Last day as a slacker

After 10 days of being on "staycation", I have to go back to work tomorrow. Not much to show for my time off other than a few new sewing projects, and several different paint colors on our fireplace. I had grand plans of painting our living/dining area, but should have known that wasn't going to happen since it takes me months to pick a color. Here's a quick recap of last weekend:

Saturday - Helped Christy and Taylor set up for Dylan's 2nd birtday party. We couldn't stay for the actualy kid-fest, so we figured we'd help with the pre-party activities. Grabbed a quick lunch and nap at home before the Twilight 4-miler that we both were running in. The race started at 6:30 and it was f-ing hot. I finished in about 36 minutes (boo), but boy wonder Steve finished in 31:24.

Sunday - Went out for an 8-miler since I didn't get a long run in on Saturday. Made a brunch of tomato/feta omelettes and crepes w/ strawberries. Headed over to Helen's for some swimming time with the family and to celebrate Randy's 17th birthday. The Grassi/Ronquillo/Mitchell clan then headed to Outback for more face stuffing. The end.

Postcards Please!

Highlight of my day: a postcard from Maricel. Yes, I know it's from VA, but who cares! One of my favorite things in life is getting postcards.

Funky Foot

I was going through some old files and found this xray of Steve's right foot. It was taken after he dislocated it during a softball game on 6/23/2005 - the only game I went to that entire season; so much for me bringing good luck. If it isn't obvious to you, his foot is facing the wrong direction.

I hate goodbyes

Today is my last day at the company I've been with for 7 years. I can't help but be a little sad to leave since I really did have fun there at one time and have met some really incredible people. So I have to keep reminding myself that it's not the same place that it was when I started and will never be that place again. I think goodbyes suck because you either know that you're chances of seeing the person are slim to none. Or because your relationship will forever be changed because of some life-changing event like when your friend marries someone you can't stand, or has a kid, or has a sex change (not that that's ever happened to me, but I'd imagine it would be weird).

1st Track Workout of the Season

Timed mile at 7:35. 2 x 800s at exactly 3:45 each. 3 x 400s at 1:50, 1:49, 1:44. Hard. Must eat. Must stretch.

Latest Tri Recruits

Randy (Steve's 17 yr old nephew)

and Mike (Helen's boyfriend)

did their first tri in Manassas today. Steve is very proud to have spread the "triathlon love" to these two unsuspecting people. Randy's girlfriend Ashley is already considering trying one in the near future. I figure that if Steve is able to get other people into triathlons, I can fend off his and his buddies efforts to pull me into their addicting little sport for a little while longer.

New Hampshire Recap

Pictures from the weekend on Shutterfly for those of you who hate reading.

Friday - Steve, Nina (one of his tri buddies), and I started our 10 hour trek to Laconia, NH at 6:40ish in the morning. With the exception of some traffic right outside of Boston, we made pretty good time and got to the Lighthouse B&B where about 10 of us were staying around 5:30/6:00. After a quick pizza dinner, we all hit the sack so that we could get up early to watch the International distance tri that some people we knew would be racing in the next morning.

Saturday - Blueberry pancakes with REAL maple syrup (not the fake processed crap that we're used to) were on the menu for breakfast. The gang then headed to Wellington State Park to catch the tri which was supposed to start at 7:30. Because of the dense fog, they delayed the race start about an hour since you couldn't see the buoys much less a swimmer in trouble.

After the race, a few people decided to test out the 58 degree water in preparation for the half-ironman race the next day. A few of them had their wetsuits, while a few unfortunate/crazy ones took the dip "sans suit". Judging by the look on Steve's face, I'm gonna guess it was a shock to the system.

Oh! Spotted a black bear as we were driving. I thought it was a big black dog at first so no, I don't have pictures.

Sunday - 4:00 am came much too quickly and we were on the road by 4:45. The good news was that it was warmer than the previous day which made the water a whole 2 degrees warmer. The bad news is that it made for a hell of a hot run by the time most of our group started their run. It was probably around 92 by noon and they were handing the athletes sponges soaked in ice water to help keep them cool. We heard that quite a few people were treated for heat-related issues, but fortunately it wasn't anyone from our group. Anyway, Steve finished in just under 7 hours. Not as well as he had hoped, but pretty darn good considering the conditions.

Steve and I hit the Town Dock for dinner and I grabbed a scoop of chocolate chip and pistachio ice cream from the ice cream shop next door. $1.50 for two ginormous scoops that they called "kiddie" size. I love NH.

Monday - Egg souffle day at the B&B. Then it was off to the beach for some R&R. A few of us hit the Town Dock for a dinner of lobster rolls, mussels, and other yummy things. Topped this off with chocolate chip (my favorite) and expresso brownie swirl ice cream.

Tuesday - Back to VA just in time for a thunderstorm that caused the temp to drop from 103 to about 71 in about 15 minutes.