Lucky or Blessed?

I debated on which topic to post about today - the light-hearted funny one or the serious deep thinking one. The serious deep thinking one won out, probably because it is a drizzly, cold afternoon, an atmosphere that lends itself more to a low-key deep thinking mindset.

I've thought on and off about this topic for the last few months, and I have even started a post about it a time or to, but I could never really pull my thoughts together well enough to be able to express myself in this mode. I'm still not sure I am there, but after listening to Pastor DeNeff's sermon on Sunday, my thoughts are more clarified, and I'm going to give it a shot.

I've made it a point in my adult life to use the word blessed instead of lucky when it comes to the good fortune that I have had. For example, I am blessed with a wonderful husband and two children. I am blessed to have a roof over my head and plenty of food to eat. I am blessed to have a job that I enjoy, and so forth. To say, "I sure am lucky to have found Jason" seems so trite, and it completely puts God out of the equation - the responsibility falls to fate. And of course where does every good and perfect gift come from - from our Father up above, at least that's what the Bible says. So logic to Bible believers would say blessings are gifts from God. However, I have a few thoughts about this. First, if blessings are from God, where are curses from? Second, if I am a Christian, yet I am not experiencing blessings, am I not right with God? Third, why do "non-Christians" on the surface appear to have been blessed? Who blessed them? Fourth, why do Christians experience tragedies? Can tragedies also be from God? Or as a society, do we attribute the blessings to God and the tragedies to the fall of man?

Pastor DeNeff preached a really thought provoking sermon on Sunday, and one of the points we talked about in Sunday School was that God is not on our side. Someone in our class used the example of the angel talking to Joshua, and when Joshua asked the angel are you for us or against us, the angel answered "neither." Wouldn't you think that God would be on Joshua's side? The point our Sunday School member was making is that we are to be on God's side. So then I think, if we are to be on God's side, we should want what God wants. Well, if I should want what God wants, then how does that affect my prayer life? I think back to Judges when the people were asking for a king, and God did not want them to have a king, but they kept asking, so He gave them one. That wasn't the best choice for those people. How do I know what I am asking for is in my best interest? So then do I always only pray for God's will? That would make for a short prayer each night.

The thoughts above are a little jumbled for my liking, but I will continue to press on. While these last two paragraphs seem to talk on two different subjects, I think they are interrelated. Let's say I really want IT. So I pray for IT. I pray and pray and pray. Scenario one - I get IT. Did God bless me? Did God really want me to have IT, or am I like the people in Judges? Is God trying to further his kingdom by answering my prayer? Scenario two - I don't get IT. Is God cursing me? Is that God's will, so he denies me? Is God teaching me a lesson in patience or faith? How about windfalls? Things that I don't pray for, but fortune smiles upon me. Was that God blessing me, or did I just get lucky?

How about when non-Christians are blessed/lucky? Who is responsible for that?

Though I have so many questions on these ideas, these are my absolutes:
1.) The Bible is true
2.) Prayer can change things - if it is God's will
3.) God does have a perfect plan for my life

Here's a real simple scenario that loosely shows what I mean - the couple of minutes we didn't know where Elizabeth was last weekend, I was praying as I was running around the campgrounds. "Dear Lord, please help us find Elizabeth. Please keep her safe wherever she is" and other frantic prayers you pray in crisis. Two minutes later she is found. "Thank you Lord, thank you for protecting her." Then I think, did God cause me to find her? Did I thank him out of habit of thanking him for an anwered prayer, or did I truly believe he was the reason she was found? Had I not found her, had something tragic happened, am I as equally blessed, or was I cursed? Or does fate/luck play a lot bigger role in life than Christians give credit? Pastor DeNeff often uses the word "providence," but I have a hard time distinguishing between providence and luck, because providence is usually applied to positive things, and bad things must just be bad luck.

Then I think of the verse that says (loose Wuertley translation) families who follow God will be blessed through the generations or for a thousand years or something like that. I think of my grandparents - very godly, Christian people, devout prayer life, etc. They had two sons. One son, my father, has two children, and our immediate families have experienced relatively few hardships. The other son, my uncle, had a son die in a car crash at age 16, and the repercussions from that tragedy greatly affected that immediate family in a negative way. Was my father blessed and not my uncle? They were raised in the same household with the same heritage.

I know I stated in my very first post that I would not be speaking on spiritual matters, and my intent is not to do so, but when it is so much a part of your life, it just seeps through at times. I will end on some interesting info I found out about my 3 year old today when I came home from lunch. She was talking (to noone) and laughing, and I said, "Anna, are you being silly?" She said, "No, I'm talking to my friend." I said, "What's your friend's name." She answered, "George." This imaginary friend was new to me, but in the next few minutes, I found out lots about him by observing. #1 - Anna is faster at running than George - she won all of the races #2 - George lets Anna boss him around #3 George is not her guardian angel, because as they were playing in the window sill, she bumped the curtain, and the rod crashed into her head, and #4 George doesn't know how to start the computer games, so I had to go upstairs and help instead.

Misunderstandings

I can't believe it has been a week since my last post - time has really flown by. Of course, a lot has been going on in the Hummel/Wuertley family, but you can read about that by clicking on the Hummel link. It's amazing, but that's all I'll say because you will get so much more out of just reading their blog instead of hearing a watered down version on mine.

I have experienced a couple of funny/awkward misunderstandings in the last few days, and I must say there is a certain kind of unsettled feeling that I get when I am involved in a misunderstanding. Here's the two scenarios.

Last Thursday night I was late for blog night. Tennis had ran late, I didn't get home until 7:00, the kids hadn't eaten, and blog night officially starts at 7:00 (although unofficially it's more like 7:30.) I threw together dinner for the girls (Jason was on his own this night) and was about ready to bolt out the door when the phone rang. Now let me tell you, this post could easily turn into what I hate about call waiting and caller i.d., but maybe I will save that topic for another post. I don't want to co-mingle topics. We do have both services (not my choice,) and I do utilize the caller i.d. occasionally, but not the call waiting. Anyway, back to the story. I decided to check the caller i.d. for two reasons - 1.) if it was JoEllen or any other member of Jason's family, I was going to answer it in hopes of an update. 2.) if it was Kelley or anyone else who was going to blog night, I was going to answer it in case blog night had been cancelled. In order to see the caller i.d. on the phone, I had to take it off its base. So I picked up the phone and saw that the person calling was my friend Melissa. I like my friend Melissa, I enjoy talking to her, and I hadn't talked to her in awhile. However, since I was running late, I couldn't take the call at that moment, so as I was staring at the caller i.d. screen and therefore inadvertently speaking into the phone, I yelled to Jason in another room, "It's Melissa, I don't want to talk to her right now." Then I realized that as soon as I had picked up the phone from the base, it had stopped ringing. Oh no, I must have answered the phone without knowing it and she heard me say I didn't want to talk to her. Now what do I do? I then tried to "answer" the phone again with a hello, but there was no answer. I decided that being a little later to blog night was probably better than severing ties with a good friend, so I quickly dialed her number back. No answer. I waited a couple of seconds, then dialed again. No answer. Well, at this point what could I do, so I grabbed my cell phone and headed out the door - I would call her on my way to blog night. So I dial her number in the car...voice mail. I have several options now. One, I could just give it up and pretend it never happened. Two, I could call her back tomorrow and play dumb, saying that I saw on the caller i.d. that she had called. Three, I could leave a voice mail message saying that I had just missed her call and was now returning it. Or four, I could 'fess up to what really happened. Against my better judgment, I chose four. How does one really explain to a friend what happened in the above scenario, especially over the phone. Let me tell you from first hand experience, you can't without sounding like an idiot. But I decided sounding like an idiot was better than potentially offending a friend, so I left a message that spanned from Dairy Queen on the bypass all the way to BP on state rd 9 about how I didn't have time to talk but I inadverdently answered the phone and blah blah blah. After that voice mail I didn't know if I felt better or worse, but the damage was done and all I could do was wait. My friend did call me back the next day and the kicker....SHE HADN'T EVEN CALLED ME! Her two year old son likes to play with her phone, and she said he must have accidentally dialed me. I'm an idiot.

Scenario #2. The names of the parties involved have been changed to protect the innocent, but this story is too good not to share. It also goes hand in hand with my last post and being fearful. We camped this weekend with another family, let's call the husband and wife Brad and Angelina. Friday night was terrible traditional camping weather, but we enjoyed an evening in the camper playing games. Saturday morning the weather had cleared a little, and I was preparing the eggs in the camper for breakfast pies. Elizabeth, still in her pajamas and no socks (but wearing tennis shoes without her heel all the way in) had ventured out of the camper but came back in to get her Sudoku puzzle book. She grabbed it and left, and I assumed she went to the Pitt's camper to do puzzles with Angelina. Baby Shiloh was napping. Fifteen minutes or so went by, the eggs were done, and I noticed a strong gas smell in our camper - either Jason or I had turned on one of the burners without lighting it, so we were slowly gassing ourselves. I needed to dress Anna, so I grabbed her clothes and headed to the Pitt's to get her dressed and get Elizabeth for breakfast. Jason and I knocked. No answer. We knocked louder. Still, no answer. We opened the camper door, and the camper was empty. Jason yelled, and Brad yelled out "I'm taking a shower." Okay, Elizabeth and Angelina must be taking a walk or something, which seemed odd, because it was wet, rainy, and Elizabeth was in her pajamas. So Jason yelled out, "Where's Angelina." Brad yells back "She's in the shower, too." Oops. Two very different emotions ran through my body - fear (where was Elizabeth) and embarrasment (wow, no wonder the Pitts like to camp.) Jason and I start yelling Elizabeth's name, running around like chickens with our heads cut off, and no Elizabeth. Last ditch effort - I run to the showers at the campgrounds. I have no idea why she would be in there, because we have a toilet in our camper, but I had no other ideas. I burst into the bathroom, and there stands Elizabeth, holding her Sudoku book and leaning up against the wall. I didn't know whether to yell at her or hug her, so I yelled first, then hugged, then realized the truth - Angelina was taking a shower here in the bathhouse, not the camper. OHHHHH! So my fear and embarrasment quickly turned into relief and laughter - another misunderstanding that caused again so much stress.

I hate the feeling of frustration and embarrasment that comes with misunderstandings. I remember in the 5th grade I had just had my first perm in my hair, and my fifth grade teacher reached out to touch the curls, and I thought she wanted to give me a hug, so I tried to hug her. Very awkward, and I can't believe I still remember that. My first year of work, I went out to eat at Pizza Hut during home visits with a teacher, and we both ordered a lunch buffet, but I had water (poor newlywed) and she ordered a coke. When the bills came, she handed me the one with the coke on it. I'm too non-confrontational to speak up, so I paid for her coke. Another misunderstanding - I'm sure she didn't mean to give me the wrong receipt, but I got stuck with the buck ninety seven.

Even worse than situational misunderstandings are verbal misunderstandings - especially when you really mean what you said but you can't get across the true meaning to the listener. Yep, I've had that happen several times, too.

Then of course I have had times when I wasn't misunderstood, I just stuck my foot in my mouth. But again, another topic for another post.

Triathlon Training Update - Nope, not done one thing since the triathlon for the 2007 Mighty Mississinewa Triathlon, and I miss it. I think we are going to do the homecoming 5K. We've got plenty of time to train - it's not for another two weeks.

Holding On Too Tight...Learning To Let Go

The summer I was 10, my mom and I went to a women's church league softball game to watch one of my mom's friends play. After the game, a family friend took me home, and my mom went out to get a drink with her friend (a coke, not something from a bar.) I remember asking my mom at the ball diamond where she was going, and she jokingly said "We're going to Oregon." I went home, had a bath, and was ready for bed, and my mom still had not returned home. I was used to my dad getting home late due to coaching responsibilites and evening games, but my mom was never out this late, and I was getting really concerned. I was thinking that maybe she really did leave us and go to Oregon, or maybe she was in a car accident. Of course, eventually she came home that evening (you know how it is when two women go out for a drink and get to talking, especially away from the kids,) and after seeing my distraught face and understanding how scared I was that I was never going to see her again, she assured me that she would never leave us and she would always be there. I can still remember that awful feeling I felt in the pit of my stomach, imagining what life would be like without my mother.

Last Tuesday evening, my brother and I went to Ft. Wayne to do our weekly grocery shopping, and Jason took the girls to his parents while he dropped our camper off at the campgrounds for WMCR. I got home around 9:15, and he and the girls still weren't home. I called his parents' house around 9:30, a little concerned that they weren't home yet because it was a school night. His mom said they had just pulled out of the driveway and should be home shortly. From his parents' house to our house is about a ten minute drive. After about 9 minutes, I waited by the back door, ready to help unload the kids because it was raining and we don't have a garage. Ten minutes passed, then eleven, then twelve. I called his cell phone - no answer. After fifteen minutes I was getting really concerned - what was taking so long? Finally after about twenty minutes, much to my relief, they pulled in the driveway. He had stopped by his office on the way home to pick something up. Again, I can remember that feeling in the pit of my stomach - imagining what would happen if they had been in an accident on the way home.

Last night around 6:30 in the evening at WMCR, I decided to check in on the kids - a wonderful, capable senior in high school with an equally wonderful family was willing to keep our kids for the weekend. There was no answer at the home. I also tried her cell phone, and again, no answer. No big deal, I told myself, I had left the car seats - I had remembered that they had said they may go visit her aunt's family and I had said that was fine with me. At 8:00 I tried both numbers again - no answer. I continued this pattern for the next hour - with no luck. Again, that feeling in the pit of my stomach was there. What if they were in a car accident? How would anyone know who my kids were and who they belonged to? Noone would know to contact us. Then my imagination really started running wild - I've watched way too many CSI shows. My parents are friends with this family, and they knew the aunt mentioned above, so Jason called that home, and sure enough, the kids and the family were there as they had said they would be. The babysitter just hadn't taken her cell phone in with her. Logic told me that the kids were fine - like I said above, this family is wonderful, and I had no doubt that they would take perfect care of the kids. But that feeling of no control, of not knowing for sure, then imagining what may have happened, and if the worst did happen, what would life be like? I know my feelings last night were greatly magnified because of news that was given at WMCR about a youth pastor's family in Michigan - they were involved in a terrible accident yesterday and two lives were lost. The mother in the family watching our kids said something to me that is so true - when something like that happens, you just want to wrap your wings around your own and make sure that they're safe. When the attacks happened on 9/11, Elizabeth was at preschool, and my first instinct was to run over there and take her home, even though the tragedies were happening miles away.

I find at times that I am holding on too tight to the things of this world, and I don't know how to loosen my grasp. Sometimes in bed at night when my mind starts to wander, I imagine all different types of scenarios and how I would react to them. Then I start thinking about reality - that my family members are not always going to be around. And what will that be like? How will I handle it? And I have no control over it. I want to put my kids in a bubble or a safe place where no one can harm or touch them, and yet I don't. I want them to experience life to the fullest and not be scared of what could happen. But I find that I have such a hard time trusting God with what the future holds. I've heard the story behind the song "It Is Well With My Soul." The writer of the song had just learned that his wife and children were on a ship that wrecked, and there was only one survivor in his family - I believe it was his wife. Yet after hearing the news, he sat down and wrote this song. "When peace like a river attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul." Well, I do a great job when peace like a river attends my way, but what about if sorrows like sea billows roll. I'm not sure how to get to that place in my life. Sometimes I get scared that God is going to test me - that I have had it too easy so far. Early in our marriage, we had some tough times as all young couples do, but really, our family has been very blessed. And I have such a stranglehold on what makes us "us," that I'm not sure I could be like Paul and say "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Maybe the context of that verse was talking more about material things than people, but I think the same holds true for both. I know that secret is given in the verse that follows - I just need to have faith that I can have that kind of strength if needed.

I'm Not a Team Member :(

Just tried to post a comment on the Toevs link, but you have to be a team member in order to do that. I'm so sad - I'm not on a team. So even though my efforts to comment on their blog have been squashed, I shall not be denied. I am posting my comment to their post on my blog, and hopefully they will read it and I will still have my comment read!

Comment:

I thought the hokey pokey was what it was all about. Just kidding. When I read that last line, I already had that song in my mind because the hokey pokey was always my favorite part of skate night - that and the couples skate :).

The Big Day is Over (Now What?)

My blog typically is not a commentary of my day to day life, but this weekend's activities were the culmination of so much planning and preparation that I have decided to give a play by play of the weekend's events. Before I get started, however, there is something that I want to say. You know how when you are planning for a big event, whether it is a party, a shower, a wedding, or a sporting event, you have in your mind exactly how you want it to go. You know that due to different variables, your expectations may not be met, but you hope that generally things will go just as you had planned. This weekend was an example of a big event happening just as I had anticipated - my expectations were high and my goals lofty, but the experience really couldn't have been any better.

The weekend's events started Friday night. We got out to the Mississinewa campground around 5:00 (right on schedule, I couldn't believe it) and started getting set up. I was so excited to have a guest camping with us for the evening - my mom. My mom loves the atmosphere of camping with the accomodations of a condo, so I was quite surprised that she agreed to spend the night in our camper. It is so hard to find this campground, though, that it was the realistic decision to make so she could be sure to make the race in the morning. The Rowleys soon followed, then the Mundays, then Lynn, Missy, and Rob, then Jill, and finally Tanna and the kids (like I said, the campgrounds are almost impossible to find, and there is no cell phone reception in the area, so Tanna took a few detours but finally made it - pulling the camper with three kids in the car. She's the woman.) We had an unbelievable pre-triathlon dinner with spaghetti and too many sides to list. After dinner we relaxed around the fire, went over our strategy for the next day, and then Lynn surprised everyone by bringing out fan t-shirts for the next day. Kelley, Lynn, Missy, and Jaena had decorated the t-shirts the night before - Jason and Mom had one that said "Go Deb" and the kids wore ones that said "Go Mom." They were very cute, and you can kind of see them in the pictures below. It was so awesome of them to not only attend the race but to show this kind of support. Have I mentioned in previous blogs what a great circle of friendship we have? After our evening festivities, I headed into the camper to pack for the next day - bike shorts and shirt, running shorts and shirt (with number 142 pinned to it) goggles, swim cap, swim towel, water, and an extra pair of shoes and socks. I got to bed around 11:00, very apprehensive about what the next day would bring. The main thing I was worried about was the swim - not completing the swim but the temperature of the water. On weather. com, the projected temperature at 8:30 was 62 degrees, and at check-in the night before, the ladies had said the water temperature a week ago was 74.8 degrees. I was beginning to think I should have bought a wetsuit. 6:30 came before I knew it and it was game time. I put on my swimsuit, then I put on some shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt over it. I ate a small breakfast of some kind of Post cereal I had gotten on coupon and half a banana. I had to force that down because I was not feeling too hungry. Man, was it cold outside - probably high 50's. We grabbed our stuff after breakfast and biked down to the transition area by the beach - this is where we would park our bikes and keep our stuff. The first thing I noticed was that our bikes weren't like the other bikes. Almost all of the other bikes did not have kickstands, so people were "hanging" their bikes on the rack. I didn't even need a rack - I just put my kickstand down. We were all three using mountain bikes which have much fatter tires and I am sure are much heavier than the road bikes the others were using. When I was at the bike store on Thursday, the owner said that even swapping out my tires for thinner ones would add 3 miles an hour to my ride. Maybe for next time. After situating our stuff, we had to go get marked. Our age was put in marker on our calf, and our number was put on our biceps. Then all we could do was wait. There was a kid's run right before the start of our race, and that was a good distraction. Both Elizabeth and Anna participated, and hopefully by tonight you will be able to see those pictures in addition to a few others that will show their triathlon experience.

This is a pre-race picture taken right after the kid's race. I was so nervous at this point that my emotions were a little haywire. I was fighting back tears when the kids crossed the finish line. But no more time to be sentimental - it was time to get the game face on. We went back to our transition area and stripped and headed down to the beach. This was a different feeling - walking around in my swimsuit without a towel. No time for modesty, though, especially when we put on our bright pink swim caps that were required. I do have pictures of us at this point, but I didn't think it was a good idea to post swimsuit pictures without permission.
Here are most of our supporters right before the swim. Jason and Shelli's mom are also taking pictures, but I think everyone else is in there. Jill also had a lot of relatives come to support her. Notice the shirts? Even the babies were wearing supportive onesies.
All of the ladies went in the same heat - 56 in all. The water was not warm by any means, but it was surpisingly not cold. It also wasn't clean, but not full of fish and seaweed and muck like I had expected. My anxiety level went down quite a bit after I first got in the water. I didn't know what swim strategy to use. After watching two men's heats before us, I knew I wanted to stay to the outside so I wouldn't have to swim back to go around the buoy. It was 150 yards out, 200 yards across, then 150 yards back in. I started at the very back because I didn't know what to expect, and I didn't want to get kicked. As a result, I got quite a late start because I had to wait until I had room to start swimming. However, I swam my fastest time, and the reason why is pretty funny. The whole time there was a woman beside me swimming pretty fast, and I thought it was Shelli, so I was trying to keep up with her. I was thinking, "Man, Shelli is really booking it today, she's killing me." Every once in awhile I would yell something encouraging like "You're doing great," although I was thinking "Slow down!" We got to the end, the part where we were in thigh deep water, and I yelled, "You can stand up now!" The woman stood up...NOT SHELLI!" I don't think she realized my mistake, she probably thought my spiritual gift was encouragement. Nevertheless, she did push me to my fastest time ever, and I headed to the transition area to get ready for the bike.
You can see my fancy schmanzy bike shorts in this picture - probably my best investment for the race. I had a really nice bike shirt that Shelli had borrowed from a friend, but the temperature was heating up, so I just biked in my running shirt. You can also see Shelli in the background getting ready for the bike. Jill was first of the three of us out of the water, so she had already taken off. The bike went very smooth. It was pretty hilly, but my speedometer said we averaged 14 m.p.h. during the 16 mile race. Our times don't reflect that speed because they figure in your transition time with your bike time, so our official m.p.h. was lower. I was happy with our time and average, because during our training, we would just keep it around 12-13 m.p.h., so to average 14 after swimming made me pretty happy. Our bike was pretty uneventful - we headed in after the ride for the 4 mile run. The run seemed to go very quickly until the last 1/2 mile - I really had to push to keep running. Shelli's dad was there with 1/4 mile to go yelling encouragement, Shelli's mom and Hannah were a little farther down, and then everyone else was there at the finish line.
Here are the three of us shortly after the race (and Hayden with a "My Mom Rocks" shirt.)

This experience was was of the best competitive experiences of my life. Before we started training, my goal was to finish the race. A couple weeks into the training, my goal was to finish in 3 hours. The night before the race, my goal was to finish in 2 1/2 hours. My official time was 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 35 seconds - so I was really excited about my time.

After the race we headed back to the campsite for a post-triathlon celebration cookout. Again, too much food to list, but we had plenty. We were greeted after dinner with quite a rainstorm and it really cooled down. Even today, the temperature was much cooler than yesterday, so I am thankful we had the race on Saturday instead of today.

Here's a few triathlon statistics for anyone who is interested-

Deb's times - Swim - 10:33

Bike (including transistion after swim) - 1:17.44 (12.4 m.p.h.)

Run (including transition after bike) - 42:19 (10 min 35 sec mile ave.)

#1 Female times - Swim - 8:48

Bike - 47.26 (20.2 m.p.h)

Run - 30.27 (7 min 37 sec mile ave)

Her winning time was 1 hour, 26 minutes, and 40 seconds.

#1 Male times - Swim - 5:53

Bike - 42.58 (22.4 m.p.h.)

Run - 25.56 (6 min 29 sec mile ave)

So there are some pretty phenomenal athletes out there. The bike is what I really need to work on if I am going to cut a lot of time off. Out of 56 females, I was 36th in the swim and 36th in the run, but I was only 49th on the bike. Some has to do with the type of bike I had, but I think I could push myself harder on the training to cut time.

With this race I was strictly racing against my goal, but if I ever race again, I think the competitive side of me will kick in more and I will want to go after other people, too. With the equipment we had and amount of time we trained, I think all three of us did as well as we could expect - actually even better than that.

What do I do now? I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and would love to do it again. I guess there are these kind of events all through the state (especially Indy) during the summer. How much would I train? Would I invest in a better bike? The competitive side of me says that I will really start to research this sport and train harder and really get involved. The practical side of me says that I am a full time working mother with a husband who already thinks I am involved in too many activities. Maybe there is a balance out there. But I do know that September 8, 2007, you can find me at the Mississinewa Reservoir for the 2nd Annual Mighty Mississinewa Triathlon.

And finally, some thank you's to:

First, Shelli, my training partner, my friend - without her as an accountability partner and encourager, I wouldn't have even entered this race. Thank you for doing this with me - I had a blast (can't wait until we do it next year with a few others.)

Jill - I am glad you joined us in this event. Even though you didn't follow the same training guide as we did, you still did so good - you always add excitement to an event!

To the bike shop owner - thank you for encouraging me to wear the bike shorts. They made all the difference in the world.

To Tanna, who purchased the shirts for the fans, and to Kelley, Lynn, Missy, and Jaena who decorated them. Great fun and awesome encouragement.

To the Dawsons, Mundays, Rowleys,Womacks, Wuertleys, Mom, Lynn, Missy, Jill's family, and I hope I remembered everyone - your encouragement was incredible, and I am humbled that you guys took the time out of your weekend to come and cheer us on.

Mom - I am so glad you came Friday night and spent the night with us. You being there made the event even more special.

Jason - thank you for even letting me do this crazy event. I know it was one more thing to add to the schedule, but you were so supportive, especially on the race day. I know you are hoping this doesn't become an addiction (but in 6 years, Elizabeth can do them with me!)

The Party's Over

Yes, it was a song title by Kenny Marks back in the '80's (the party's over, it was fun while it lasted but it aint no fun no more - okay, so his grammar wasn't the greatest.) I've had many a laugh at the blog bantering that has gone on this afternoon - now I feel I must make peace with a certain relative of mine and correct the "Anonymous" link on my link list. In response to the comment by Anonymous on my New Links post, I had planned on making a pseudoblog for her so I could really add a link for her - however, she beat me to the punch and actually made a legit blog today. After a moment of my bubble being burst, I decided to press on with my original plan and make the pseudoblog. I am pretty proud of her/my new blog - it actually got quite a few profile hits. Maybe I should start writing on that blog for real instead of my own.

So in all honesty, Anonymous does not think I rock, nor does she think I am the coolest person in the world. If you want to get to know the "real Anonymous," and most of you already know her and love her, you can click on the KKP link to the right. The Anonymous link, like me, is ready to be put to rest.

Oops, I Forgot One Link

Per request, I have added one new link to my links list. Enjoy!

New Links

Ah, the decisions to make on who to put on my links list. My sister-in-law JoEllen touched on this subject awhile ago on her blog (Hummels link) and I can relate. Last night after I went to bed, my computer savvy husband added three links to my link list. I felt pretty good about adding Jenn because she has been blogging longer than me, has commented several times on my blog (and me on hers) and I am on her link list. However, the other two links are newbies to the blog world, and maybe they don't want to be linked to by my site (if that is the case, please comment and tell me; my computer savvy husband can take you off.) I had to do it for selfish reasons. These two families are so new to the blog world that they are not a link option on any other blog I check. To read their blog, I had to go into my cousin's blog, find a comment that they had left, click on it, click on their site, and then I had finally arrived. This way I can add them to my quick check routine since I can click on them from my site. There are several other blogs that I check daily or weekly, but I can link to them from other sites. However, if you would really like to be a link on my page and I have not added you, please let me know. I would be happy to oblige.

What Not To Wear

I have watched the TLC show "What Not To Wear" a few times, and I'm waiting for the moment when I am caught unaware to appear on the show. I definitely would qualify as a candidate. Out at the Fairmount Campgrounds, there are usually four or five distinct groups that are camping together. The other groups seem to have women wearing cute tops with matching shorts, painted toenails and makeup. Our group tends to wear t-shirts and gym shorts, and I'm doing good to shower each day we are out there. Okay, maybe I am in my own group, but I fit in best with the others that do camp with us.

My casual wear is heavy on the t-shirts, shorts, jeans, and cotton capris, and I'm okay with that. When I have time to relax, I want to be comfortable. I would like to beef up my out on the town wear - events when my casual clothes are either to sportsy or "mom-like," and my work clothes are too stuffy. My out on the town wear would probably be acceptable to wear to work, so if I did purchase some new clothes, my work attire would be beefed up, too.

A couple of posts ago, I talked about a potential $400 bonus I could receive if I have perfect attendance at work from tomorrow until fall break. I've decided how I am going to spend some of that money - I am going to purchase some clothing that I can feel stylish in at either work or out on the town (I don't know how else to phrase the out on the town events, but you know what I mean - out to eat on the weekends, a day out of town shopping, going to the movies, etc.) The major barrier to me getting new clothes is usually the cost factor, but that is not the case - now my major barrier is that I am like a tweener when it comes to clothes. I went through a similar stage when I was 11 and 12. I was too old and big to wear cutsie matching sets that only went up to size 14 girls, but the size 3 womens clothes were a little big and looked way too old for me. I remember finding a shirt and skirt set at a resale shop, and I wore that skirt set every other week to church my entire 6th grade year. On the off week, I wore a dress of my mom's that looked way too old for me. When I entered into my 7th grade year, I was really sucking it in to fit in the skirt, but I still couldn't find age appropriate clothes. This was before the time of Old Navy - it was Penneys, Meis, and Sears. I'm in a similar phase now. As I enter the 30's, I am finding that Old Navy and Gap and the like are fine for some things - jeans, basic tees, the annual 4th of July t-shirt; I even really like their dress pants. But their out on the town wear just seems a little young for me. My main issue is with the low rise pants. I have graduated from the waist up to your chin pants, but my pants cannot fall more than inch below the belly button, or I feel like they are going to fall off. I hate the feeling of bending down and feeling most of my backside visible. I also don't like shirts that are too revealing - either by showing the stomach, bra straps, or other parts of the female anatomy. However, at the other end of the spectrum, I am not ready for Sag Harbor pant suits and other brands that are more targeted for the generation ahead of me. When I wandered into J.C. Penney on Friday, I didn't know what section to go to. To the left was for the working older woman (not me) straight ahead and then left was for the petites (not me) to the right was more casual womens clothes (could be me - I did see a few things), and then straight and to the right was for the teens or twenties. I exited the store empty handed for me and with 3 $2.97 clearance summer shirts for Anna next summer, and I headed down to Christopher & Banks. I hesitated to go into the store, not only because of the connotation the store carries for me as being for women older than me, but I was dressed in a ratty pair of jeans and a black t-shirt - I felt kind of like Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" when she is trying to spend the wad of cash and they look down on her in one of the stores. However, I made my way in, and I was pleasantly surpised at what I found. I LIKE CHRISTOPHER AND BANKS! I am almost scared to admit this in print for fear of being made fun of by other more stylish people my age, but I found several tops that I really liked. I cannot wear their pants, because they do come up to my chin, but I walked away with a skirt, a sleeveless shirt (I know there is a name but I can't remember,) a sweater, and a very comfortable button down shirt that is made of a material that starts with an "ly." Major barrier for me shopping at Christopher and Banks - it is pretty expensive. I spent all of my birthday money (yes, I had it since July) on just those few items. So back to the original thought - when/if I get my bonus, I am heading back to C&B to check out their fall wardrobe, and if you see Jason and I at Applebees on a Friday night in November, you will think to yourself "Wow, now that is a stylish couple sitting over there." Oh yeah, because Jason doesn't have a problem finding clothes - men just need to look clean and have a nice pair of jeans and a shirt and they look good.

Just a word on the magic bullet - we tried the seven second salsa tonight. I had a little taste of competition at Lances grocery store getting the ingredients. It was me against an older man - who can get the produce bag opened first. He grabbed his first off the reel, so I was at a disadvantage at the start, but I read the "this way open" instruction first, so then we were tied. We rubbed it between the fingers, we picked at it, then finally, a split second before he did, mine opened! I dumped the two jalapeno peppers in, tossed them in the cart, and I was off before he knew what hit him. Anyway, back to the salsa - mixed reviews. I would like to try someone's real salsa recipe because I didn't like the taste of the one in the magic bullet handbook. It was way too heavy on the jalapeno and not heavy enough on the tomato. I remember salsa being red, and ours was a pinkish orange. However, it was very handy dumping in the ingredients without chopping, and it blended it very quickly. I'm not sure if the magic bullet is capable of producing salsa that is chunky because it purees things so quickly - so if you like the consistency of The Hacienda salsa, you would like the consistency of the salsa the magic bullet produces.

Triathlon Training Update - heavy training weekend. Friday I took off because we took my parents to the Melting Pot for their 40th wedding anniversary - excellent restaurant, if this post wasn't so long I would blog more about it. Saturday, we ran 60 minutes, which translated into 5.6 miles. Sunday, I ran 60 minutes, which translated into somewhere between 5 and 6 miles. Today, we biked 30 minutes (7 miles) and ran 30 minutes (just over 3 miles.) Three more official training days until the big day.