MIM Sprint Tri

On Friday afternoon, Ashley and I drove to Tunica to meet up with our team, Star Runners, for the Memphis in May triathlon weekend. Most of us were doing the Sprint (1/4 mile swim, 12 mile road bike, and 3 mile run) on Saturday morning, so after getting our race packets, we went to carbo load.

Last year, the team ended up at a Pizza Hut. We had a 16 year old server who had no idea what to do with a group of 15+ people. It was traumatic. So, this year, I suggested we try Buon Cibo in Hernando. It ended up being the best call ever. Order at the counter, get yummy food fast. I can't wait to take the monkeys.




(Abita Strawberry not pictured.)

The meal set a good tone for the weekend--well, that and Coach Kevin Leathers' advice on when to "put the hammer down," which became our ongoing mantra/joke.

It was so nice not being scared out of my mind like I was last year. Having successfully completed the race once, I figured I could do it twice. Plus, we lucked out with some overcast skies, so I felt pretty sure I wouldn't almost collapse from the heat like last year.

Ashley and I had a minor screw up--we set up our transition areas in the wrong spot, but I was able to correct it seconds before transition set up closed.



There was one major concern with the swim--the water temperature was like 72 degrees. That doesn't really sound cold, but the race was wet suit legal. Not that I own a wetsuit or anything. I wasn't too worried about it...until I actually got in the water. Holy crap! My body totally went into shock and my heart was pounding and I could not catch my breath. Shannon, who was watching, would later tell me that my whole mouth was blue. I believe it! Anyways, I managed to bust out the side stroke and complete the course faster than the year before! (Although last year they directed us on the outside of the green buoys--this year we went inside.)

Swim 12:19

I was pretty ramped up getting out of the water and tried to walk through transition to get my heart rate down. When I got to my area, I was shocked to see that Ashley's bike was still there. What? That's right, I beat her on the swim! That's a first.

She rolled in shortly after and I said, "See you on the course" as I took off on my bike. I knew it would just be a matter of time before she caught me. Once she passed me, I strategically let her get just far enough ahead that she couldn't see me. That way she wouldn't go balls to the wall the whole race. Having her as my rabbit helped me keep my pace up, but around mile 8 she definitely put the hammer down because I didn't see her again until the switchback on the run.

Regardless, my bike time was over three minutes faster than last year.

Bike 45:14

I decided not to put on my cap for the run since it wasn't sunny, which I regreted. The run! Ugh. After working so hard on the bike it was REALLY hard to find my legs. The first mile was pretty brutal and I was run/walking counting cones. Then, thankfully, I caught up with a woman with an Ironman tattoo. We started chatting and she had a great pace going, so I stuck with her until the end. Seriously, I would have ended up walking those last two miles without her. (Thanks again, Holly!!)

As I rounded the last bend, the whole team was there cheering so I put the hammer down one last time and finished strong. Seriously, I can't tell you how nice it is to cross the finish line! It's at that point that I tell myself, "Dang, I really need to do this again."

My run time ended up being about 30 seconds slower than the year before. Oh well.

Run 32:21

Both of my transitions were faster and my overall time was 1:33:27. That's nearly six minutes faster than last year! Woot!



Ashley and I hung out and cheered until all of our teammates finished. Then we went back to the room to shower. I was just hanging out, eating leftover pizza, and waiting for Ashley to get dressed when Star texted me. "You just won second place and you aren't here!"

What?

So I hustled out to the pool for the awards ceremony and sure enough, I got second place in the Athena category. (My teammates took first place in the relay!) We all got plaques and pink trucker hats. Yes!



At that point I hadn't even checked my times, so I was really surprised. And happy!

Woopsie

Yikes, I have managed to get woefully behind on the old blog. What have I missed?

Jiro got his braces off a couple of weeks ago. His chompers seem so big and white!



Now he has a sparkly blue retainer to wear at night. Next up, Satchel visits the orthodontist!

My longtime bestie, Hope, came for her annual Memphis in May visit.



Only this year, she barely made it to the festival at all. She spent most of her time alternating between me and Tracey's houses. That was just fine with me! We did get to go out on the town a bit, so that was fun. I even took her to Coletta's and Jerry's Sno Cones.



Barbeque makes you beautiful, according to Hope.

We had a super fun family bowling trip for Mother's Day.




Then just Gigi and I went to the movies while the boys went on a bike ride.



Satchel had a CLUE fieldtrip to the Space Museum in Huntsville. It was awesome. Except for the getting to the bus at 4:45am part.



Soccer continues despite the rain. It has been an insane scramble with it raining nearly every weekend! But I am in awe of my guys. I wish I could do a summer indoor league because I can't stand the thought of not seeing them every week! Ok, not really, but they are super fun. The O35 women's league is going to keep me plenty busy.



Jiro's class had a parents appreciation day today so I got to have breakfast with him. Such a sweetie.



The weekend is going to be busy with more soccer, the Memphis in May Sprint Triathlon, and Rock-n-Romp. I'll be back.

Posey 1999-2013

Yesterday we said goodbye to Posey.



Some of you may remember that we had to say goodbye to her littermate, Picard, in January. I worried how she'd do on her own, since she never did anything without Picard. (Seriously, she wouldn't even go out to pee unless he went.) She seemed fine, but sad. And as the weeks passed she moved a little slower and got to where she didn't want to go out at all.

Saying goodbye to her was especially hard because now, for the first time in 14 years, we don't have a dog. I already can't stand to walk by the empty space that used to hold her bed.

But it was time.

The boys took her on one last walk in the park and I made her a giant t-bone steak to eat just before the vet arrived. I swear she was smiling. When the vet arrived, she slowly walked over to greet her and then slowly made her way back to her bed. She was ready.

I will never forget her. On the day that we drove to West Memphis fourteen years ago to pick up one puppy, she squeezed herself through the kennel bars and came running after us. Taking both her and Picard home with us that day was one of the best decisions we ever made.

Rest in peace, sweet girl.

Jiro is 9

Our plan was to start celebrating Jiro's birthday on Saturday. Both soccer games got rained out, so we had a lazy morning.



Well, clearly Jiro was lazy. I actually did some cleaning up in anticipation of his slumber party. I know from experience that it makes much more sense to clean up after the party, but technically, I hadn't cleaned since Satchel's slumber party the week before. Something had to be done.

After cleaning, some errands had to be run, provisions secured, and so on. Then at 4:30pm, Jiro and I went to pick up 3 of his best buddies and 30 sliders. Greenfield arena was our destination. Yes, Jiro wanted a soccer party. He invited about 14 kids to come and scrimmage. He got to pick the teams.



He did a pretty good job of making things even, and at half time it was tied 2-2, I think. Or maybe Jiro's team was winning? I have no idea. I know that everyone was happy.



At half time we had sliders, chips, and (all natural) sodas. I wondered if the second half would involve a few kids hurling, but luckily it didn't happen. Before we started playing, a couple of kids wanted to switch teams. Without thinking, I allowed one of them to do so. Well, I'm sure you can imagine what happened next. Jiro's team started to lose. He even accidentally scored on his own team. No one really cared of course, except him. Thankfully he kept a stiff upper lip and when it was all over, he seemed happy. I apologized for messing up the teams, and we went on to the next phase of the birthday celebration--Jerry's Sno Cones.



From there we planned to go to Laser Quest, but the boys decided they would rather go home and run wild instead. I offered to serve up another round of sliders and/or make some pasta, but for the second year in a row this crew specifically requested white rice for dinner. I'm serious! Q also requested a plate of my famous cheese chips. Hilarious.

The wild boys actually slept in until about 8am. I made breakfast at 9am and by 10am we were at the park playing more soccer.



I dropped the wild boys off around 11:30am and then we went out to my mom's to scoop up Satchel who had no interest in the party, which was good since he wasn't invited. "Why would anyone want to play sports on their birthday??" he marveled.

At my mom's, Jiro also got his one and only present--a PC laptop. We are a Mac household and this has severely hampered Jiro's gaming, so thanks to locating the most amazing computer wholesaler ever, Jiro got his wish.



Sadly, Warren missed all of the festivities due to volunteering to chaperone his fifth graders on their Washington, DC trip over the weekend. We were able to have a family dinner at Gus's last night on the official day though so that was nice.

Happy birthday to the sweetest, toughest, cutest 9 year old ever!

Supper 101

My friend, Liz, started a cooking class for kids called Supper 101. The minute she posted about it, I knew Satchel would love it. He is a very adventurous eater, and adventurous eaters need to know how to cook!

The Commercial Appeal did a great story on Liz and the class, which you can read here.

The class was held on Thursday evenings (4-7pm) in the Trolley Stop canning kitchen. The menus looked enticing and challenging. (They ended up changing a bit for the actual class, but not too much.)

Week 1: Hearty minestrone, garlic bread, fruit crisp w/whipped cream

Week 2: Quiche, green salad with fruit and cheese, lemon or cocoa cake

Week 3: Baked rigatoni with mushrooms, roasted or sauteed vegetables, fresh ice cream

Week 4: Chicken and rice (arroz con pollo) with vegetables, Pavlova with fruit puree

Satchel was actually a tad nervous before the first class, but he is at the age where I can talk him into trying things he is unsure of. Plus, he already knew several of the other students, most of whom were middle school boys. How could it not be fun?

At the beginning of each session, they sat down and went over the recipes and then made a plan.



The students got to eat all of the meals they made, and they also had to do the dishes. Satchel was absolutely ecstatic after the first class, and best of all he was stuffed! He told me that he no longer cared about missing a Putt Putt field trip the next week that conflicted with the class schedule. He also said he needed to work on his knife skills. Ha!



The second week of class coincided with my birthday, and as I already posted, I was treated to an amazing piece of lemon cake. Satchel was most excited about making the spaghetti carbonara. "We sauteed the noodles in bacon fat!" he told me.

He also enjoyed cracking eggs.



He took his phone with him to take pictures, and I think it's precious that what he ended up with was a picture of his plate! I have taught him well.



The kids made quiche the second week and strawberry frozen yogurt. For the finale, chicken curry, Satchel was allowed to invite a guest. Jiro and I both attended under the guise of sharing a plate.

Before dinner, we visited everyone in the kitchen and got a sneak peek of dessert--a mango pavlova!



The meal was served family style next door at the Trolley Stop Market. The kids did the serving and everything looked and tasted delicious.



The dessert was truly epic.



A HUGE thanks to Liz for all of her hard work! It really was a top notch operation, and Satchel is excited to keep learning. His confidence has increased a lot and he is even making himself food at home now. Nothing fancy, but we will get there.

Liz is offering a couple of summer camps this summer. I highly recommend them!

Kitchen Basics Day Camp
Afternoons, 1-4 pm, June 10-13.

In this tasty afternoon day camp, kids between the ages of 7-12 will learn to make wholesome basics from eggs, pasta, and quesadillas to vinaigrettes, salads and healthy snacks such as smoothies and granola bars.

Picking, Pie-ing, and Preserving Day Camp
Two Sessions: June 17-20, and June 24-27.

One of summer’s greatest thrills is picking fruits and vegetables fresh from the farm and then turning them into something beautiful and delicious. In this day camp, we’ll spend the morning at a local orchard or farmers market, then in the afternoon, we’ll use whatever we’ve found to produce pies, preserves, pickles — or maybe even a sorbet or ice cream!

At the Carwash

I noticed that the main appeal of paintball was carrying around a gun. As I mentioned, the paintballs hurt and the game was a little too intense for my guys.

I decided a much safer and more productive way for my 8 year old to get in some good gun action was by going to the carwash and attacking the dirt on my car.



It was also a lot cheaper than paintabll! Just sayin.

Satchel Turns 11

On Sunday, my precious baby boy turned 11. Eleven! What?

He typically starts planning for his birthday on December 26th. I usually tell him I don't want to hear ANYTHING about his birthday until after mine, which is ten days earlier. Obviously ten days is not enough time to discuss all of the things a soon to be eleven year old MUST have.

This year, he really only wanted one thing--a puppy. With an elderly, incontinent dog already in the house and a summer of travel ahead, I finally convinced him that he could definitely have a puppy, just not on his birthday. So then he moved on to some other wants--a new bike, a cool backpack, and some cold, hard cash. He also really wanted to have a sleepover and then play paintball.

Of note this year...Jiro was not invited to Satchel's sleepover. He willing went to my mom's house. He even bought Satchel a present with his own money before going!

Satchel made a shopping list and we went to the store Saturday afternoon to prepare for the sleepover.



That's right, lots of healthy snacks and protein for growing bodies!



This is Satchel's masterpiece trail mix--pretzels, Takis, Funyons, and Smart Food. It was a hit.



The one benefit of the kids eating a bunch of crap right off the bat was that no one wanted anything at the movie theater. We saw Oblivion, which was pretty good until it got super cheesy at the end.

On Sunday, Warren spearheaded the Paint Ball excursion. The website says it's for 10 & up, so I planned to hang with Jiro. Then I got the call that kids under ten could go with a parent, so Jiro & I also made the trek out to Arlington or wherever that place is.



Paintball was interesting. The boys loved gearing up, loading the guns, shooting the guns and whatnot. What they did not like was getting hit. (It hurts!) Also it's a bit intimidtaing to play with dudes who obviously center their lives around the game.



Fierce!



Proud mom (just kidding).



The balls are like little tiny bird eggs filled with bird poop.



Poor Warren got hit point blank in the hand on accident by Jiro.



There are several different courses, and the group rotates through them as the day progresses.



There were about 20-30 players by late afternoon, and it became less fun for the boys. We saw a couple of private groups of about ten people. I definitely think that is the way to go, especially with the youngins.

The dudes eventually moved to the target range to use up the rest of their ammo. (Warren bought a box of 2000 paintballs!)



Everyone was all smiles when we left, but I'm pretty sure Satchel won't be begging to go back anytime soon! It was a little intense for him.



Jiro actually mentioned having his birthday party at the paintball park, but I gave an emphatic NO. I definitely don't think a bunch of 8 and 9 year olds are ready for it.

Back at the house, we had ice cream cake. I appreciated the fact that Satchel picked out one that was just the right size for the six of us.



I let the kids play a while longer and then we headed to Boneheads for family dinner. I made the mistake of telling Satchel he could have whatever he wanted for dinner. He ate THREE meals--two salmon and one tilapia.



Then on Monday, Satchel and Jiro rode bikes to school. Satchel is very happy to have a bike that fits.



All in all, it was an action packed weekend. The eleven year old was pleased.