and I was quite relaxed at this point.) Anyway, the kids played in the mud for two hours and even Cupcake got in on it. These pictures do not do justice to how dirty they all got. They were literally stained with mud. It was a great time and definitely one of the small and simple things I hope they will always remember.

Just catching up a little...

It's been a while and I have had a lot of things on my mind to post about. Some of them, I am saving for later but I thought I would do a quick post to catch up.

I can't believe that summer is over and we already have two weeks of school under our belts. Here are the kids on the first day of school. I just have to point out Albert's black and white polkadot shoes. She begged me for these shoes. The "mother" part of me kept telling her that they weren't practical for school and she shouldn't get them, but the "girl who loves shoes" part of me thought they were so cute. The mother voice was overruled and she got to wear her new, fun shoes on the first day. Should have listened to my mother voice because the school nurse called me around lunch time asking me to bring Albert some sneakers because she had so many blisters on her feet. It's just the price of being a girl and Albert is more than willing to pay it!! Ha!

We had a great summer and I loved being able to do fun stuff with the kids and just have a relaxed pace. At the end of July, my sister and brother-in-law, Donna and Wayne, and their family came to town and we got to hang out a little. We went to the Museum of Natural History and the kids had a great time with their cousins. If you haven't haven't seen the "poop" exhibit, you have to go. It's only here for another month. Since we are members at the museum, my kids have seen it several times and they love it...very informative and educational!!!

My nephew and Albert panning for gold

Donna was a good sport to pose in front of this exhibit!

Cupcake gets entertained by her cousin in the Discovery Center

Cousins inside a meteor.

Smiling faces at the end of a fun day!