WE DID IT!

WE DID IT! After race photo of the three of us and our bikes. I'm still waiting for the results to be posted, but I think my time was around 1 hour 43 minutes. Better than last year's time of 1:47.
Shevon and I goofing around under the finish sign on Saturday afternoon.

Jen and I with our buddies, the Cooters.

MUSCLE WOMEN!

Tri-Cooter

Well, this will probably be the last time you'll hear from me till after the triathlon. Jen & Shevon will be here at 1pm today to pick me up, we'll swing by Starbucks for an iced coffee, then off to Inverness. It's about a 3 hour drive. When we get there, we'll probably show Shevon where the transition area is and take a few pics with the Cooter turtles. Here's one of me from last year. I am a bit nervous, but also very excited. This is a fun crowd at this race. It would be nice to beat my time from last year, but with my calves hurting, I'm not gonna push it. I would be nice to improve on my swim and bike time though. If I have to walk part of the run, I'll do that.

The weather sounds almost identical to last year, hopefully that means the temp of the lake as well. Last year the lake was 77 degrees, which sounds on the cold side, but the air temp was 57 so it actually felt pretty good. I'm SO glad Jen and I are in the same wave (group that starts the race together), it'll be comforting to stand with a friend waiting for the whistle to go off.

Wish us luck!!

knit. sock. love.

I just saw that Cookie A has a new sock book out...well, not out just yet, but you can pre-order the book (pdf available now).




knit. sock. love.

There are some repeats in it that are freebies on Ravelry (Hedera, Monkey, BFF, etc), but plenty of new stuff, too. I just thought I'd pass this along to all the sock-aholics out there so you can add it to your Christmas lists.

Yes, it's that time again.

Barb's the Bomb!

Here I am in action cooking up stir-fry for the family sporting my new Halloween apron I got from my totally awesome sister, Barb! She and Mark sent us a huge box of Halloween goodies...stuff for the kids (socks, toys & candy), an orange and black slinky (which Lyra LOVES), my apron...and candy, candy, candy!! And this gal knows how to buy candy...SEES Candy!

Getting a box from Barb & Mark can make any day Christmas! Even Halloween!

Oh Crap...was that Wednesday yesterday?!

Really. I just realized that yesterday was Wednesday and I didn't post. Crap. Good thing ya'll are patient with me. Ok, so yesterday...

My plan was to go to Cecil and swim laps then go to knitting and eat there. The family? Well, we have leftovers (ravioli) and chicken nuggets. And there's always McDonald's. So, I drive to the pool, pull in the parking lot and it's full! This usually means there's some sort of swim meet going on. Yup, as I walked to the door I discovered that not only was there a meet going on, but the facility was closed to patrons (that's me) AND it's going to be closed on Friday, too. That was the other day I was gonna swim. Double crap! Lucky for me, Diane has offered her neighborhood pool, so I'll swim there on Friday.

I got in my car, drove home, called Christine and said I was going to knitting, could they come get me, and ate at Whole Foods where out meetup was. My dinner was WONDERFUL! I had crab bisque with a buttermilk/parmesan biscuit. Delicious! Knitting was super fun. I helped another knitting almost all night, which might not sound good, but I really enjoyed it. She had taken a sock class from a LYS and as is typical of this particular yarn shop, didn't get the instruction she needed to start her socks. I tend to be a little "you have to do it this way" towards beginners because, well frankly, they just don't know enough to be left to their own devices. I hope I didn't scare her off and she'll be back. She seemed to fit in great with the group.

Hope your day was a good one. Oh, want to hear the latest from work? Remember I work at a church office, old buildings, in the woods...ok, go ahead. I got to work yesterday and Diane and Ms. Gale (preschool director) were on the porch waiting for me. Gale says to me, "Want to see my show-n-tell?" I knew it was gonna be bad. We walk in the classroom and there are rat droppings all over the floor along with wood shavings from it tearing up the wall. AND YOU COULD HEAR SCRATCHING FROM INSIDE THE WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Too many "exciting marks"...I don't think so, if you'd heard it you'd understand. Really the hairs on my arms were on end!) So our pest control guy is coming today to "take care of" the rats. UGH. Here's the bad part...if they eat the poison and die inside the walls/attic/or under the floors, it'll stink to high heaven! I'm gonna stay home if that happens. Really, I will. Just watch me.

What we really need at work is another Maggie. She was our church cat and we NEVER had rodent problems when she was around. She passed away last winter. Time for a new cat, I think.

Action Packed Weekend +

Lyra has found a new place to launch her attacks.
Not even the pantry is safe from her antics.

Sunday we had breakfast with Jodi!! Justine, Mike and I went to Orlando to see the band compete, stayed overnight, then on Sunday saw Jodi's new house and had a little chat time. We had a wonderful breakfast at a Cuban restaurant near her new home. It was really great to see my friend...I miss her!


Here's the band doing their field show in this past weekend's competition. It was at University High School in Orlando (about 2.5 hours away). Joey is one of those trumpets in the front couple rows. If he's marching, I can identify him, but in the photo...not so much.

There's Veronica, second marimba from the right (front row). She's easy to spot cuz she stays in one place! See how the band is standing? One leg is crossed behind...Joey said that's hard to hold without falling. I fear he's got some Godzilla in him..haha.

The band won third place over all and color guard got first. We're so proud! They looked and sounded great!!

We sat in 90 degree weather, in full sun for 6 hours. The life of a band parent. It was cool seeing all the different divisions and show styles. I did notice that any band that had props had trouble with them...nice to know things don't change. When I was in High School we did a field show to the music from Star Wars (so cool!). The drill team, which Becky and I were both in, did a routine with umbrellas...and something always went wrong.

This was from a football game a few weeks ago.

Tri update: 5 days away. EEEK!

Hedera Done

I finished the blue pair last night. The pattern is Hedera (my new, easy to memorize fav) and the yarn is Madeline Tosh Sock. This yarn is so yummy. I have one more skein my stash and I think I've found the perfect pattern which I would love to tell you all about, but Ravelry is having technical difficulties this morning so I'll linky later. It's another shaweltte...very pretty.

Still working on the pink/yellow pair of socks.

One week and a half till the triathlon. I'm getting very nervous and feeling not very prepared. My calves are killing me. On a more positive note, I had a great swim on Monday and my run yesterday was in my new shoes which felt great. No numb toes! Now if I could just get my calves to quit screaming. Ugh.
I'm taking today off training. Thursday Jen and I will bike, Friday a run, Saturday off (going to Orlando for the kids' band competition) then run or bike on Sunday. Run if I can manage.

What's For Dinner Wednesday...next day edition

Before I tell you what's for dinner tonight, I'll tell you what new recipe I tried earlier this week. Crockpot Pot Roast from A Year of Slow Cooking. It looked like a good alternative to wanting to make Pot Roast but not being home all day. I immediately saw one problem with the recipe...not enough potatoes. My family LOVES potatoes! Two just wasn't gonna cut it. My second problem was my crock pot just wasn't big enough for all my potatoes...and everything else. So the potatoes weren't good, but the meat was very good. Still, I think I'll stick to an oven roast...in a bigger pot.



Now on to today...Chicken Enchiladas! There was a recipe in last week's paper, so I'm gonna try it. I've actually had really good luck with recipes from the newspaper (here and in San Diego).


THURSDAY MORNING:
My plan was to take some photos while I was cooking so this post could be more exciting. I forgot...obviously. The enchiladas turned out good. It was touch and go though because the corn tortillas kinda fell apart when I was transferring them to the pan, but after sauce and cheese on top, you couldn't really tell. The kids thought they were a little too spicy but ate them with little complaining. Mike loved them. I have to say, he really is easy to please. In 18 years of marriage, I can only think of maybe a couple times he didn't like the meal put in front of him. He will usually say "Thanks for cooking dinner." or "This is really good." etc. He's a simple guy when I comes to food...just put it in front of him and he's happy. I'm lucky. No not really, I did pick him, you know.

On the lighter side...

I was browsing through etsy just now and saw this saying on a button:

I ate your grandma's knitting for lunch. (& it was crunchy)

What's For Dinner Wednesday

Tonight's meal: Grilled Tilapia, steamed broccoli and new potatoes. We found a new produce store called Corbitts in Green Cove Springs and went there on Saturday. That's where we picked up the veggies. It's very small, but they had nice stuff. They had the best smelling/tasting peaches I've found since our move to Florida. I was tempted to buy a bunch and make jam, but I'm not that motivated to stand over a hot stove.

I really need to make sure Mike is home early so he can grill the fish...it's so good! I usually just put some olive oil, salt and pepper on the fish. Very, very easy. The kids like it breaded, but on a Wednesday night, time is of the essence. I'd also like to get in a short run after work today.

I went to the Doctor yesterday for a check up on my cholesterol and blood pressure. He said all looks great, except my "good" cholesterol could be higher. He then turns to me and says, "Oh, but you're exercising, right?" I'm thinking, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Am I going to have to do more exercising to get this higher?! So I ask him what else I can do to make that number rise. He suggested drinking a glass of red wine every day (half a glass, really). OK, now you're talking...wine and no additional working out...that's for me! My problem is, I usually get heartburn from red wine. I thought if I got a better quality (more expensive) wine, it would probably be kinder to me. So I went to a liquor store and talked with the wine-guy. I ended up getting a bottle of red from a local winery, San Sebastian. It was on sale and not that expensive, too. It's very yummy...had a half-glass last night and no heartburn.

Socks of Kindness

I started a KAL (that's a Knit-A-Long, for you non-knitters) with Jen and Charlotte. We're making the Socks of Kindness with Terracotta Malabrigo Sock...oh lordy, is it ever yummy! I had a hard time with the pattern at first. Just couldn't wrap my brain around it...got my yarn overs and decreases mixed up. I decided to chart it out and then it all made sense. I finished the leg (5 repeats), heel (eye of partridge w/garter ridges) and turn...now I'm ready for the gusset. We're basically doing the pattern on the sock, but putting in our own cuff, heel and toe. It's a fun pattern, now that I have my chart to see me through.

Justine and I had a Tea Party yesterday...with water and Moon-Dough pastries.

I'm so glad she still likes to have fun with her mom. My time is running short on that, I'm afraid, so I'm gonna enjoy it while I can.

Atomic Kitty

Lyra is now in full-on kitten attack mode. She attacks your feet and ankles at every opportunity, stalking you like you're her next meal. The crazy look in her eyes is a little scary. Then, with out provocation, she'll run through the house like a rocket, jump into the air with all four limbs stretched out, run under the ottoman and hide. She bumps her head on everything (Joey's sure she'll have brain damage.), I think she's just moving so fast, there's no time to see where she's going. And when Lyra runs through the house on the carpet, she sounds like a horse! How can that tiny kitten make so much noise?! Unless, of course, she's stalking you...then you better fear the quiet!! Out jumps atomic kitty!!

I have discovered something though...she completely loves the twist ties that come with a loaf of bread. I throw one on the floor and she's occupied for a good 15 minutes...and I can finish making lunches. Sweet!

What's For Dinner Wednesday!

What's for dinner?! Is it a fabulous meal like I made last night? Sam the Cooking Guy's Spicy Peanut Butter Pasta with Chicken? Or maybe hot dogs with baked beans? McDonald's?

Ok, none of the above. It's left-over night for everyone but me because I'm going to the Good Shepherd pool and swimming with Jen.

We're in crunch time for getting ready for the triathlon on Oct. 31st. And I really need to get in as many swims as I can before then. The plan is to do at least 10 laps (to the end of the pool and back is one lap). I'd like to do more, if I can.

So what am I going to eat for dinner, you ask? I'll probably eat a sandwich in the car on the way to knitting. Or maybe a power bar and piece of fruit. We're meeting at a book store that has little to eat in their cafe.