yay friday

my mind is a little more add than usual.  i’m just gonna throw some random/add stuff out there so hopefully it’ll clear out my coconut & make room for some more stuff…

10 year old asked me before i even had a sip of coffee yesterday morning – while she was still deaf, i might add – can i have a needle?       

wth?

housekeeper still on florida family duty – sigh.

sweet step son went to school today for the first time since surgery.  hurts my heart.  he’s so sweet and always polite, no matter what he’s going through.  i love that boy.

had an estimate from a company to fix the glass in our front door – 700-800.  american dollars.  um, no.  not even a thanks.  i knew when my daughters had a fist fight through the glass last year, it would be pricey.  there now we have it.  another estimate person is coming out today.  i am not whatever you call it.  oh, optimisitic.  i am not that.

my feet hurt.  i’m cleaning the house in running clothes & sanuk flip flops – the ones with the yoga mat bottom.  but, boy, a pedicure would be friggin’ fabulous. 

no workout yesterday.  unless you count running into 4 different stores looking for Tang for my father-in-law who had a b-day yesterday.  i guess the stand-in country time lemonade wasn’t a hit.

went to a reception last night for my sister who recently got married in italy.  it was picture perfect.  beautiful place, beautiful people, beautiful food, beautiful words, a cake i almost grabbed on my way out…

but i kept thinking about my sweet daughter at home struggling to get her studying done.  and truly, without hubs, in all his greatness, (i love that guy), i just wanted to be home, in my life is good flannel pj pants, helping my daughter do her best.  so, :45 into the gig, i hit the door.  left the cake.  dang, that was hard.  i bet it was good.

now.  football tonight at barbe.  i’m not going.  hubs, hubs ex, step-son+girlfriend are going.  have fun.  we’re gonna do our thing – cosutme shop, eat someplace we all like, start pulling out halloween decor – it’s almost 10/1, y’all!!!!

tomorrow morning is a cross-country meet in baton rouge.  i have my sights set on whole foods market for lunch and a visit to the newly opened lululemon athletica store…

sunday – sugarman tri.  Mass.  wish i’d see my son, but he’s doing something in new orleans tonight – apparently the college kids these days like to see dj’s?  hm.  cool.

peace.

part 2

can’t make this stuff up part 2

plans.  ha!  yes, right.  plans.  whatever.  i was gonna, blah blah blah – something physical to be sure, but a phone call.

my wonderful-keeps-my-life-sane-housekeeper – b/inlaw passed away overnight.  south florida.  meaning her sister is there to deal with everything and then some – i get that.  no problem.  and trust me, it’s some crazy stuff going on, there.  wow.

seems like all my daughters’ tests for school have gotten pushed to thursday & friday this week. 

“i gotta go!  i gotta ride ten miles so i can clean the house so i can run errands!  i gotta go!”  i said to hubs, as he had one hand on the doorknob to leave for work, in his usual, hesitating fashion…the look on his face!  it was great!  “whatttt???”  i repeated.  and laughed because i heard how ridiculous i sounded.  oh, and my father in law has a birthday tomorrow and there is a hush-hush event also scheduled for tomorrow evening for someone – i will not be missing that one.  more on friday about that.  so, yeah, about 8 tests between the two girls who need EXTRA help & time anyway to help be prepared…

and the weekend is coming.  cross-country meet on saturday morning for them, triathlon sunday morning for me, and a big glorious Mass at my church, too….

got my 10 in.  chunking up the housework – making it look good is just gonna have to do for today.  i’ll do more tomorrow.

errands.  i stink.  i am past sweating.  eww.  i need a cap for my bike tire air valve.  oh, and a swim cap for sunday.  and goggles.  i need to pick up my daughters today because of an ortho appointment that i already postponed last week!  i want my momma.

do something physical early is what i get out of this post, how about you?

you can’t make this stuff up.

alarm didn’t go off cuz i didn’t specify it was for a saturday morning, hence my weekday choice option on my iphone.  no biggie.  got hubs et al up & out on time.  ran to mississippi, they did, to check out a college for senior.  i on the other hand, took girls to their first cross-country meet, consoled 5th grader who insisted on blistering the first mile and a half, and pretty much demanded that she finish the course even if she had to walk.  enter sweet, angelic, older girls who finished with her.  LOVE that.  got ‘em over the finish line.  jumped in car, drove 3 towns away to soccer only to find out it was cancelled due to no show opponent.  still had to worm my vehicle through the dusty wormhole to find a hiccup to turn around in.  great.  did it.  didn’t hit anyone.  or anything.  got home.  change!  everybody!  oh, ice bath?  okay.  you freeze & i’ll check the mail.  why did i do that?  opened up a letter telling me there is a warrant out for my arrest.  yes, you read correctly. MY friggin’ arrest.  wait, let me steady my hands through the laughter.  i got pulled over in lecompte on the way to dallas because 11 year old wanted her slice of cherry pie (i think she took 2 bites) while i got pulled over by some beer-bellied old nicotene-smelling “officer of the law” who obviously didn’t have a dental plan his whole life.  why?  oh, my inspection sticker. i got the check thingy from the bank for $118.00.  i paid it.  of course, today, as i sped along, i thought, whoa, slow down, po-po might come pull you over & slap some cuffs on my bony wrists & call cps for my children.  wow, dude.  so, yes, yours truly, who, up till now, i thought was doing a pretty good job (i still think that), has the law after her.  tee hee.  okay.  next.  so, yeah, lunch, dolphin tale (must see), note to self – don’t check e-mail in movie.  youngest child bombed on math test.  hmmm.  whaddya know.  deal with that later.  oh, yeah, and three stores to halloween costume shop before the movie.  wish i’dda checked my e-mail before.  sheesh.  coulda saved some gas & time.  anywho.  home.  made a homemade apple pie.  love that recipe.  reminds me of my mom – not cuz she made it but because she loved it when i made it – has kind of a praline topping that, speaking of mothers, will make you wanna slap yours cuz it’s so good. 

now.  halloween buddies is on pay per view.  i know it can always be worse.  i get that.  but this has been one nutty saturday.

the long haul…

sometimes you are just in it.  it.  that’s so speculative, isn’t it?  depends on where you are, what you are doing, who you are with, etc.  if you saw my house…omg.  looks like…i haven’t been home for two days.  which, really, i haven’t.  i had a GREAT LONG (for me;) HAUL run yesterday – almost 6 miles.  achy, lovely-lactic-laden quads to prove it.  yes, i like endurance-driven stress.  i admit it.  now.  but yesterday’s run – that was just the best.  the heat was unforgiving, coupled with the humidity.  south louisiana, whaddya gonna do? 

so…my girls…hearing exceptionalities…whatever.  they require extra help.  i thrive in that arena, being a teacher-at-heart.  but timing is everything, right?  trying to get 2 girls, tired after a full day, studied-up for tomorrow’s…let’s see – probably 7 tests between them – that’s a long haul right there.  we got it done.  i sent them to bed feeling 85-90% good that they will do quite well on their tests.

but here’s the long haul that’s on my mind…i signed up for the sugar man – 500 meter swim (1 time plus a little more around a regular track ; 15 mile bike ride, 5K run.  10/2/11 – looking forward to it.  then, i’m doing the cajun cup 10k (6.2 miles) in mid-November; strongly planning (as in hasn’t run it by hubs) to do cajun half (13.1) in early december.  full, INAUGURAL LOUISIANA MARATHON ON JANUARY 15, 2012 (my birthday gift to myself, thank-you-very-much) .  but my mind is just a-racin’ (teehee) and i’m thinking of MORE.  which, idunno, maybe the new orleans race – could be a half, could be a whole?  i’m just feeling like filling up my racing plate – i guess fall is in the air – i KNOW the humidity has to let up at some point. 

did i tell you i changed my pedals?  got new bike shoes?  sweet.  had i known it was like THAT, i would have gotten them for the cajun tri.  tried them out wednesday – almost 23 miles.  clipped in & everything.  LOVED it.  continually checked my gears cuz it felt too easy even toward the end.  i only came home cuz hubs was home and i told him i’d see him in an hour.  (took a little longer.)

so…housekeeper is back in the house, y’all!!!!  woot-woot!!!!  yayaaaaayy!!!!!  so….technically that means, get everyone out of the house early in the morning…pick up everything (well, not everything, but a lot of stuff) off the floors, and go…on my bike, for a run, something – human propulsion – i don’t care what. 

that’s the plan.  we shall see.  plus, friday is always a witching hour for me.  the weekend looms – which is great – but workouts – must be disguised as FUN!!!  “who wants to rollerblade????”  (crickets.)  “I SAID, who wants to rollerblade????”  usually it’s the 5th grader who loves that…but, girls have cross country race followed by soccer on saturday, so i doubt anybody will be jumping up to jump into rollerblades.  that’s okay.  i’ll just jump in the pool

I’m not even sure yet how to title this post…I simply know that on Thursday morning, I went to Mass at STM, something I treasure and guard as part of my week.  I am NEVER without a sense of wonder as I sit there every Thursday.  I still scanned the audience of bright, sweet, young faces, still hoped to see my own baby in there…didn’t happen, but I am just in awe of what I did see.  And feel.  The Holy presence of our Lord Jesus is so thick in the air.  I am so thankful for my faith and my relationship with God and Mary.  I guess what I’m getting at is that I have felt such a strong heavenly presence this week especially.  I really leaned on Mary during the week leading up to my first tri.  I just needed my Mother with me.  There was so much to do and feeling overwhelmed, I needed Her calm presence to help me through.  Last Christmas at Coteau, a beautiful show done at the girls’ school every December, I bought a hand-made beaded necklace with a miraculous medal on it.  It’s a long necklace with several strands of varied blue-hued and silver beads.  The medal is pretty big, as medals go – about 2 inches.  It remained in it’s box until September 7, the day before Mary’s birthday.  I remembered I had it, pulled it out, thought about when I bought it for no one in particular.  I put it on and realized, yep, I’m keeping it.  For now.  (I have given away SO many things like this – when the Holy Spirit guides me to give it away, whaddya gonna do?)  Anywho, so, yeah, I’ve been wearing this particular one as often as I can.  And, no, us Roman Catholics don’t honor pieces of metal or statues, but we DO, however, pray to saints for various reasons to intercede on our behalf…almost like going to a specialist in a particular field, if you will…St. Thomas Aquinas is the saint we pray to for students.  Lose something?  St. Anthony can help.  And our Blessed Mary?  Well, she’s the Queen of the Universe.  Anything you’d go to a mother for, you can talk to the real Queen Mother  

recently, i was in a meeting and someone commented to me about my daughter’s reverence during Communion…someone else in the meeting said, “She gets that from her mother.”  My response, indicating my Mary medal, “I got it fromMY mother…”  smiles. 

We are here for just a moment in time.  The real deal is eternity.  ETERNITY.  That’s a long time.  I wanna be with Jesus.  I wanna hold my dad’s hand again. None of us know when our ticket will get punched, y’all.  I don’t believe we are to live in fear of dying, but I do believe we are called to live as fully as we can WITHIN God’s sight.  Don’t waste your gifts or talents.  Don’t think you are less than you are.  You belong to God.  He permitted you to be born and he permits every moment you have on this crazy planet.  Don’t get too attached cuz the real deal is what will happen when He calls you home. 

So, this week, I have learned, even more so, about the wonder of the cycle of life – at this point, I simply want to please Him…I want to step lightly, reflect His love, store up prayers for my loved ones. 

I just wanna keep it real.

Cajun Man Triathlon

well.  where do i begin?  my day began at 5:00 and i was so rested.  i felt great.  almond butter & strawberry jelly sandwich, coffee & water.  fueling & hydration.  i reckoned it as tho’ i was doing a half marathon – about 2 hours of my morning in constant movement, pushing myself every step of the way.  that helped me stay calm.  i made my way to the race site which was only about 5 miles down the road!   sweet!  body marking, chip pick-up, bike rack.  i, foolishly, thought i had one of the best spots in the house right at the front of the transition area – which i knew would save precious seconds during my transition.  teehee.  not so.  no, i was at the very back of the transition area.  it did, work out, however, to my benefit for the 5K, cuz that WAS in my neck of the woods.  took a little walk down the hill (which i knew would be UPhill eventually!) to see the water.  the fish were jumpin!  a few swim-capped heads were bobbing up and down in various, relaxed swim strokes.  the barely risen son made the scene look positively glorious.

wow.  did i just insert a picture?   i am better than i thought   any kind of computer/transferring/technological-thingy is HARD for me. 

so.  where was i?  i started this post yesterday & stopped when i coulnd’t insert the dang picture.  correction:  stopped when i couldn’t find the friggin’ picture.  alas, here we are.  picture is there. 

lemme just cut to the chase, y’all…teehee…swim was HARDER than LABOR.  at least in labor, you get legal drugs and a comfy bed & support.  this?  not so much.  not at all.  no walls to hang onto.  no stops to say, hey, look how good i just did!  just 4 buoys – VERY far apart.  murky/gumbo like water.  oh, and did i tell you i got squeezed to the front and center?  in the ladies wave group, everyone was wonderful – very supportive, friendly, but still – i had NO intention of being in the front!  no worries, i wouldn’t stay there.  i felt clausterphobic (sp???) each time i TRIED to put my face in the water.  it was a character-building part of the race that i WILL do again and will do BETTER.  gotta start somewhere.  took me almost 24 minutes to swim a half mile.  at least i finished.  there were moments – damn, 24 minutes can seem like an eternity – when i quoted my sweet daughter in my mind  – I feel like a fail-a-tur! (failure;).  But, i knew they were on the bank, waiting, for my big exit, and i was not about to disappoint. 

next – transition to bike, which was – easy.  way easier than i thought.  what was all the hoopla i read about?  maybe cause this race wasn’t huge – 500 i think – i got out the water, high-fived/kissed the kids & hubs, numbly trotted to my bike, which was FAR up that hill i mentioned.  i did the 20 mile ride in just over 1:08.  not terrible for Louisiana roads.  And it was fun. 

one of my favorite moms from school came out to be supportive – so toward the end of the ride, i saw their sweet, smiling faces – Bridgette & Caroline, her daughter, who is my daughter’s BFF – along with my hubs & two girls – I felt like I was floating to the finish - but in a good way, not in an out of body post mortem way – it was, however, quite heavenly.

i was chomping at the bit to see how my legs would hold up for my fave thing – running.  i finished the run in 27:29.  i’ll take that, thank you very much. 

So – 2:04 with transition times.  I give myself an A+ with a smiley face

super sweet. 

oh, i totally took a big fat nap right on the living room floor that afternoon, amidst kids & hubs & Sunday afternoon activity.  loved it.

most of all, thank You God & Mary for being with me during a trying tri!  It was GREAT!

thank you, Mary, for saying yes…

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people EVER – Our Blessed Queen of the Church, Mary.  I asked her years ago to please step in and BE my mother.  She heard me and she lovingly obliged.  She is an amazing part of my life and I can’t imagine my life without her.  Today is HER day, the day she was born.  She had already been chosen by God to be the Mother of our Lord, Jesus.  She could have said no.  Thank God she said yes. 

I get so emotional when I think about her through the eyes of a mother.  Can any one of you try to put yourself in the position that she was in?  Can you imagine being part of the greatest gift for all mankind, but being part of the greatest horror as well?  I think about her and wonder what it must have been like to raise Jesus…what an amazing 33 years…well, almost 34, when you count Mary’s pregnancy…

I often think of Mary’s strength with which she had to watch her son…be brutalized for us…be put to death for us.  We are so unworthy and that’s what makes it so precious, this love God has for us. 

One of the saddest parts for me – knowing our Blessed Mother made a seamless tunic for Our Lord – think of it – can you imagine Mary measuring you and getting thread or yarn or whatever they used…what DID they use, I wonder?  She made a perfectly seamless tunic for Him out of her love…I’m sure He thanked her for it – only to have it ripped from Jesus by animals who only wished Him harm…to take something so lovingly created for Our Savior from Our Savior and then bet to see who would ‘win’ it…just breaks this mother’s heart. 

Well…you know the rest of the story. 

I went to Mass at STM this morning.  It was wonderful.  I’m continually in awe.  I especially love going to Mass there because there is wine at Communion and I know what Jesus said about eating His body AND drinking His blood…I so want eternal life with Him and all the angels and saints…especially St. Theresa of Calcutta, Pope John Paul II, St. Joseph, and St. Paul…I can’t wait to talk to him!!! 

A life of surrender is not a life of defeat…it is beautiful.  If you haven’t done it, it’s hard to put into words.  It’s like trying to describe something that gives the greatest joy to someone who has never experienced something over-the-top-joyful…it makes life simple.  It makes life directed.  It makes life real.  The things that are important to me now don’t have anything to do with dollar signs.  As I sat at STM this morning, after Communion, my head was bowed in prayer and I was thinking of my own beautiful son.  I reflected on how I used to watch for him to go to Communion and receive Our Lord Jesus.  It gave me the highest level of joy to see him be able to participate in this sacrament.  I would crane to see him…this morning, during that reflection, I realized I didn’t need to crane today – he’s not there anymore, but he still goes to Mass.  I know one day – hopefully many decades away, he will know how much his mother loved him and how many prayers were said on his behalf and how many tears were shed on his behalf. 

So, no matter what you believe…you must know that Mary is indeed a special lady who deserves our love and respect.  My hope is for each of you to know her the way I do.  Same with Jesus – just ask.  They are all there, waiting.  Oh, and they don’t demand you have a relationship with them…but they certainly would love to have one with you, if you are willing…please, be willing.

friday

great week.  so happy it’s friday.  there is this ‘tropical disturbance’ slowly making it’s way toward us.  very overcast.  80 degrees!  super sweet weather.  oh, and windy.  can’t have a wanna-be hurricane without some wind.  so.  decided i’d ride.  10 miles.  well, maybe just 30 minutes cuz the wind was sure to wreak havoc, right?  10 miles came & went like the blink of an eye! what???  really???  wow, i’m good.  i’m better than i thought.  oh, what the heck?  let’s make it an even 20.  there is this lovely back part of our neighborhood that there are no houses and it’s ususally pretty vacant. i’ve always loved to ride my bike fast & today was no different.  but the wind was the boss.  mostly.  it seemed like the wind just stopped and let me get after it on my beautiful new bike.  i just pedaled so hard & my thingy said i hit 28 miles per hour!!!  woot-woot!  i broke the speed limit in my neighborhood on my bike, y’all!  love that!  okay, so, no, i didn’t do it for very far, but it was fun while it lasted!  so, i ended up with 21 miles on the bike and then i ran for almost 4.  it was a beautiful, hard, rewarding workout and i loved every second of it.  i haven’t been able to increase much, over the last few weeks, mainly i think, because my body had to get comfortable with all this new training and new intensity.  but, can i tell you?  i’ve had my bike for a week yesterday, and today i was able to tack on just a little more.  tuesday i rode 20 and ran 2.8.  that was my limit and i knew it.  today, i just felt like i had more.  it was a 2 hour workout and it was truly glorious.  i made the sign of the cross a couple of times just to give it up to Our Good Lord Above, cuz we all know He’s the trainer!

okay, gotta handy dude here with my front door off it’s hinges, sheets to be changed, floors to be vacuumed, football tonight (GO STM!), wind & rain should be here soon & i smell like i earned every bit of my workout!!!!  but i had to get this out………..peace.